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British Airways airport lounge openings over Christmas – where can you go?

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Which British Airways airport lounges are open over Christmas?

We have got hold of a copy of BA’s internal lounge access guidelines for the Christmas period. The good news for anyone flying First Class is that The Concorde Room is back.

This is what you will find open, and when, in Terminal 5:

  • Galleries First – open 5am to 10pm. The terrace area will be available to all passengers, not just ticketed First Class passengers, during those times when the Concorde Room is open.
  • Galleries Club South – open 5am to 9pm, passengers to use Galleries First from 9pm to 10pm
  • Galleries Club North – open between 17th and 23rd December, and 27th/28th December, from 5am to 2pm
  • The Concorde Room – open between 17th and 20th December from 8am to 3pm (First Class ticket holders only, other passengers may be sent there if Galleries First is busy)

All other BA lounges remain closed. It isn’t clear what sort of food and drink service is currently offered.

The two independent lounges in Terminal 5, Club Aspire (buy here) and Plaza Premium (buy here) are also open.

Plaza Premium is by far the best of the two. Remember that it does not accept Priority Pass but you can still get in by flashing your American Express Platinum card at the door. The Club Aspire lounge does accept Priority Pass.


How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus card

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Get 5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

Comments (46)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Will CARPMAEL says:

    Won’t Ba quote Covid and say that is an escape route for them? They refused compensation for my midweek cancelled trip to INV (on load factor)and operational reasons. Expect to have to go to small claims for every ticket?

  • GJB says:

    I have just had return flights to St Lucia cancelled for April 21. No reason given . Just said they will be in touch. It’s part of a BA holiday booking.

  • Paul f says:

    If you take a travel voucher for a 241 that used the Avios half price offer in September – does the voucher and Reduced Avios used stay intact for a future Booking by April 2022 ?

  • Peter Fargus says:

    If we have to stay on for a couple of days to catch a different flight do you think would BA pay for the accommodation?

  • George Bond says:

    Same question as Paul I think – My cancellation was flight with 241 voucher so if I ask for future voucher does exact conditions apply with reduced avios for future flight up to Apr 2022.

  • elt says:

    Help please – urgent
    241 Flight cancelled to SKorea.
    BA will reroute us to tokyo but insist they will not pay for onward to Seoul with JAL or anyone else.
    Will not reroute us via Doha with Qatar either.
    Otherwise they will only offer refund.
    Is this correct?
    Thanks

    • Gavin says:

      No, they should reroute you to Seoul for no additional cost.

      • elt says:

        Spent an hour on phone to BA after I got thru.
        V. pleasant agent contacted the helpdesk several times but they abs. refuse to rebook us with another carrier as it’s a ” 241 and therefore has to be on BA metal”.
        Where do I go from here?

  • Rebecca says:

    Hi I have had my families flights cancelled to Peru for July 2021, both myself and my husband used a 241 companion voucher. We are happy to reroute using ba to Madrid and then Iberia to Lima. Usually you cannot use your 241 voucher on this route as it is operated by Iberia. Will ba have a duty of care to book us into these flights now? Thanks

    • Rhys says:

      Yes, they should do. Should be fairly easy as BA and Iberia are so close.

      • elt says:

        Rhys, pl see my comment just above re our cancelled 241 Seoul flight.
        It’s only the outbound that has problem as we are returning from Tokyo.
        Is there someone senior in BA you can refer us to?
        Thanks

        • Rhys says:

          Is it urgent? If not, give it a few weeks for BA to sort out their airline agreements and hopefully they’ll rebook you on Qatar or someone else then.

          • elt says:

            Thanks Rhys, flight not for a while, tho actual routing will affect itinerary I’m planning now.
            But BA rep checked with “the manager on the help desk” and apparently they were adamant, has to be BA metal.
            Also strangely although on Jal website I could see Haneda to Seoul (Gympoia?spelling) flights the BA agent could not.
            All she could book us on, with us paying, was flight Haneda, via Osaka to Seoul (Incheon)
            Which would have been crazy with BA using Haneda.
            I would really like to flag this up to someone senior in BA now

  • Paul says:

    Sorry if I’m being dumb, I have a first class flight booked for 22nd December, but according to your dates above the Concorde room won’t be open then?
    Thanks

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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