Radtel

I am now sitting in the YVR Plaza Premium lounge. At the moment, it is not too busy but BA flight is in 3 hours.

They have butter chicken, sandwiches, which are fairly good, beer, wine, hard drinks at no charge. Sparkling wines have to be paid for.

So, what else can I add. Well, it is not the YVR BA lounge but better then some that I have been in.

Cheers

Radtel

PS 4 drink limit, no matter what the drink is. (glass of wine vrs. large gin). Hmm, at my limit

Mordac

Is it still like that? It was in late September, but I was hoping more things would be open by now.

giorgio1712

Is this a legitimate rule? Do you know how long before the YVR flight one can check in please? Thanks

giorgio1712

Can confirm check in desks opened 3h20 before flight and the lounge enforces a 4 drink limit. Pathetic to be made to feel like a child by the lounge dragons, in my opinion a massive downgrade on the BA lounge!

Radtel

There is another YVR lounge which is not available to BA status folks. It's at https://www.skyteam.com/en/lounges/Vancouver If you have Mastercard lounge access, you can use it.

I will try it on Friday. So, stay tune for a report.

I have a feeling that the wonderful BA lounge (and its employees) are long gone from YVR.

Tobias-UK

This lounge is also available to those who have Priority Pass. It’s a very pleasant lounge and IIRC they have a 4 alcoholic drink policy too.

Greg66

Thread resurrection.

I was landslide at YVR around 7pm 10 days ago, and as reported upthread everywhere that serves food was shut. The Fairmont was open, and was serving bar food.

What’s it like airside? Cathay’s website says it’s lounge is still shut. Is the BA lounger open? Any airside restaurants? When we flew in I wasn’t sharp enough to peer down from the walkway…

The _Banking_Scot

Hi

the ba lounge is closed permanently now iirc.

Ba uses the yvr premium plaza lounge
.
regards

Tbs

Greg66

The current position: As TBS says, the BA lounge is closed. As is the Cathay Lounge. The BA flight still left from its usual gate under where the BA lounge is, but the terminal is being extended, so the customary gate D64 is now D68. Whether the lounge reopens once the extension is completed remains to be seen.

More generally: we received invites for the Premium Plaza lounge. Drinks are served from behind a bar (incl soft drinks) - there is no beverage self service, save for still water. There were three of four hot food offerings which genuinely weren't bad. The flight was delayed from 20.50 to 21.20, with boarding due to commence according to our BP at 20.30. Coincidentally, the PP lounge shuts at 20.30 and the arrival of the cleaners was met with ushering towards the door and announcements that the BA flight was, in fact, boarding bang on 20.30 (needless to say, it wasn't).

Airside public eateries: Subway and A&W were open, and a small new Illy coffee bar. No other restaurants that I could see. The main duty free that you snake through to get from security to the gate areas was open, as were a few of the glorified newsagents. I don't think any of the eateries landside around the D security gates were open, though I am told that one was.

A final NB: the D international departures security gates are closed due to what looks like staff shortages. The path from check in is a quite long walk to the domestic C security gates. There is no fast track there to speak of (it is reserved for crew, military, global entry and something else - definitely not premium cabins). Joining the queue for security to clearing security took precisely 30 minutes. It's relatively efficient, but even late-ish in the evening (for YVR at least) it was overwhelmed by the number of passengers. You then have quite a long walk airside back in the direction you came until you arrive at the airside side of the unmanned D security gates. It looked like the Maple Leaf lounge that is bang opposite the D international departures security gates was open.

All in all, it feels a bit like what I imagine an airport that is on the verge of closing down feels like, or being in an airport when your flight has been delayed into the early hours of the morning. I'd like to think that the next 12 months will see a return to former levels of staffing and business.

Monium

As mentioned above, the Skyteam lounge at YVR is open for anyone who’s Amex Platinum or Priority Pass. I used it a couple of weeks ago as I’m a lowly BAEC Bronze and was flying PE on the YVR-LHR BA flight.

When I arrived, the lounge was practically empty so I had my choice of seat. The cold food offering was ok but nothing special, but they had a hot food choice which included a “noodle bar” which I really enjoyed - a genuinely good dish. On drinks, I was there for about 4 hours (I flew in from YYZ and had a layover to kill). There’s definitely no drinks limit, although the glasses of fizz they were pouring were two thirds full at best, I’m pretty sure I had more than 4 during my time there.

The lounge started to get busy nearer to my flight time - seems there’s a Quantas flight that leaves a little later than the LHR flight so it got popular with the Aussie contingent.

Pleasant enough if you have access. I didn’t go into the Plaza so can’t offer any comparison.

Greg66

Resurrection.

BA is still using the Premium Plus lounge at YVR, which is not great. The Cathay Lounge reopened in June, with a published evening opening time of 8.00pm - for a BA departure at 8.50, just about usable.

Except that it doesn’t open until 9.30. We waited like patient schoolchildren outside the entrance until nabbing someone who emerged from behind the Closed sign at 8.10, to be told it doesn’t open until 9.30. Quite annoying.

saccosekk

How sad that the BA lounge seems to be permanently axed - the lounge itself was nothing to write home about (except the self-pour drinks selection) but the staff were unfailingly lovely.

I never had the chance to visit the CX lounge there due to the aforementioned BA/CX flight time mismatches, but for those who have, how does it compare with their lounge in LHR T3?

aoyamaguy

I was in the Plaza Premium on Sunday. It’s not amazing but not terrible either. A few points:

- an update to what was reported above is that there are now some self-serve soft drinks cans in a fridge at the far end of the lounge near the buffet
- it was quite busy between 5.30 and 7.00 but then seemed to thin out and by 8.30 it was half empty
- service at the bar was friendly and efficient and I saw no sign or mention of a four-drink limit (admittedly I only had two drinks)
- as well as the buffet, which had 3 hot dishes and some salad items, there is some other food at the bar (mainly sandwiches and cakes) plus self-serve pretzels and crisps. The sandwiches were fresh and quite substantial
- there were lots of staff patrolling the lounge clearing up
- quite a long walk to the gate being used for the BA flight
- as others have commented, no signs of life in the Cathay lounge when I walked past it at 8.45

Greg66

it’s been a while since I’ve been to the one in T3 (and the one in YVR for that matter) but as I remember, comparable if not a bit nicer than T3, and multiple streets better than the now defunct BA offering in YVR.