windelberger

Hi there,

My wife is arriving into LHR on QF1 (flying F) after the 22nd October (the date that the T4 arrivals lounge closes). http://www.qantas.com.au/info/flying/qantasClub/qcNews

I have contacted BA and unfortunately she will not be granted access to the BA T5 arrivals lounge beacuse this is a QF flight and the lounge is BA operated (solely).

Are there any interim arrangements for QF F passengers re: arrival facilities?

Aisle Seat H

I think the answer is a simple 'No' I'm afraid windelberger - thus why the link you posted says that only after QF's move to T3 will "the complete range of lounge facilities... once again become available".

But the wording of the link you posted raises a similar q. post the move next year. The link says......but I have been informed that, despite this wording suggesting that the opposite might be the case, that QF won't be opening an Arrivals Lounge at LHR T3. Is this right ?

Or is this wording hopefully a sign that another Arrivals Lounge arrangement will be made an T3 instead (linking to the AA lounge debate we had in another Thread) ?

Or is the wording just misleading and thus giving false hope ?

number_6

I doubt that QF will pay for any alternate arrangement, but the following 2 options exist for your wife to pay for:

1) AA Arrivals lounge (GBP 25 or so fee); this has excellent showers (better than the BA T4 lounges) but is otherwise lacklustre; located landside in T3;

2) Hilton (adjacent to T4) health club offers a day pass (forget the cost but it was cheaper than the AA lounge, but it is a standard gym and not an arrivals lounge).

As for the future of T3 after 2009 when OW consolidates there, it is clear to me that there will be renovated departure and arrival lounges, but possibly not until 2010. T3 will have a grim couple of years in the interim.

justin_krusty

Can you get her shifted onto the BA code for this flight? That should allow access then...

Aus_Mal

I have been previously advised by BA (mid 2006) that the following rule applies:

As Qantas and BA are still in a JSA agreement, then Arrival's lounge access should still be granted - even in a different terminal.

The main issue is that a T5 staffer is unlikely to have seen a Qantas boarding pass before, and will have a hard time letting your wife in. Personally, I'd give it a go, but it's a lot of running around for a possible rejection.

NM

I would not be surprised if the plan is for a combined QF/AA/CX arrivals lounge facility at T3. But as you suggest, that may not be immediately available when QF moves to T3 in 2009.

thadocta

I'm not too sure of that - given that the BA flights to BKK/SIN/SYD will be moving to T3 at the same time as the QF flights, I think that BA will be maintaining an interest in what goes on for their passengers, and the results of BA maintaining an interest will automagically carry over to QF passengers as a result of the JSA.

Dave

Allane

This was on the BA Forum and I thought that it would apply in this case too

http://img77.imageshack.us/img77/7010/qfffsyf4.jpg

I don't know if it has been revoked, but it may assist.

cheers
Allane

Jase76

Does anyone know why BA flights to/from BKK/SIN/SYD are the exception in not moving to T5?

NM

OK, so add a /BA to the QF/AA/CX in my post

James S

There are no non-BA flights from T5 so QF is joining the other OW airlines at T3 and taking BA with them by virtue of the JSA.

I think.

justin_krusty

Yeah, cos of the JSA you get a lot of cross-pollination (I couldn't think of a better term right now) of BA/QF pax on BA/QF flights. Originally (years and years ago) it was planned that QF would move to T5 as well, but then T5C was put off for a few more years so there was no room.

It would be too confusing for non-freq flyers if BA11 to SIN went from T5, but BA7310 to SIN went from T3. So instead its a blanket "all SIN/BKK/SYD flights go from T3".

No doubt there is a fair percentage that also presume BA7310 goes from T5 "because its says British Airways so it must be the new T5" but hey what can you do, just hope people read their tickets carefully I guess...

Globaliser

It's not just QF. The same is happening with the other codeshare routes, like BA's Spanish and Finnish routes (where there are BA codes on IB and AY flights, and IB and AY codes on BA flights) also going to T3.

Aisle Seat H

What a great concept/word/verbal trick ! Brilliant ! I am SOOoooo gonna be using that word in future ! (Google comes up with over 2 million hits for it and yet I have never ever seen or heard it used ! 21st C. obviously moving too quick for me !)

number_6

Ba has kept a presence at T3 even when it was down to a token sacrificial flight (MIA). This was in order to keep a vote on the BAA terminal committee and keep VS in check. BA was quite good at derailing several previous attempts to modernize T3 -- they wanted to keep it a dump until they got T5 built and working. Now there is a lot of work needed to keep T3 functional; might be a grim couple of years when the construction is mid-way. Also T5 does not have enough capacity for all BA flights, they have no choice but to use another terminal (this lack of capacity is also the reason that QF is kept out from T5; the original plan many years ago was for QF to move to T5 but that ended at the time of the BA/QF divestiture. Gotta love the planning by BAA, spend billions on a brand new terminal and it is too small the day before it opens. Most other new airports (MAD, HKG) have managed to avoid that mistake, at least.