headinclouds

Planning a trip from USA to LHR on AA, continuing that evening to Cairo on BA. Would like to take advantage of the Molton Brown Spa in T4, but spending 8 or 9 hours there is not a good use of time. I wonder if the following is OK from the experts on LHR.

Arrive in T3 on AA, take the flight connections bus over to T4 get boarding pass for BA flight. Make a booking in the spa for the afternoon. Leave the T4 terminal, go over to the AA arrivals lounge in T3 and a quick Heathrow express trip to central London returning in time for the spa appointment.

The decision is whether to take the early arriving flights to LHR from the USA (6:30 -7:00 am) and proceed as above or arrive about noon LHR and just spend about 4-5 hours at T4.

rothsteg

If you'd be up for sightseeing after the short overnight flight, your plan makes sense to me with one exception. I'm pretty sure that you can't get back to the T3 arrivals lounge after clearing immigration. So, you'd want to use it before heading over to T4. That would also save you the wasted time of the t4-t3 and back trip you're currently planning. Best guess is that would add 45 to 75 minutes to your day.

Dave Noble

"Arrive in T3 on AA, take the flight connections bus over to T4 get boarding pass for BA flight. Make a booking in the spa for the afternoon."

So far so good. I assume that you are travelling in 1st or Business class from LHR-CAI. If you are in the back then you cannot use the spa beyond having a shower ( unless BA Gold )

"Leave the T4 terminal, go over to the AA arrivals lounge in T3 and a quick Heathrow express trip to central London returning in time for the spa appointment."

Is it really worth going to the AA Arrivals lounge after this. You could just pop into the BA 1st/J (as appropriate) departure lounges after making the booking. They are better than the AA Arrivals lounge. You can have a shower, snack and then head off on HEX to London straight from T4

"The decision is whether to take the early arriving flights to LHR from the USA (6:30 -7:00 am) and proceed as above or arrive about noon LHR and just spend about 4-5 hours at T4."

4-5 hours at LHR is pretty tedious. Get the early arrival and pop out to London I would say

Dave

headinclouds

Oops! Forgot that once in the BA lounge pavallion, then I could just use the J lounge. But, I wanted to check out the AA arrivals lounge anyway for those times when I don't have a connection.
My main concern was leaving the T4 terminal and re-entering later in the day. Since I did not clear immigration on the T3-T4 transfer, I would need to do so in order to go to Central London. Would an AA fasttrack pass be OK in T4?

Dave Noble

"But, I wanted to check out the AA arrivals lounge anyway for those times when I don't have a connection."

I would wait for that time personally. The AA lounge ( like most AA lounges ime ) is nothing special


"My main concern was leaving the T4 terminal and re-entering later in the day. Since I did not clear immigration on the T3-T4 transfer, I would need to do so in order to go to Central London. Would an AA fasttrack pass be OK in T4?"

I would think it would. Even if it isn't, it is almost certainly bound to be quicker than heading back to flight connections and waiting for a bus back to T1-3

Clearing immigration in T4 is not an issue

Dave

pds

I was under the impression that the Molton Brown spa in T4 was a BA arrivals lounge and that you needed to present either a BA boarding pass in J or F or your Gold card when entering. You might want to double check this.

Globaliser

The MB Spa is in the Lounge Pavilion opposite Gate 10 (downstairs next to the First lounge) and is definitely part of the departures facilities.

The BA arrivals lounge has some spa facilities as well. Is that what you're thinking of?

Dave Noble

No. It is in the departures lounge pavillion next to the 1st Lounge on the lower level.

There is some sort of massage facility in the Arrivals lounge but it is the poor relation of the departures one

Dave