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Review: British Airways First Class Lounge London Heathrow
If you’re just tuning in…Hello! You’re amidst an epic around the world surprise trip celebrating my mom’s 75th birthday. We just arrived from Abu Dhabi where we visited the Sheikh Zayed Mosque, had high tea at the Emirates Palace, rested at the Ritz, and then my folks jetted up here to London in Etihad Apartments while I flew in the Business Studio. While we were in flight my mom found out that we weren’t actually going to London, but heading on elsewhere, so while she waited in anticipation of our final destination we kicked it in British Airways First Class Lounge London Heathrow in Terminal 5.
Gaining Access:
It’s kind of funny how we gained access. I’m currently a One World Emerald member and we were continuing on BA Club World. Which means our cabin of service would have given us access to the Galleries lounge upstairs from the First Class lounge, but I would have only been able to get me plus one person into first. A little background – we booked these tickets last year when I’d had my parents do an AA Platinum challenge and they hit it so when we booked the tickets they had One World Sapphire. They didn’t retain the status, but it was still on their tickets – dunno how that happened. So I just put their tickets under my Emerald ticket and next thing I knew we were in the lounge.
It was so easy and we gained access without any question so I started to second guess that we were in fact in the First Class lounge. It was my first time here and I actually didn’t realize it was first class until I saw a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue available for free pour. HA! I’m not sure which this reflects on worse…me or the lounge hahaha!
I guess this also summarizes my first impression which was that this it’s a pretty nice business class lounge.
The Deets:
- When: April 2017
- Where: London Heathrow Terminal 5
- Access:
- First Class Customers
- One World Emerald on any international ticket
- Cool perks
- Elemis spa
- Johnnie Walker Blue
The Outside area is my preferred seating location.
While we were there Tom’s Pies had a pop up shop. HOLY SCHMOLY are they delicious. Adjacent to Tom’s was a Thatchers set up. Very cool and very good.
Dining + The Food:
The Tom’s popup was LEGIT. The rest of the food is pretty good and there is adequate seating in the dining area. I did like the cone, clotted cream, and jam section.
Champagne Bar. Beer Bar. Bar, bar.
If you’re into Whiskey…you won’t be disappointed. It was too early in the day for me to indulge, but it looked great.
Credit given where credit is due. I think they hit a homerun with the bar areas.
Seating Areas:
This is a very busy lounge. We ended up circling for a little while before we could actually find 3 seats together. However if you go to the far side of the lounge you can find some more private areas. We stuck near the Tom’s pies.
The Elemis Spa and Showers
The space and concept is great. They’re clean, but they are really old and unappealing. They just need a reno…if you’re interested in reading my funny experience at the Elemis Spa on another trip…go here.
Overall:
It’s certainly a step up from the Business Class Galleries lounge upstairs, and don’t get me wrong, it’s a great lounge. But, comparing it to other world class lounges – it’s showing its age and lags quite a bit. BA, in general, needs investment into product, and while there is another step up from the First Class lounge, The Concorde Room, the quality and service of this lounge isn’t on par with competitors. I’ve been back a couple of times since visiting during this trip and I do enjoy the lounge, but it’s really a very nice ‘business class’ lounge.
You don’t have to stop here. Check out how we paid $5k and took a $125k Surprise trip Around The World to celebrate my Mom’s 75th
Flights:
- Boston to Beijing
- Beijing to Singapore
- Singapore to Bali Roundtrip
- Singapore to Dubai
- Abu Dhabi to Cannes, France
- Etihad Airways First Class Apartment A380 Abu Dhabi to London ($8k)
- Etihad Airways Business Studio A380 Abu Dhabi to London ( $3500-5k)
- British Airways Club Europe A321 London to Nice
- Cannes, France to Dallas
- Lufthansa Business Class A321 Nice to Frankfurt ($10k)
- Lufthansa First Class A330 Frankfurt to Dallas
Hotels:
- Boston
- Beijing
- JW Marriott Beijing, 1 Bedroom Suite ($450 for 5 nights)
- Club King ($250)
- Singapore
- Bali
- Mandapa, Ritz Carlton Reserve 1 Bedroom Rice Paddy View Villa ($600/night)
- Conrad Bali 1 Bedroom Ocean View Suite ($400/night)
- Singapore
- Dubai
- Abu Dhabi
- Cannes, France
- Intercontinental Carlton Cannes, France ($300)
- Dallas
- Grand Hyatt DFW ($150
- JW Marriott Beijing, 1 Bedroom Suite ($450 for 5 nights)
Lounges
- Boston
- Hong Kong
- Beijing
- Singapore
- Bali
- Singapore
- Abu Dhabi
- Etihad First Class Lounge
- Etihad Business Class Lounge
- Etihad Shave Experience
- London
- British Airways First Class Lounge LHR Terminal 5
- Nice
- Living Room Azur
- Frankfurt
- Lufthansa First Class Lounge Frankfurt Terminal A
Afternoon Tea
- Peninsula, Beijing
- Raffles, Singapore
- Burj Khalifa, Dubai
- Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi
TIPS:
- When to look for Cathay award space
- How we booked 3 Singapore Suites
- 5 things we loved doing in Singapore that avoided the heat
- Never trust the concierge
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
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- 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
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- $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.
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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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