BA First Wing at Heathrow T5 | First Lounge Honest Review
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- čas přidán 17. 07. 2024
- #bagold #bafirstwing #bafirstlounge
The hallowed ground that is the British Airways First Wing in Heathrow Terminal 5 with exclusive check in desks, security lane and direct access to the first lounge.
All of this is reserved for first class passengers, unless you have Gold status with British Airways. If you have status then you are permitted entry regardless of the class of your ticket.
Join me as I peep behind the curtains and stroll through and we can discover what it’s really like this exclusive Oneworld Emerald Lounge and I’ll answer important questions such as, is there somewhere to sleep, how “good” is the champagne and most importantly, are the toilets clean?
0:00 Introduction
0:37 Check In
1:44 Main Lounge
2:48 Sleep Pods
4:14 Drinks
5:43 Food
7:00 My View
8:10 How You Can Get Access
Thank you for joining me in the first wing and on my grey gap year.
Phil
Nice review as always Phil, keep up the great work... As I've said before, your presentation is always very well delivered, very informative and very easy to follow.
Thank you Dean, as always, your support is appreciated.
Another wonderfully presented and informative video. Looking forward to the next one. We had a little booking frenzy this weekend, and booked trips to Lisbon, Naples, Budapest and Prague (mainly to take advantage of our Silver status before it ends).
Thanks for your kind feedback, it really is appreciated. I hope you enjoy your trips, 4 distinct and different locations.
All the best,
Phil
Thanks for the balanced review of the lounge.
I've just gotten Gold Status, and have a trip from T5 on BA in a month or so.
Looking forward to using that first wing and lounge, which looks like a good space to relax before my flight.
Thank you for your kind comments, I hope you enjoy your first time in the lounge, I still get excited to go,
Have a great trip,
Phil
Thanks for sharing Phil, I have only had one proper visit to this lounge and that was in June 2023 when I flew with a mate of mine to the Paris Air Show and we entered on his Gold Status (I was Sapphire at the time). I really enjoyed it, would love to revisit here again. Ironically this place very likely doesn't have any first class passengers in this lounge- they would all be in the Concorde Room, making this place effectively a Gold Card holder's lounge.
Thanks for your comment, you're right it is essentially a status lounge, although technically it's the lounge for non-BA Oneworld First Class passengers too, but who'd pick this over, say Cathay's lounge in T3?
Hope you get to visit it again soon, good luck,
Phil
@@mygreygapyear Much as I'd love to do this lounge again or the Concorde Room- I don't unfortunately see that happening, however I am very fortunate to experience the BA Business Lounges when I can!
Great video, Informative and by far the most comprehensive. Hopefully in the next 6 months I'll have my gold status, then eventually the concorde room if i can scrape enough £ together lol
Thanks again for your support, much appreciated. I honestly think that getting some avios is the best way to travel in first. If you fly back into the UK in first if you buy an onward ticket (from LHR to GLA for example) then you can use the Concord room while you wait for your connecting flight 😊 (Concord room tip is from @MattsPlanet)
Great review! I agree with your points. I’ve visited the flounge after visiting galleries club and the food was identical. The same buffet, and much much busier than b gates. I love b gates Club personally! Keep up the content, loving it! :)
Thank you for your kind comments. I had suspected that the food in First and Business Lounges were similar, good to have that confirmed. I'm going to head for the B Gate lounge on my next trip through Heathrow T5,
Thanks for the tip
Phil
Hey Phil, good video,
I was in the same situation as you a few weeks ago. and I decided to leave the first lounge and use the Business lounge at the B gates. i think it was a much nice experience.
would be worth popping over too next time you are travelling through there
Hi Peter, thanks for your comment and your tip, I haven't tried the lounge by the B gates previously but I will next time I'm at Heathrow T5.
Thanks
Phil
Really interesting and informative review. I think Matt from Matt's Planet said the food offerings (at least breakfast anyway) looked very similiar to those in the Business Galleries. Now I'm Gold, I see what it's like. It looks very busy but I imagine there must many business travellers who travel Club Europe/World and rack up Gold status. I've yet to try T5B lounge and am more excited about the OneWorld First lounges at T3. The First wing looks good though - I'm really looking forward to that.
Thanks for your comments and support, it really does mean a lot to me. Savour it when you first go through the First Wing. There will be lots of people for who this is routine, don't let them rush you. Enjoy the moment.
