BMWMOT

Good question. Like I said I checked this thread before doing my research on lounge options. I assumed there to be an arrivals lounge like they have in FRA. Never assume right. Sorry I jumped the gun.
I did a quick check and there is a Star Alliance lounge in terminal 1 but I don't know if you can access it upon arrival. It seems to be in the departure area.
If there's no *A or partner arrival lounge, then that makes it easy.

phlwookie

There's an arrivals lounge past immigration and customs in LHR T1 now, just to the right of where you meet friends, family and drivers. The Star lounge used for departure is separate.

phlwookie

Confused - the article doesn't mention PHL and the additional flights out of CLT were announced as seasonal additions to the PHL flights. They haven't said anything about China from CLT, and I would think a CLT/PHL-NRT (JL hub) is more likely since AA already serves China from ORD and that's a more logical mid-continent connecting point for East Asia.

The article appears all over the place though, going off and talking about the 737 for a while, while US has none on order (AA does, but primarily as MD80 replacements). Then in the conclusion it recenters on the small number of additional CLT TATL flights as key to a higher stock price ... while the success of the flights can't hurt revenue, it's not likely to be very material to the bottom line.

I don't know, it doesn't look like a very useful article.

BMWMOT

Thanks phlwookie. Do you know the criteria needed to gain access? Is it for business class customers, *G customers, or is it a fee only lounge which I found on LHR's website, Servisair I think it was called. No idea what the fee is.

serfty

I suspect it will be possible to credit travel on USair to AAdvantage much earlier than March.

(Jan 7th was an initial mention.)

jspira

Mr. Kirby specifically told me, in response to a question I posed, that January 7 would be "a big day for us" in terms of offering "reciprocal frequent flyer benefits." You can interpret that to mean what you were asking about.

Above is from:
American Airlines-US Airways Merger: What Frequent Travelers Need to Know

GTITAN

As a falling 1K and CP, hoping that I get January to use my 6 SWUs on UA and credit to DM.:-:

SafeTravels

phlwookie

The Star arrivals lounge at LHR T1 is for arriving business (Envoy on US)/first class passengers (for carriers that have it). Star Gold alone flying in coach doesn't get you in, nor does a club membership, unlike departure lounges, where *G and club memberships should work in most cases. I don't think you can pay a fee separately to get into the Star LHR arrivals lounge.

Though I fly PHL-LHR a fair bit, the flight is usually short enough that I usually just go wherever I'm heading next in London directly but I have stopped in there a few times to freshen up especially if there was a delay, and it can be handy especially if you won't get to a hotel until the evening and/or slept through breakfast in the air. They will want to see your boarding pass to let you in so keep that handy.

blueheronNC

How did CO handle changes in Skyteam award bookings after the switchover? The switch to *A happened in October 2009 but Skyteam bookings could be made before that date for travel through October 2010. So what happened when

a) a segment got cancelled by a Skyteam partner, or

b) you wanted to change a leg in your routing after that October 2009 switchover date?

McFlyPHL

Yes, you can - and you can book them on aa.com.

The caveat to that is that BA adds the infamous YQ fuel surcharge to awards, so a TATL winds up being quite expensive, cash-wise, for a "free trip" anyway by the time you add on taxes/fees/etc.

FWIW, I don't see a YQ-worth of difference between the two J products for my own money. Others' opinions will surely vary.

McFlyPHL

As of 11/11 (when I was last in LHR), you've got two lounges - one for arrivals and one for departures.

For arrivals, once you clear customs and enter into the area with access to the tube and car service pickups, there are elevators at one end. They'll take you up to the ticket counters (level 2?) and up one more floor (level 3? - it's the top) where there is an arrivals lounge. It's not *A, but is shared with South African and I think another airline. Pretty standard stuff... showers, snacks, drinks. I don't recall seeing alcohol, but I wasn't looking for it either. They'll bring you a breakfast menu and feed you. Wifi is free but you need a code. I found this very helpful in syncing up the work I did on the flight over.

For departures, there's a new *A lounge that's shared by all *A airlines as far as I can tell. It's at one end of the terminal near the LH transfers desk. Decent spread of food / bar, but it was crowded when I was there. Wifi is free via BT, no code required.

Neither are on par with international F lounges, but are quite passable for my needs.

Side note: Just wait 'til y'all get access to the CX F lounges in HKG. Hands down the best I've ever used.

some dude

Any word on Amex Centurion Elite program / Amex Platinum Lounge program?

burlax

I'd be curious if they let FFs use SWUs on US metal and CP e-certs on AA metal, which would be very useful

MAH4546

Admiral's Club is already part of the lounge program, no reason that will go away.

The chances of Centurion Elite's getting EXP status is, IMO, zero. AAdvantage is a high end program with useful benefits. AA won't be giving it away like US. US could afford to give it away because it doesn't attract nearly as many high-earning clientele. Giving card members EXP would seriously devalue and dilute the program.

You can offer Centurion card holders AA EXP, and everybody will bite; but giveaway US Airways Chairman Preferred, and nobody cares. It's a pretty useless benefit.

burlax

Oh boy, would be painful once you fall from that high horse of yours