Gatwick arrivals lounge access
 

Sorry if this has been answered before (and I am sure it has), but the search feature of this website is anything but helpful.

We will be arriving at Gatwick in about 10 days coming on American Airlines from the US, traveling Coach. Gatwick is our final destination. I am OW Emerald, my wife OW Sapphire. Will we have arrivals lounge access in the BA lounge? It's my understanding that that's the only OW lounge in Gatwick, correct?

Thanks, and feel free to send me to some earlier post.

I haven't used that lounge but this is what britishairways.com has to say about it:

Absolutely no access. Upon arrival you are segregated -- must go landside, unless you have onward boarding passes. Without a connecting flight, security will not let you through to reach the lounge. If you do manage to talk your way past security somehow, the ultra diligent BA lounge dragons will not let you in. Arrival lounges are not an Emerald benefit. If you had flown AA into LHR, where AA has an arrivals lounge land-side, you would still be denined free access (paid access is available for GBP50 for the 2 of you, much like an AC day pass); but AA has no such lounge at LGW.

Fundamentally this is correct, but with one small error. The OP states that he is not connecting at LGW & so will be going landside. However, the arrivals lounge is landside, in an hotel. (Most arrivals lounges are landside, certainly BA at LGW, JNB, & LHR T1/T4, as well as AF at CDG. This is because most users will be terminatiing their journey & have no airside access.)

Unfortunately for the OP, "Arrival lounges are not an Emerald benefit". (The QF exception to this is a result of the BA/QF sharing agreement for UK<>Oz.)

Thanks for the advice--much appreciated. We'll take a wet sponge and some paper towels along to make ourselves presentable. ;)

At least we can have a departure quaff before flying back to the US.