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Hi, my husband and I will be travelling from LHR Terminal 3 on a Thursday in April. Flight is about 16:00 and we plan on getting to the airport in good time to visit a few lounges (by 12:00ish). We’ll have access to all OW, centurion and priority pass lounges either via first tickets or Amex. Obviously we’re not going to attempt to visit them all but looking for recommendations on a lounge strategy given the timing of our flight. Which lounges should be prioritise and what time would be best to visit? We haven’t been to any of the lounges in T3, and only priority pass and BA galleries club in other terminals/airports.
Thanksdid you try search
https://www.headforpoints.com/?s=lhr+terminal+3This is the handbook for OW lounges!
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club/1653179-best-t3-oneworld-lounge.html
I haven’t been to the Centurion for a while but it was worth a visit when it first opened. It’s at the other end of the terminal though.
I’d head for Qantas for the drinks and Cathay for the noodle bar and they are next-door to each other. No need to visit BA unless you desperately want to!
At the times that you’re there, with a First ticket I’d head to Cathay first lounge and have lunch there in the table service restaurant. After that, head to Qantas if you like gin, or just for a change of scene.
Ignore AA, the BA first dining section might be worth a look if you’re really hungry after Cathay (no experience of that). Centurion is nice enough, but it’s not as good as Cathay or Qantas
Thanks all. I’ve read the reviews of the lounges i was more thinking of the best times to go to each, will probably aim to eat in CP first and have a drink in quantas. Maybe a drink in centurion if we have time
Thanks for asking this as I’m travelling tomorrow in business with AA from terminal 3. I’m usually a T 5 flier so not familiar with the lounges in 3.
I’d read plenty about CP and Qantas.I’m BA gold so sounds like the first CP lounge is the place to go? My flight is at 5pm what time does table service lunch end?
Is there a gold/OW fast track security like in T5?
Yes there is FT security, but the queues are usually much shorter anyway than in T5.
Not used CX F lounge yet, heading there in November and hoping it’s better than Galleries F, lol.
The CX F lounge is far better than Galleries F!
But CX does restrict access at times, especially if one of their own flights is due to depart. And IIRC they are also the contract lounge for at least one non OW airline as well so restrict access when that airlines flight is due to operate.
The fast track line at T3 is signposted as “fast Track” rather than listing any particular airline or status (other than on some pop up signs) as its multi airline accessible. If you start asking for “one world security” you might get some puzzled looks.
Yes there is FT security, but the queues are usually much shorter anyway than in T5.
Not used CX F lounge yet, heading there in November and hoping it’s better than Galleries F, lol.
It’s definitely better – the restaurant is a nice touch and I love getting one of the window seats for the views. It is small though so capacity is an issue
Limited vegetarian options were an issue in the Cathay lounge today.
The CX F lounge is far better than Galleries F!
But CX does restrict access at times, especially if one of their own flights is due to depart. And IIRC they are also the contract lounge for at least one non OW airline as well so restrict access when that airlines flight is due to operate.
The fast track line at T3 is signposted as “fast Track” rather than listing any particular airline or status (other than on some pop up signs) as its multi airline accessible. If you start asking for “one world security” you might get some puzzled looks.
How is that any different from T5 (except there’s an actual, scanner for FT BPs)?!
I was joking slightly – first trip to the F lounge this week and it wasn’t even as good at CX J or QF lounges!
The scanners and proceses are the same but T3 deals with numerous airlines so any wording about access is be more generic than at a terminal where it’s essentially only one airline.
There is a BP scanner at the entrance to the actual security lane that gets scanned.
At departures 3 at AMS the priority lane just says ‘priority’ and doesn’t mention any airline or status but there is someone manually checking BPs and directing people appropriatly.
I’m pretty sure they both just say “Fast track”. At T5 connections all it consists of is a separate staircase, which in practice anyone can go up, to join the same queue at an earlier point than the other pax!
T3 has the new CT scanners which make a big difference. Well apart from the people who still faff about removing all their items and taking their shoes off.
OP – You can visit all of them if you want to. Some depend a bit on timing of their own flights eg check at the door whether table service dining is open in Qantas, if not the buffet is nothing special but there is a nice gin bar upstairs.
Cathay is good overall, the first section can get a bit full at times and you can check the menu for the table service dining area. The same noodle dishes are available next door in the business lounge as well as a manned bar. Views are similar in each. Probably the best showers and toilets of the lot.
If you have First tickets, there is a CCR dining area within the BA first lounge with standard CCR menus and table service.
A lot of people seem to poo poo the AA lounge but there is a good table service dining menu within the first lounge.
I didn’t think much of the Amex lounge the only time I visited.Someone posted the AA F breakfast menu over on FT and it looked really good.
As is the afternoon a la carte menu – which is more appropriate for the OP’s timings.
My only criticism of the breakfast dishes is that the avocado looks like it has come from a squeezy bottle father than fresh.
While the upstairs space in Qantas is pleasant, the food (and cocktail) offers
were sub-par, and we ended up going back to lovely Cathay, which also has a decent
range of newspapers and magazines again.While the upstairs space in Qantas is pleasant, the food (and cocktail) offers
were sub-par, and we ended up going back to lovely Cathay, which also has a decent
range of newspapers and magazines again.The big merit of QF is really that it’s very quiet for the first half of the day plus coffee and bogs decent. As you say, the drinks (and food) are very sub-par. Squirty tonic!
CX is better but nowadays often too busy (obviously particularly around their own flight times) to the point of not allowing other airline pax/status holders.
I still struggle with the title of this thread! Does anyone seriously need a lounge “strategy”?
Some of the reviews/posts are a bit out of date and if anything, what were the better ones (including Amex) have gone downhill a bit. They all have their pros and cons but probably the more ‘legacy’ lounges – AA/BA don’t stack up too badly now.
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