BA Galleries/Terrace lounges and QF J lounges

[mattyflyer]

Iv flown 3 times to Europe with SIA in J class and love their lounges. Im flying to rome with QF in november and want to know what you all think of the BA T5 and T3 lounges and QF's lounges in MEL and SIN????

 

[samh004]

I’ve only tried the Galleries T3 lounge and found it infinitely better than the BA SIN lounge.

 

[Andyzx]

Really enjoyed the T5 Galleries lounge, although only had a short time there. It's longish (sectionalised) so difficult to find the right comfort spot too a little time. Didn't use the showers etc.

Compares well (better) than Syd or Mel intl lounge and much better than SIN lounge. However T5 there are plus and negatives. Beer is ok, sprits ok (similar) no burbon if I remember correctly. Bubbles better. Food was hit and miss. Liked the seats and lighting and the space was better for our late night flight. When we were there around 22.00 it was pretty busy. Generally better the MEL Intl but there are a few misses as well.:-|

 

[tuapekastar]

T5 North and South lounges are both good (South seems bigger and more roomy, just the layout I guess). T3 less so (a bit pokey, low ceiling because of the building it is in) but is still comfortable enough. They all had the bacon rolls.

Haven't been in the SIN J lounge for some years but my recollection is that it stacks up OK against the LHR lounges. Ditto with SYD, and I think MEL is fine apart from having no view.

I think some people get a little, well, precious when it comes to lounges. Sure there are some shockers out there, as well as some great ones, but most fall into the 'acceptable' category (IMHO). And almost without exception, it's better than no lounge at all.

 

[TonyHancock]

Sure there are some shockers out there, as well as some great ones, but most fall into the 'acceptable' category (IMHO). And almost without exception, it's better than no lounge at all.

How true that is. LHR T3 is always crowded so lounge access is essential.

 

[ChrisFlyer]

I've used the South Galleries lounge in T5 when flying to FCO in January this year, and was very impressed...

Food and beverage choice was great - and yes, it included the bacon rolls (morning flight)! We checked in at 5am, and wandered straight through the fast track security line (just two people in front of us!), which comes out near the South lounge (so we just went in that one - capacity wasn't really an issue at that time of the morning)! Spent about 2 hours there catching up on emails using their free wi-fi - just ask them for the password (it changes once a month).

If you're leaving from a gate at the North end, just allow a good 5-10 minutes to get there from the lounge, or alternately, use the North lounge instead (though the advantage of the South lounge is that it's right near the business/first check-in (Zone H), and also near the fast track security entrance.

I haven't used lounges in T3, so I can't comment there

 

[Alanslegal]

I recently spent some time at the BA LHR T5 Galleries First and I was quite impressed. I'm pretty sure it was the South lounge (next to the F check-in's and security). The lounge is huge, loads of space, a la carte menu, food buffet, plenty of wine/alcohol choices, a business centre, comfy seating choices and even a terrace overlooking the runway and the inside of the terminal. [Can't comment on their Business Lounge though as I've never been].

QF J Lounge at MEL and SIN are both very good J lounges, when comparing with other J lounges. But then again, theoretically (and it happens imo) is that the home carrier lounges at their home airports should be the best lounge at off all the carriers eg. QF is the best lounges at SYD,MEL; SQ at SIN, BA at LHR, EK at DXB and so on, etc.

IME QF J at SIN is probably equally as good as SQ KF J Lounge. QF F Lounge at SIN is almost as good as the SQ KF F Lounge, but where SQ trumps QF at SIN (and this is expected given the home ground advantage) is the SQ The Private Lounge.

However just a thought that when flying with QF/OW to FCO it requires three flights if going via LHR, whereas SQ will only require two. (SQ I think flies the 772's from SIN-FCO though).

 

[Canny man]

I was through the T5 F lounge in the morning a few weeks back. As Alanslegal says, loads of space, excellent food - the breakfast buffet was as good as a good hotel with a good choice of hot/cold and healthy/unhealthy choices. A nice champagne buffet too if your body clock is OK for it.

The only negative is that it's a bit trickier to find as you have to go down to go up....if that makes sense.

I disagree with the comments on QF/BA F loinge at Sing. Small, disappointing quality of food/drink and not a patch on the SIA J lounge which has an excellent hot buffet and never seems overly busy.

 

[ChrisFlyer]

The only negative is that it's a bit trickier to find as you have to go down to go up....if that makes sense.

I was also confused by that - originally I went through the Concorde Room door to the right of the security checkpoint, walked around for a bit and noticed that there was no-one to be seen anywhere in there, so I went back out, and then into the lounge the usual way haha

 

[Canny man]

Exactly the same for with me. It's a lot easier to find the North J lounge and I bet a lot of non regulars find themselves settling for there instead.