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Review: British Airways Galleries Lounge LHR Terminal 3
There are 3 One World lounges available in Terminal 3: British Airways Galleries Lounge, American Airlines Admiral’s Club, and a Cathay Pacific lounge. The BA and AA lounges are located very near one another however each one offers vastly different quality. I reviewed the Admiral’s Club and recommended skipping it if you had access to this lounge. I didn’t have the time to make it to the Cathay Pacific lounge, but next time I’m in T3 I’m definitely going to check it out.
British Airways Galleries lounge is near gates 13-22
You’ll see a sign for it that looks like:
Who can enter?
- One World Business and First Class ticketed passengers
- One World Sapphire or Emerald
- BA Silver or Gold
I would note that Spa treaments are limited to those passengers who are ticketed with British Airways. I was on an American Airlines flight in business class and was refused a free spa treatment. I did use the showers tho and they were fine – nothing luxurious but perfectly fine. Maybe they just don’t like Monkeys?
The Entrance/check in
The First Class lounge is to the left of the spa – which is situated between the First Class lounge and the Galleries lounge. While I did use the shower facilities I wasn’t permitted to use the Spa for any of their treatments. I found this to be odd as I used the Japan Airlines First Class facilities in Tokyo when flying American, but obviously BA has a more stringent policy. Or….this particular lounge attendant did.
While the check in wasn’t too much an ordeal I did have specific questions about transiting terminals. I asked several different people about the rules regarding going from T3 to T5. T5 is a home to IAG group – parent company of BA and Iberia – and serves their aircraft exclusively. T5 has a ton of shops, restaurants, etc compared to T3. I didn’t have that much time, but I was interested because I’ll be in LHR later in the year and wanted the knowledge ahead of time. After many different opinions what I finally figured out is that it is possible, but when coming back from T5 you should leave considerable time.
Entering the lounge
You’ll walk down a corridor before entering the main area of the lounge. There is a guest services counter to the right. This is where I spoke to a girl who referred me to the proper employee regarding the T3/T5 transit. I tell ya…just figuring out a little transit question was quite the PALAVA!
The dining/work area
There are several areas to grab some food, but this is the first you will encounter and has the main food presentation. I’d say that this isn’t the most ideal space to work because of the noise and traffic, but if you grab your food here and sit towards the back you’d save yourself some wandering time.
Main food presentation.
The options were definitely not vast, but they were fine. It was mid-morning so there were some leftover breakfast items as well as some lunch snacks being presented.
Heading further back…more seating and alcohol selections
There was another long cooler at the end of the wine island. It housed soft drinks, water, juices, and beer. Hard liquor was on top.
There is also a large computer area with printers/copiers/etc
There is a lot of work stations here. I didn’t count but I’d guess over a dozen computers and every single one of them power outlets, usb, etc. If you need to get some work done – whether on your own device, or their computer – this provides a lot of space to accomplishment it.
There is also a kid zone.
The Spa/showers
The services looked quite refreshing. I was eager to try them. However, I wasn’t allowed because of my boarding pass. Given that I’m writing this around Independence day, it’s encounters like these with the British that I’m sure led to us, Americans, declaring our independence. I have to say being discriminated against cause I held an AMERICAN boarding pass did not feel good. SOooooooo much for this “special” American/British relationship, huh?
ANNNNND on the to the shower. Quite ironic that they would allow me to clean my American filth, but not indulge me with any treatments – but so is life.
Overall
This is a very solid business class lounge. It’s showing its age a bit, primarily in the hallways and bathrooms, but looking beyond those minor issues I was quite happy with what it had to offer. It’d be interesting to see if they provide real meal replacements during dining hours as my experience was lacking when it came to food. Everything was clean, well kept, and the staff were all very courteous…aside from barring me from the spa – which I felt was ticket stock discrimination 😉 , everything was great.
Italy/England 2016 Trip Report
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- Marriott Rome Park Hotel
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- Le Anfore (business class) Lounge
- London Radisson Blu Edwardian New Providence Wharf Review:
- London Terminal 3 British Airways Galleries Lounge Review
- London Terminal 3 Admiral’s Club Review
- LHR-LAX American Business Class 777-300ER – mini cabin
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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