Does anyone know what lounge CO will be using for BF customers? I may have missed it. I beleive that CO will use T-4. I will be there 4/20 enroute to IAH.

Here is some detailed info concering BF lounges at LHR.

This does not say much. CO will be using T4. The airlines listed (AF,AZ,KE) are all just Skyteam Airlines and fly out of other terminals.

From the SkyTeam site (yes, there was actually something almost useful on it)
Looks like the KL facility would be the likely choice, if there was one. KL doesn't actually operate a facility there, even though CO seems to indicate that they do. KL uses the Holideck lounge, pending the opening of the SkyTeam joint facility currently expected to happen in October '08, according to their site:
I would expect that CO will give you a pass to the Holideck lounge.

Is there a LHR lounge accessible to PC members who are not SkyTeam Elite Plus (CO Plat)?

Not as familiar w/ PC regs, but it (Holideck) has always been open to WC members. This page seems to inidicate that it is not open to PC members though. That is the only lounge in T4 that would would even be in play; you can't switch terminals at LHR to go lounge hopping.

I believe the answer is no. I also believe that the Holideck lounge will not be accessible to CO Plats, despite the fact that the CO page indicates that the KL lounge will be. I'm assuming it is bad data on the web site, not the only exception to a policy globally that prevents CO Plats from accessing 3rd party lounges.

Are you saying that the KLM lounge referenced on the PC web site is the Holideck lounge, but that it really is not an KLM operated lounge and hence CO Plats are not welcome?

Looks to me - that if London is your destination - you are better off still going to LGW. At least you will have lounge access on the return - The Emirates Lounge - if you are a PC member. Also the DL lounge whether you are PC member or CO Plat - but not sure if the DL lounge is convenient.

And what you are saying is that none of the true SkyTeam lounges are in the same terminal (4) as CO. Looks like LGW would be the best airport until the SkyTeam airlines build a SkyTeam lounge (and then that may not be accessible to PC members only).

LGW is it for now.

That is how the data reads to me. I'd welcome a contradictory interpretation, but I don't see one right now.

The elite desk claims they will allow SkyTeam elite plus (Plats) in. If I can't get in, I will use Priority Pass and report back (in a couple weeks).

Maybe CO Insider can answer this definitively for us when he returns?

First and foremost, the holideck is one of the coolest lounges I have been in. Trippy British gogo styling, warm cookies, 50 different drinks, all kinds of neat stuff. Never got their internet working. Now here's the scoop from three years ago or so.

I had a PC paying membership and a plat status. I was on a KLM flight from LHR to AMS. They would not let me in with a CO plat or the PC card.

Holideck is the KLM lounge. It is the lounge that KLM puts their elites in. However, KLM is not so nice. Their skyteam responsibilities end on lounges they own. They only have Amsterdam that I am aware of. All others belong to contractors or codeshares. This means they get away with offering their passengers dozens upon dozens of other lounges, but only have to offer two in exchange. I am not a KLM fan. They don't even give PC members the same free internet they give their own passengers in their own lounges.

So anyway, that seems the logical choice.

Another thing to note - I saw a flyer for "Priority Pass" on the desk at holideck, it's a third party lounge card. It's around the same price as a PC, but it gets you a vast assortment of lounges (with other stipulations like no free guests). The PP gets you two other AMS lounges, not the KLM ones - just next door. The KLM's is still nicer but it's always packed. So anyway, I cut up my President's Club card and got in on the Priority Pass. Now I can get into an amazing number of lounges in an amazing number of cities. That is, in addition to the ST+ and the Amex But seriously, this card gets you in lounges in cities you didn't think had airports. If you bop around europe a lot, as a CO you get screwed in a lot of cities without it. You don't have to be flying any particular airline at all - you just walk in to one of the hundreds of lounges and toss it at them. I could be coming in from the United Red Carpet Club in PHL to the Northwest World Club in Detroit to the America West lounge in Vegas all in one day on this card. Flying on any carrier. They don't ask you for your ticket, just the card and your id. Totally cool. So now I don't generally care where a particular lounge is, just that there's A lounge nearby.

Looks like CO will need to be doing some updates on the lounge website list. It is going to take someone of the caliber of COInsider to oversee this and direct the people coming up with the list of CO passenger accessible lounges for BF, PC Members, and CO Plat.

I have found Priority Pass to be a useful supplement to Amex Plat (and lately, PC membership) for lounges when flying internationally.

The WiFi better be working when I am there!!!

The airline partner lounge issue is the perfect example of dealing with the airlines in a nutshell: byzantine rules, employees unaware of the maddeningly complex policies, lots of bold face promises taken away by loads of fine print, partners that aren't, and far too many instances of "you can't get there from here."

The airlines make grand promises, then implement layer upon layer of rules to carve out exceptions in order to cut corners and the end result is a colossal hash that is simply unmanageable.

According to an AF press release today, until the new co-branded SkyTeam lounge opens in fall 2008, SkyTeam passengers using T4 will use the Holideck lounge.