International Lounges

Great to know! I've passed through LHR in T3 and T5 several times in the past few years as a OWE and never bothered to ask as I though I had to be long-haul J/F or BA Gold.

Looking forward to checking it out when I'm at LHR T3 next weekend!

Please report your experiences upon your return!

Will do! Though I may head into the lounge first to fill up on liquid courage (i.e., Johnnie Walker Blue) in case I have to face the wrath of a BA Lounge/Spa Dragon!

Having been in all four of those lounges, I disagree. The SYD QF F lounge holds its own in that crowd, but it isn't clearly better imho. BA and QF win on food, although CX is close behind (and as others note it isn't like the JL lounge has bad food in any way). JL, QF, and BA showers are all in the same category, but CX's cabana's are really in another class. Style wise I like the QF lounge the most, but they are all quite nice. I haven't used the spa at any of them, but I understand the spas at BA and QF are both quite nice.

Having been in all four this past year we will have to agree to disagree. I prefer a meal that is served over any buffet. Usually go to a buffet for the value. (think Las Vegas or the excellent brunch buffett we recently experience in MUC at the advents). IMO the QF menu is a lot more extensive than the BA menu. In addition along with the personal touches like flowers placed with the meal. the food servers are a lot more friendly and will start up a conversation whereas the BA food servers put the plate down and depart with a "will there be anything else"


Breakfast Presentation - ricotta pancakes with berries with a side of shulz bacon

When I was at the JL lounge the buffett appeared to have items that had spent an inordinate amount of time either on the steam or under the lamps. A mechanical beer machine does not fascinate me and anyone with a little coordination can do the same with a bottle and a glass.

Still believe if one is a frequent flyer than the QF lounge is a place that one must visit before dying. Would not say that for the others but next time will arrive at CX tired and try the cabanas.

It's not that easy to get the bubbles to beer ratio right

Yep, that's a horrid lounge. It was better/more interesting to wander around the terminal.

When I was in there in October, I was lucky to get a seat.

Other lounges (like the AC in CDG) are down below the gates, but they're not nearly as dismal as the Amphora lounge at FCO.

A properly run buffet is great, IMO, because you can sample a number of different dishes without having to make a committment to something you have only read about. What gives buffets a bad name is that most are not properly run. They try to make enough of each dish to last 8 hours, then put it out on the buffet line and keep it sorta hot. But a properly-done buffet is a thing of beauty.

If we're accepting nominations for the worst lounge in human history, I would like to nominate the Sakura lounge at PVG. Small and very crowded, with hard plastic chairs arranged in rows like stadium or concert seating. The entire lounge was a smoking area. Food and drink offerings were minimal and unappetizing.

You're kidding? That's horrible. Reminds me of a stay a number of years ago at the Four Season London, where the breakfast restaurant defined the "non-smoking" section as removing the ashtray from your table upon request.

That's my memory of it, but I was somewhat jetlagged. I know I was sitting in an area where people nearby were smoking. It was really crowded, so it is possible that there was a non-smoking section that was full, but it couldn't have been more than 3 feet from the smoking section. I really notice smoking when I travel abroad, as most other countries seem to have a higher percentage of smokers and are behind us on separating smokers from non-smokers.

I've been in lounges so thick with smoke you need to push the fug aside just to move around. I saw no evidence of food or drink, but then again I struggled to find the door when I went to leave

Interesting. Your description of BA is close to what I experienced in QF re: the servers. Maybe I just went when they were a little short handed or otherwise busy. I didn't notice the menu difference, but I was at the two lounges at different times of the day anyway. In any case, I'll have plenty of opportunities to check out the QF lounge again, so maybe I'll be won over.

Try the Dragon Air lounge. It's a nice space and has decent dim sum.

When I was doing this, DragonAir hadn't joined Oneworld yet. I'll give it a try the next chance I get. How does Dragonair compare to the CX lounge?

Cx uses the Dragon lounge.

Then I've been in it. Much better than the Sakura lounge.

The Dragon Air lounge does have several kinds of dim sum and much better then you would have expected!

Likewise, loved it last month. Had an hour there. Accessed with BA Gold flying LAN back to Santiago. Went to the bar, and asked what Champaign they had. He showed me a non vintage, which was fine with me. I curiously asked what else they had, and he said hold on and brought me back a vintage. Forgot what, but it was good. He said, "why don't you take the bottle back to your seat. I got it out just for you!" Polished off almost two bottles before my flight.^^^

Sounds great!^

Wow! Talk about flying high!

AGREED! QF Sydney First is hands down the top lounge that all other lounges would probably dream of!

Nah.

No. LH FCT/L's are superior.

Doesn't seem fair to compare LH's First Class Terminal to a mere lounge... Plus, LH's FCT isn't available to elites, only to folks with seats in F, so along similar lines I wouldn't really include the Concorde Room in a comparison of lounges here either (although not since the days of the actual Concorde did it offer an one-stop-shop for lounge and boarding even close to FRA's FCT).