Hello and welcome to the next segment in this new series of Flight-Reports. These flights were taken back in February–it was a quick trip to Ireland to see a good friend over the long Presidents Day holiday weekend. This report will cover the 3rd leg of this trip: a visit to one of the British Airways T5 First Class lounges and a short hop across the Irish sea on a new BA A320 featuring the new short-haul cabin.
Here is the full routing:
Washington DCA ✈ New York JFK | American Airlines, B737-800, First Class
New York JFK ✈ London LHR | American Airlines, B777-200ER, Business Class
London LHR ✈ Dublin DUB | British Airways, A320-200, Economy Class
Dublin DUB ✈ Philadelphia PHL | American Airlines, B757-200, Business Class
Philadelphia PHL ✈ Washington DCA | American Airlines, E175, First Class
Having arrived on American Airlines at Terminal 3, we had to switch terminals to get to BA's Terminal 5 for our connecting flight. We took the airside bus to change terminals and arrived at T5 rather quickly. Consistent with my previous experiences connecting at LHR T5, going through passport control and transit security was a slow and painful experience despite having Fast Track access. I always make sure to build in at least 2 hours of connecting time whenever transiting at LHR.
More than 45 minutes after arriving from New York, here we are finally airside at T5.
Terminal 5 is an impressively massive building.
We headed for the British Airways Galleries First Class lounge North as it was a bit closer. BA lounges are located on either end of the main terminal: The Galleries North lounges and South lounges with separate First and Business class lounges. British Airways also has a separate lounge, called the Concorde Room, exclusively for BA First passengers. First class passengers on other oneworld carriers and oneworld Emerald status holders (who have access to international First class lounges) must use the Galleries First lounges.
The elegant entry foyer to the North Galleries lounges
Want.
The Galleries First class lounge is spacious and light-filled with chic decor.
We headed to the back where there is a pleasant terrace area separate from the rest of the lounge.
There's also a nice view of the tarmac
There are large FIDS screens on the terrace. As with most British airports, gates are only displayed about one hour prior to departure–my flight to Dublin is not yet showing a gate.
Between the First and Business class lounges, there is an Elemis spa shared by both lounges. This is also where one can request to use the shower facilities, also shared by both lounges. I was informed that there were several people ahead of me and given a pager that would buzz once a shower room became available.
As I waited for a shower, I enjoyed a glass of Taittinger Brut Prestige Rosé
The pager rang after a few minutes and I headed to the Elemis spa front desk. The shower rooms are pretty basic, but it is always nice to have a hot shower after a longhaul flight.
After the shower I put together an English breakfast from the buffet. The Galleries First lounge has a restaurant section with table service most of the day, except breakfast, where it is self-serve buffet.
Breakfast with a view :-)
Our gate turned out to be adjacent to the lounge, so we had unknowingly chosen the good side of the terminal (North).
Boarding began on time with Business class and oneworld Elites.
There was no good view of our aircraft.
It was a pleasant surprise to see the new BA cabin
I like the new look of the cabin and the blue mood lighting is pleasant
Good amount of room in the exit row
Speedbird logo on the headrests.
Contents of the seatback pocket
Boarding was quick and the doors were shut early.
The safety video was played on the overhead screens.
Pushback in the rainy London weather
The airshow is turned on during taxi
Taxi time was relatively short for LHR and we were off.
Malaysia Airlines A380 at T3
Blue skies and sunshine above the clouds
Shortly after takeoff, the drink service began. There was a choice of juices, coffee, tea, and sodas; very similar to service on domestic U.S. flights. Lemon biscuits were served along with the drinks.
I had a quick nap and woke up as we were reaching the Irish coast.
First glimpse of land
Despite the overcast conditions, the Emerald Isle lives up to its name–it is indeed very green, even in the middle of winter.
We landed early with a view of the newer Terminal 2.
We headed for the older Terminal 1
We arrived at the gate about 10 minutes early.
View of our brand new A320
We went through a quick passport check and were out to the curb in minutes.
Welcome to Ireland!
Nice new cabins they have!! And the mood lighting is lovely. But those seats are so.... er.... black!
I won't forget to pack my Head and Shoulders whenever I visit London. Just in case.
Haha, never thought about that. I guess I'd rather see it on the black rather than not being aware with a white headrest cover, LOL. Thanks for stopping by!
Merci pour ce FR Kévin !
"I always make sure to build in at least 2 hours of connecting time whenever transiting at LHR." -> Et c'est bien là tout le problème de LHR...
A quoi rime d'appeler le salon "First" si les passagers F ont accès à un autre salon ?
"As is most British airports, gates are only displayed about one hour prior to departure–my flight to Dublin is not yet showing a gate." -> Et c'est bien embetant lorsque l'on a pas d'accès au salon...
Pour le vol c'est un service BA standard, la présence d'écrans centraux est un plus indéniable.
A bientot pour la suite.
Merci pour ton commentaire Clément !
" Et c'est bien là tout le problème de LHR..."
- Je suis bien d'accord avec toi. Depuis quelques années, avec l'amelioration de l'expérience de transit à CDG, LHR a pris la couronne de l'aéroport Européen le plus chiant pour changer d'avions.
"A quoi rime d'appeler le salon "First" si les passagers F ont accès à un autre salon ?"
