Oneworld HOME F lounges

[simongr]

Based on some comments in other threads about F lounges I thought it might be good to capture some thoughts on Oneworld F lounges around the world.

I have been to a few lounges in my time and of course have very strong views on what is best but I thought it might be good to collate some info about the lounges with a few "must dos" and "must nots".

I am thinking we should group the lounges into two divisions - Home and Away. I would define a Home lounge as one at the home base for the airline (such as MEL/SYD for QF and HKG for CX). An away lounge would be one based not at home - (e.g. HKG for QF and NRT for CX). Typically we expect Away lounges now to be as great as home lounges for obvious reasons (and thus not really fair to compare them - e.g comparing SIN QF F lounge to the Wing in HKG).

What I dont have yet is a list of all the home and away lounges but my first stab is (in no particular order) [airline/location]:

Home

QF - SYD/MEL
BA - T5 LHR/T3 LHR/LGW
CX - HKG (including KA in CX)
JL - NRT
RJ - AMM (note though that no F lounge exists)
AY - HEL
AA - JFK (? as although this isnt the home base I think it is the better F lounge... happy to be wrong on this)
AA - LAX
LA - ???
IB - MAD (?)

Away

QF - BKK/SIN/NRT/LHR T3/AKL/BNE/HKG/LAX
BA - SIN/JFK/BOS
CX - BKK/NRT/LHR/TPE
JL - HKG
AA - LHR/MIA/ORD

I couldnt think of many more F lounges - happy to add to the list.

I will be back later with some thoughts on the lounges

 

[Ewing]

I couldnt think of many more F lounges - happy to add to the list.

The joint AA/QF F lounge in LAX T4 is missing. Definitely better than the Oneworld F lounge in TBIT.

I've never been in the AA F lounge in JFK so not sure how they compare.

 

[djfuzz]

HKG QF F lounge? Should JL/NRT be in the Away column?

CX technically has F lounges within the J lounges at TPE and MNL, but you could perhaps exclude them on the basis of not having any dedicated F service or amenities other than a separate room.

What about joint lounges, eg the QF/BA lounges? Do you attribute them to one airline and not the other?

Technically the QF BKK F lounge is joint, though I believe more QF than BA; same for the HKG F lounge and vice versa for the SIN F lounge and LHR T3 lounge, right?

 

[serfty]

I visited the main Schengen IB lounge at Madrid.

it's a nice open airy lounge with quite good catering.

 

[simongr]

The joint AA/QF F lounge in LAX T4 is missing. Definitely better than the Oneworld F lounge in TBIT.

Added

HKG QF F lounge? Should JL/NRT be in the Away column?

CX technically has F lounges within the J lounges at TPE and MNL, but you could perhaps exclude them on the basis of not having any dedicated F service or amenities other than a separate room.

What about joint lounges, eg the QF/BA lounges? Do you attribute them to one airline and not the other?

Updated JL - NRT to be JL - HKG
Agreed re MNL - TPE does have an F section so I will add that.
Joint lounges - I have attributed them to each airline that is joint - so counting SIN twice as an example.

 

[jamesatfish]

AA has an F lounge in MIA - very much an 'away' lounge as it's about 1/3 the size of the LAX T4 lounge. Other than the free food in the F lounge the regular AC is probably the better option there.

BA has an F lounge in BOS - it has the full F service including pre-flight dining so definitely worth mentioning as an 'away' lounge also.

 

[serfty]

AA has an F lounge in MIA - very much an 'away' lounge as it's about 1/3 the size of the LAX T4 lounge. Other than the free food in the F lounge the regular AC is probably the better option there. ...

This F/L in 'E' concourse closed in the last month or so.

A new one in "D" concourse between D31 and D37 is scheduled to open "in Spring", so read May 2011 or later. More here on FT:

• MIA / Miami Concourse E Flagship Lounge CLOSED Sep 2010 (consolidated) - Page 6 - FlyerTalk Forums

 

[jamesatfish]

This F/L in 'E' concourse closed in the last month or so.

A new one in "D" concourse is scheduled to open "in Spring", so read May 2011 or later. More here on FT:

Thanks - I haven't been through MIA since early this year so didn't realise that lounge had closed.

 

[farstar]

AKL has a QF F lounge though not a lot different from the J one.

 

[samh004]

BNE has an F box

 

[YQY]

The AA F Lounge in ORD is not too bad (by AA standards anyway....)

 

[serfty]

The AA F Lounge in ORD is not too bad (by AA standards anyway....)

Closed at the moment for "minor works". There's a temp one at the K5 A/C.

Flagship Lounge(R) / Arrivals Lounge

 

[drron]

Closed at the moment for "minor works". There's a temp one at the K5 A/C.

Flagship Lounge(R) / Arrivals Lounge

Only for 2 weeks though.
I agree that Flagship at JFK is the best of the AA Flounges(but why dont they have one at their real home-DFW.Closed some time ago.)
RJ,AY,LA,IB technically dont have Flounges as they dont have an F cabin.
When flying out of SCL on LA their lounge didn't open for our flight so we went to the AC-not great for a home port on LAs part.

 

[serfty]

... I agree that Flagship at JFK is the best of the AA Flounges(but why dont they have one at their real home-DFW.Closed some time ago.) ...

It used to be in Terminal A; the area is still there - there was the flagship symbol still on the wall a year ago.

General opinion on FT's AA forum is that with the move of international flights to terminal D, AA's bean counters decided an F/L was no longer required - at the time lounges were being closed left right and centre.

 

[Oneworldplus2]

Great topic!
I will follow this one for sure.

 

[Princess Fiona]

I would also add the BA T3 F lounge as IMHO it's easily the best when heading back to Oz

 

[simongr]

I included that as an away lounge for both QF and BA. My rationale was that compared to T5 it is cr4p, restaurant food is only for F and the champagne is too warm.

 

[gumpy]

I would also add the BA T3 F lounge as IMHO it's easily the best when heading back to Oz

Which flights go out of T3? and does it have a spa like the T5?

Also what is the point of the Flounge in T5? Their true F passengers are in CCR anyway... so it's just a middle lounge for the OWE's to feel special in? No don't get me wrong I'm happy for it to exist... but why does it exist? I guess their F customers don't want OWE's around...

 

[samh004]

Which flights go out of T3?

Flights to Australia, some regional European flights too, like to parts of Spain.

Also what is the point of the Flounge in T5? Their true F passengers are in CCR anyway... so it's just a middle lounge for the OWE's to feel special in? No don't get me wrong I'm happy for it to exist... but why does it exist? I guess their F customers don't want OWE's around...

Without knowing the specific reason, you’ve pretty much hit the nail on the head, true F pax should get an even better lounge than OWE’s in Y, though the CCR is also a holdover from those days.

 

[Princess Fiona]

I included that as an away lounge for both QF and BA. My rationale was that compared to T5 it is cr4p, restaurant food is only for F and the champagne is too warm.

Sorry simongr I need better glasses. Maybe I've just been lucky but Champers always cold, buffet OK, menu service at tables quite good and a great selection of magazines. I forget the name of the travel one with the ads for private jets.
The Elemis spa is also good.