BA Terraces Lounge Athens

[pyffii]

Mrs pyffii and I are travelling from Melbourne to Corfu in May on a DONE4...We are via HKG and LHR on BA and then Aegean Air from Athens to Corfu ( 5 hour stop over )..It would appear thT Qantas/BA and Aegean have an interline agreement so luggage should be checked through to Corfu...My question is can we access the BA Terraces lounge for a few hours before proceeding through Immigration...Thanks in advance for any help

 

[JohnK]

Theoretically you do not have access to the lounge as it is a BA lounge and not a QF lounge and you are travelling on a non-Oneworld airline. It never hurts to ask though.

It is only a small(ish) lounge and also before security but you do get a priority pass through security on exit from the lounge.

 

[Mal]

I was there only ~2 weeks ago.

The lounge staff are very relaxed, although as noted earlier - strictly you don't get access. You would need BA Gold instead, which has an "open doors" policy for their lounges. (Similar to Qantas and WP, and the "open doors" policy to Qantas lounges)

Without access you're not missing much. I wouldn't rate it as a good lounge. Very dated, reasonably small and food+drink options limited - although the mini-rolls they had were nice.

Oh, I also wasn't offered a Fast Track security pass either - and didn't see anyone else being offered one either.

 

[davidj-bell]

Mrs pyffii and I are travelling from Melbourne to Corfu in May on a DONE4...We are via HKG and LHR on BA and then Aegean Air from Athens to Corfu ( 5 hour stop over )..It would appear thT Qantas/BA and Aegean have an interline agreement so luggage should be checked through to Corfu...My question is can we access the BA Terraces lounge for a few hours before proceeding through Immigration...Thanks in advance for any help

The lounge is post departure immigration, and there probably isan't any way to get to it from arrivals

 

[Mal]

The lounge is post departure immigration, and there probably isan't any way to get to it from arrivals

That's correct. It's past Immigration and straight ahead. The oneworld lounge listing has it located as:

Location details: Departure area A, opposite gate 11
Opening hours: Daily 06:00-22:00

Thinking about it - you're right that an Aegean flight would depart via the schengen/Domestic terminal section - not the non-schengen one. So discussing the lounge is a moot point, as there would be no physical access.

5 hours is enough time to head into Athens proper for a look around. The metro is only about 30 mins to Athens central, and most of the main tourist sites are on/close to metro stops.

 

[davidj-bell]

That's correct. It's past Immigration and straight ahead. The oneworld lounge listing has it located as:


Thinking about it - you're right that an Aegean flight would depart via the schengen/Domestic terminal section - not the non-schengen one. So discussing the lounge is a moot point, as there would be no physical access.

5 hours is enough time to head into Athens proper for a look around. The metro is only about 30 mins to Athens central, and most of the main tourist sites are on/close to metro stops.

I thought it was closer to 45 minutes. Check the timetables on the web (wikitravel is a good start), it may be enough to get into Placa and get something to eat and at least look at the acropolis.

 

[pyffii]

Thanks for the replies but we have already been to Athens a few times and not real keen on going into Athens so would much prefer to have had the use of the BA Lounge on arrival...Already knew that Aegean flew from the domestic side of the terminal but was rather hoping to spend time in the BA lounge rather than the airport...Never mind such is the tale of us frequent flyers !!!

 

[gzmourg]

Don't waste you time - in my opinion the lounge doesn't really rate - there are not even toilets inside the lounge (you have to use the public ones).

I was there last year, walked in and then walked out. Personally, I would go over to the Sofitel and sit in the restaurant/bar. Much nicer atmosphere, quiet and relaxing ( Though probably a bit expensive to sit at for 5 hours)

 

[thewinchester]

Don't waste you time - in my opinion the lounge doesn't really rate - there are not even toilets inside the lounge (you have to use the public ones).

Please tell me you're yanking our chains (to flush them for us of course). A lounge without toilets is prehistoric.

 

[davidj-bell]

Please tell me you're yanking our chains (to flush them for us of course). A lounge without toilets is prehistoric.

Plenty of lounges don't have their own toilets. It's hardly the end of the world.

The Athens terraces is fine for what it is - a space to go before a flight. It has 2 computers, the papers, magazines, drinks and seats.

It's not the greatest, but it's not the worst.

 

[JohnK]

Please tell me you're yanking our chains (to flush them for us of course). A lounge without toilets is prehistoric.

Try the CX First/Business Class Lounge in MNL. I was told the toilets were outside. From what I could tell the nearest public toilets were way down near gates 5 & 6. Stayed in the lounge a while longer....

 

[Mal]

Plenty of lounges don't have their own toilets. It's hardly the end of the world.

Does seem to be particularly common in Europe (and parts of Asia). It isn't the end of the world, but toilets in a lounge do make things more comfy.