Lounge Usage
 

Leaving on the next portion of our RTW this week, and trying to get all my ducks in a row.. We are three AAPlat(OW Sapphire) and one lowly AAGold (poor Mr Fish!) Traveling on an AONE. Can anyone direct me to the proper and best lounges to use??

AA JFK-LHR in A - Assume this one is the Admirals Club in JFK, but is there another we can use?

LHR-ATH - This is a connection from first flight. Coming in in A class, departing in D. Can we use a great arrivals lounge or are we relegated to a BA ClubEurope Lounge?

ATH-LHR-FCO-LHR - Departure lounges in these cities, Club Europe I suppose? Do they exist in all 3 cities?
Does our Sapphire Status get us into anything else?

The LHR-JFK portion is all taken care of in the Concorde lounge. I cannot wait for this segment, and I am very happy we squeezed it in prior to retirement.

Thanks for any advice you guys can give me on this. My brain is completely fried at this point I cannot seem to find specifics on the BA or AA websites.

Robin

AA JFK-LHR in A - Assume this one is the Admirals Club in JFK, but is there another we can use?
That's the only one. Fairly standard as far as Admirals Clubs go.

LHR-ATH - This is a connection from first flight. Coming in in A class, departing in D. Can we use a great arrivals lounge or are we relegated to a BA ClubEurope Lounge?
You can use the AA arrivals lounge in T3 but you must clear immigration and customs. You cannot use the BA arrivals lounge in T4. For departure, flights to Athens used to go from T4 (you should check this). You can use one of the BA Terraces lounges - which one depends on which is convenient to the gate you will depart. Ultimately you need to figure out if you have enough time between flights to use both the arrivals lounge in T3 and the BA lounge before your departure in T4.

ATH-LHR-FCO-LHR - Departure lounges in these cities, Club Europe I suppose? Do they exist in all 3 cities?
Yes
Does our Sapphire Status get us into anything else?
Not that I am aware of.

The LHR-JFK portion is all taken care of in the Concorde lounge. I cannot wait for this segment, and I am very happy we squeezed it in prior to retirement.
The lounge can get quite full if there is a full load on Concorde. If it is important for you to experience the all the facilities of the lounge (i.e. food, booze, MB spa, etc.) I would advise you to get there early.

Thanks MGM, that was exactly what I was looking for. We will have plenty of time between flights, so maybe we will check out both the AA and BA lounges upon arrival in LHR. And we have several hours before our Concorde flight, so hopefully will get to enjoy it all! Thanks again.

Robin

Wouldn't poor Mr. Fish want to plat challenge?

"LHR-ATH - This is a connection from first flight. Coming in in A class, departing in D. Can we use a great arrivals lounge or are we relegated to a BA ClubEurope Lounge?"

The Athens flight departs from Terminal 4 rather than the typical european location of T1. You can visit the BA lounges at the lounge pavillion near gate 12; this is hardly a relegation, it is a nice lounge and, as a business class passenger even shorthaul, you can , I believe , have a massage at the Moulton Brown spa downstairs by the first lounge if you have enough time.

Given that you are on a 1st class ticket, they may let you into the 1st lounge. When I have travelled with a BA/QF 1st ticket and been travelling on a european sector with only Club Europe and Eurotraveller (prior to getting OW Emerald), I have been allowed into the 1st lounge, so it is worth a try. Far better than the AA arrivals lounge

Dave


[This message has been edited by Dave Noble (edited 04-14-2003).]

He would love it! Unfortunately, when we completed our challenges, he was already Plat. He lost his status this year, flying just under the required 50K Qpoints required. Now that he is a "lowly Gold", do you suppose they would allow him to sign up for the challenge (after 3 years prior as Plat)? He would certainly make it very quickly, with about 25K of FC/BC travel by mid-July already booked.

Edited/updated to add: Wow.. That Plat Challenge was a great idea! Because Mr Fish had never done the challenge, I was able to sign him up and he'll by Plat by the end of next week! Thanks!

Robin

[This message has been edited by Fishbait (edited 04-15-2003).]