Pilot37

No suggestions of other locations, that I am aware of, were made, but I also think the sleep pods are getting such little usage that the chances of being disturbed are small. 2 x 45min calls were successfully conducted without anybody coming looking to take 40 winks!

Pilot37

KARFA

nobody is using the sleep pods and no one wants them.

crazyarmadillo

xxxxx, I think the working in the 'pod room'and others wanting to rest/relax in peace isn't really an issue.

I've never seen anyone use them

If I was working and talking in the 'pod room, and someone came in, we would just naturally take the call elsewhere.

We don't work now, but that's what we would do if we still worked and needed to have a phone call.

I don't think you need to be told though, I think is the point.

flybymonkey

Does BA have any proposed timeline to properly renovate the LHR lounges?

ubiest

one happy user here - very useful on a long layover after TATL - for the many who do not live in London and environs.

That said, if the boardroom were the boardroom, no doubt the moaning would be about “I couldn’t use it for quiet work because there was someone in there already doing an interminable zoom call.”

The best arrangement for those who want to work IMO would be to have a few of those “telephone booth” type spaces for the folks who need to talk, plus a boardroom coworking space. Now that the prison cells cabanas are out, put the sleep pods in those spaces.

megaloman

This used to be a boardroom that was used frequently by passengers. It got replaced by sleeping pods no one uses. Cabanas are out of use too - for no apparent reason other than BA is like a headless chicken, busy running, having no clue where they're going.

Remove the sleeping pods from CCR, those in First lounge would be enough. Bring back the boardroom as it used to be. Bring back cabanas - they were perfect for a quick nap between flights or to make a call from a quiet place.

KARFA

There is of course an even bigger problem brewing now due to the changes in who can access the CCR brought in last September. Again entirely predictable, BA know how many CCR card holders there are, and knew the total number of GGLs is probably 10-15x as much. And with extensions none of theses GGLs are going anywhere for at least a year.

Whilst there is a small reduction in F passengers due to loss of 14 seat 747s, fewer F routes, and reduction to 8 seat 777, this is being more than outweighed by that change.

Of course all entirely predictable and even the village idiot would have seen what would happen, but it seems those in BA who make the decision don't think through what they are doing. I wouldn't be surprised if we see some changes or restrictions to entry in the near future.

abligh

I'm sure it's more, but is it really 10 times as many? CCR and GGL qualification used to be the same; only GGL renewal was lower. So every GGL at least once reached CCR level (then sustained the renewal figure). I suspect most GGLs pre-pandemic reasonably regular flight patterns (rather than making it on a tier point run). Twice or perhaps 3 times I could believe, but 10 times?

Tafflyer

But newly eligible CCR users fly less than the “traditional” CCR-card holders and I suspect the new total number of daily CCR users in the current environment is nowhere near the capacity of the lounge which would possibly otherwise be underused. When things change, I am sure BA will again change the rules.

Fruitcake

Interesting point. Obviously many companies, schools, venues etc got work like this done when things were quiet / closed in the lockdown periods.

megaloman

Not long ago (till 2018?) it used to be possible to get the GGL status by collecting 3000 tier points in 2 consecutive years - there were and still are many GGLs who never got the CCR card.

KARFA

Do they? Also it would have to be 10-15x less to be neutral in terms of eligible daily numbers.

I am afraid this is an incorrect assumption and the CCR has already been at capacity a few times recently.

Tafflyer

Well, my assumption was based on 3,750 instead of 5,000 TP being currently required. But perhaps there is an increased number of flights being taken by a smaller circle of passengers than before, I do not know. But given that there are less F flights now than pre-pandemic and that generally people are flying less due to capacity limits and price increases, I would expect CCR occupancy to be down. I must say though, I have noticed that the F lounge is quickly rammed these days. I just cannot figure out why. Perhaps the lower TP requirements really do make so much of a difference.

KARFA

This is precisely my point tho. The increase in people eligible to access the CCR far outweighs the reduction due to fewer F passengers and generally the still somewhat suppressed travel. It is already causing problems, and this was entirely predictable. You can't increase the number of eligible CCR entrants by 10-15x and then be surprised when you are having problems with capacity. This is regardless of the currently reduced thresholds, those who were GGL pre covid are still GGL now due to extensions. I don't think the issue is hoards of new GGLs who have qualified recently based on the lower thresholds.

snuffi

As luck would have it there were two people asleep I the boardroom when I arrived at about 1pm. I ended up using the aforementioned business booths (there are but 3) Erich were quiet enough. The Wi-Fi was so dire that I had to hotspot myself. The other niggle is that they should deactivate the speakers pipimg muzak in this area. I might write in about that.