- C'est comme ça que BA contourne les règles oneworld d'accès au salon et je n'aime pas ça du tout. J'en avais parlé dans un FR SIN-SYD--à SIN BA a fermé son salon Galleries First pour ouvrir une "Concorde Room"...du soup, les OW Emeralds n'ont plus accès au salon F, puisqu'il y en a pas techniquement, et doivent se contenter du salon Business. A LHR, c'est moins un problème car il y a plutôt deux niveaux de salons First. Oui, c'est un peu n'importe quoi car les autres cie OW ne font pas ça, mais au moins il y a un salon F à LHR--2 en fait.
"Et c'est bien embetant lorsque l'on a pas d'accès au salon..."
- Oui, c'est un point des embêtant des aéroports Britaniques. Il m'est déjà arrivé de rester planter devant un FIDS longtemps à attendre que la porte s'affiche pour ensuite devoir courir car elle s'est affiché moins d'une demi heure avant le départ et bien sur c'est à l'autre bout du terminal!
"Pour le vol c'est un service BA standard, la présence d'écrans centraux est un plus indéniable."
- Exactement, rien de bien impréssionant, mais c'est correct. Les écrans avec airshow sont toujours bien pour les AvGeeks
Merci!
Thank you for sharing this FR with us!
Nice shots from the lounge.
Breakfast with a magnificent 747 in front of you? That's what I call breakfast with style haha.
I flew in this new cabin recently and it's definitely fresh and looks nice (A319 LHR-ARN, FR will be up soon). You got some nice shots of the cabin.
Flight information on the overhead screen is very much appreciated, they seem to have an updated version of the flight map on your flight. We had a much older flight map on my LHR-ARN flight last month.
Your ride definitely looks nice with Sharklets, or Winglets depending on how you prefer to say.
Have a good one, see you later!
Thanks for your comments as always RI 777!
"Breakfast with a magnificent 747 in front of you? That's what I call breakfast with style haha."
- And with champagne! My favorite kind of breakfast drink ^^
"I flew in this new cabin recently and it's definitely fresh and looks nice (A319 LHR-ARN, FR will be up soon)."
- Looking forward to it!
"We had a much older flight map on my LHR-ARN flight last month."
- Probably because it was an older aircraft that was retrofitted with the new cabin? My aircraft may have been delivered with the new cabin. or if it wasn't the sharklets indicate that it is newer, so it was at least delivered with the more updated airshow.
"Sharklets, or Winglets depending on how you prefer to say."
- Haha, true! I don't like the word sharklet personally, but I guess when talking about an airbus, it's technically the correct word.
Thanks for stopping by!
Super report, thanks for sharing! New member here who just posted a very basic flight report :P
Those models looked good so did the view from the lounge!
Hi there, thanks for stopping by and commenting! Yep, I just saw your first report. Welcome!
Yes, those models are nice. I collect airplane models, mostly 1:200 scale. Those BA birds would be a nice addition to my collection :-)
Thanks for sharing Kevin!
“Want.”
- The OZ A380 model in the lounge at ICN is better, I might have to break a wing off to take with me next time ;) Also, the AC B789 model at the MLL in LAX is right by the exit, very convenient to walk out with^^
It’s impressive how much emptier this lounge is than the Galleries Lounges. Those are disgusting zoos.
You were also lucky to get an A gate, no mad rush to the B or C concourses. That’s where you get the sudden panic realizing how far you have to go in less than 30 minutes to catch the start of boarding.
“There was a choice of juices, coffee, tea, and sodas”
- No alcoholic drinks? Is it a time of departure issue? Overall a better offering than EI, so no complaints about the simple drink and sweet/salty snack.
Were the exit row seats blocked off for OW Sapphires/Emeralds? Did you have issues reserving your seats for this flight? I always thought BA seat reservations were non-straightforward and often required fees for pre-selection for non BA-elites.
Pretty solid performance by BA even on the short island hops.
Hey thanks for the comments!
Yes, love all of those models. I'll take them all!
"It’s impressive how much emptier this lounge is than the Galleries Lounges."
- Yes, it is definitely quieter than the Galleries lounges, but it did start to get a bit more crowded towards the end.
"You were also lucky to get an A gate"
- Definitely! And not just any A gate...an A gate right below the lounge. I've said it before, but I hate the last minute gate assignments in British airports forcing you to run to your gate in another concourse.
"No alcoholic drinks? Is it a time of departure issue?"
- I'm sure if I'd asked for a gin & tonic they'd have given me one, but the bottles weren't displayed on top of the cart like they are later in the day. I was feeling nice from all my breakfast champagne anyway ^^
"Were the exit row seats blocked off for OW Sapphires/Emeralds? Did you have issues reserving your seats for this flight?"
- I couldn't reserve my seats when I first bought the tickets through AA, even on the BA website. I can't remember how fare in advance it was, but I was eventually able to select seats in the exit row at no charge for Sapphires/Emeralds. it may have been at the 30 hour check-in window.
" I couldn't reserve my seats when I first bought the tickets through AA, even on the BA website."
- Did you ever try on the QF website? I think I remember I had issues with BA seat selection too, but through the QF website, I was able to pick seats on BA/IB.
No, I didn't, but I've heard that before. I'll try that next time! Thanks for the tip.