LHRJFK

I've fed our feedback into BA senior management (I got given a bat phone at birth!). Let's see if there are some fixes in the next couple of weeks.

saltytheseagull

I was excited to try out this lounge next month in F, but after reading the reviews and feedback here, I have to question if it's worthwhile. It looks slightly nicer than the old FL.

Really solid job in cost cutting and annoying your best customers.

ryanbriar

I’d agree that Chelsea (and Soho) are the best lounges at the moment. The sleeper pick may be the speakeasy room at the Amex lounge (my current location) for a quiet place to relax, but I’m not sure if this room gets crowded during peak times.

I’m curious to see if the new DL One lounge lives up to the hype and is similar to the Polaris lounge. They badly need a solution to the Sky Club disaster for premium passengers.

I haven’t been to the Newark Polaris lounge, but a recent TR indicated it was slammed during peak hours (basically standing room only), which is similar to my December experience in Chicago where there was a long list to get a table for dining (made-to-order food is only served in the dining area).

Ideally management will actually listen / incorporate feedback to get the lounge on par with its predecessors (I’ll be sharing mine on Tuesday).

HFHFFlyer

As a teenager, I had a job on the tills at Kwik Save in Bolton. We used to have one of these there. Every time your till got full of bank notes, you’d roll them up, stick them in a little bag, insert the bag into the chute, hit the red button and it would be sucked upstairs to the cash counting room.

happiest_at_40000

Looking forward to checking out Chelsea next week, I think. I mean I was really excited when I saw the bloggers opening reviews and the champagne list but now I see all the above and it looks like the same food and same issues as FFD. FFD was often out of LPGS, had major execution issues in the kitchen not to mention even timing issues (45 min wait for ravioli once). No one running FFD had any true F & B background. It was amazing for the service & privacy but the food was never good. I was hoping they would up their game with a new chef and some new ppl cooking on the line but I think its the same crew.

I was hoping to have both Krug & LPGS and it seems from above neither will be available? What would be the best one to try if those arent available?

xenole

Whatever they might have that given day.

happiest_at_40000

Oh darn, i thought they had multiple options just werent carrying the high end stuff.

Arsey00

Still LP rose, still same menu.

I purposely handed my AA issued domestic BP which only says emerald, not GGL, and was directed to Soho. I said that I was GGL and was let in on my word.

Rona just stopped by my seat for a chat, she says it’s quite good working over here now but is also glad to see they are trying to improve it. Which is a very Rona thing to say!

happiest_at_40000

No clue Rona is, but the menus look the same in the sense of design and how they do their write ups. Pics I've seen arent anything special. My experiences at FFD included food being brought nowhere near proper temp, food being brought really late multiple times and also some servers who while possibly good intentioned were absolutely clueless about the food or the drinks. I tend to not think as highly as some of the servers who have been mentioned on the AA thread. I feel sometimes it felt fake.

I really dont care as long as they have Krug or LPGS so now I'm really bummed and thinking maybe just fly into DCA instead of JFK and down to DCA to get Chelsea. However, recliner F seats for cross country are horrible.

zen100

The thing is - they probably spent a lot of money. Just spent the money ticking the wrong boxes.

That said, I suspect the main cost issue, was the cost of finding a space large enough. It feels like a lot of the compromises came about because they didn't have enough space to work with.

DYKWIA

Oh for the luxury of a recliner seat on intra-Europe J flights

ISTFlyer

As someone who read all your posts ( or at least most of your posts ) post-COVID regarding AA Flagship Lounge's, Flagship First Dining facilities; someone who is very picky about small details such as the temperature of the food, the service time, the temperature of the shower water, etc... I would say that in the USA; there isn't any lounge facility where everything is perfect. If I look at your level of approach, the Qantas First Lounge at LAX would have serious problems because no one came to refill my water for 30 minutes on one occasion.

Post-COVID the service levels in the USA and the expectations are much lower than what it used to be. That is why Chelsea is even a downgrade compared to the old Flagship First Dining which had at least a decent level of meals including a proper menu. However, if you do fly from Chelsea, I am really looking forward hearing your opinion.

By the way, it's true that it's Sodexo who still runs the new lounges, and the customer facing FFD staff is at Chelsea which are joined by some of the BA Terminal 7 Concorde Room staff.

mmxbreaks

As a GGL arriving into JFK in First on BA, but continuing onward (same day) to LAX on AA in J, will I get Chelsea Lounge access or will it be a hard no (as increasingly sounds like the scenario)?

Football Fan

You will get access for two reasons:

• arriving in F on BA
• being GGL (despite some agents having been instructed incorrectly, and until they change the text on the website, which I would recommend to have handy if not arriving in F)

But you will not even need to argue about the GGL thing because you are arriving in F.

saltytheseagull

I would not be surprised. Something along the lines of the buildout cost more than anticipated so we cannot afford a better offering from an F&B perspective.