Congratulations on hitting Gold, look forward to bumping into you in the First Lounge,
Phil
I see this wing all the time from Heathrow reviewers, looks really nice! Almost motivates me to go reach that Emerald tier which, with my oneworld programme, is valid for 24 months! POKE!!!
- Red
Hi Red, thanks for your comment. It really is the icing on the cake to have this exclusive area.
Which scheme has a 24 month validity? I am genuinely curious.
Thanks
Phil
@@mygreygapyear Royal Jordanian
Great video my wife and I have emerald one world so we are going to use it on the way to Madrid
Congrats on getting Oneworld Emerald, have the best time in Madrid.
Nice to watch an honest review without it being all insta-famous and self indulgent 👍🏻
Thank you for your kind comments, much appreciated.
Thanks for the review Phil. I'm thinking about doing a tier point run soon myself. Is this the first leg to your Qsuite flight? I'm waiting for your thoughts on that. My wife and I did experienced it earlier this year and we're doing it again next month. Looking forward to your next video!!
Thanks for your comment, no my QSuite flight is in mid November, less than a month now but I'll be away until Christmas so the video won't go up until the New Year unfortunately.
But rest assured I'm busy making videos for while I'm away 😊
Thank you for your support,
Phil
Great video, also recently achieved gold status, a bit disappointing they’ve removed the sleep pods, seems they’re just trying to constantly make it less attractive, I do hope the bar comes back but we’ll see, breakfast offering looked good, it’s just the lunch/dinner hot food offering that leave a lot to be desired for me, where’s the protein option? Thanks for the video
Thanks for your comment and your support. I hadn't even noticed that there wasn't a protein option, it's basically an all carb buffet. Fishcakes, curry, sandwiches... I also hope the bar comes back too.
Thank you, Phil, for sharing! I very much appreciate it. I will be flying first class (Heathrow to SF) and can access this lounge and the Concorde Room. I am not much into food and beverages, especially before a long-haul flight, where I will eat again. I am more into peace and quiet. Does the Concorde Room have quiet areas, or should I head to the B Gates lounge, which tends to be less crowded?
Thank you for your comment and question, it has to be the Concorde Room all the way for me, it is a very quiet space and has a terrace like the F lounge which has the low rumble of the main departures (which oddly I do like as though it's white noise).
Of course you can always leave and travel to the B Gates lounge if it doesn't take your fancy.
My review of the Concorde room is here czcams.com/video/3HyGxAhuZrg/video.html
Thanks
Phil
There should be a dress code 😂😂😂 look at the way people dress for first. Maybe I'm just old school, nice shoes and shirt and always look the part.
Thanks for your comment, definitely old skool 😂. I used to put my Sunday best on for business, but now I just wear something comfortable. I was in my jogger shorts on the way back from Barbados.
I’m with you on the position of those toilet roll holders, need to have double jointed shoulders 😢
I know right? Thank you, I'm glad it's not just me 😊.
Thanks for your comment, it's appreciated
Phil
Hi Phil. I was Gold from 2015, but have dropped to Silver, and last week was the first time in ages that I had to go through "fast" track at the North End, then dodge the crowded North Galleries and take the escalator of shame to get to Galleries South - didn't have time to go to the B Galleries.
My perception over the years is that the Flounge has become very crowded unless you're on an early flight.
Do yourself a favour if you can - go to Hong Kong, and have a long layover (I spent two days of my life there, and loved every minute oif it). They really know how to do lounges there.
I have a word of advice about Bangkok. May I suggest that you identify the areas where you want to visit, and shift your hotel accordingly. For example, if you want to visit MBK, stay in the Ibis or Mercure there for a night or two, same with Sathorn/Silom, and for your last night, somewhere close to the Sirat motorway for the airport - I can recommend the Grand Fortune Mercure - because this takes the guesswork out of how long it takes to get to the airport.
Happy travels.
Thank you for your comment and excellent suggestions, I have some different trips next year and I might be in Jakarta in July so that's not too far to Hong Kong, right? I did have a plan to go to Bangkok this year but I changed it to Bali as Qatar runs the QSuite to Bali but Bangkok was the 787-8 with the pod seats.
Thank you again for your superb help,
Phil
pointless. If you're not in the concorde lounge, then you're not good enough....
Thanks for your comment. The Concorde room is very nice, I've been lucky enough to enjoy it just once. Don't think I'll ever be Gold Guest List though, so just the odd occasion I fly in First.