London Heathrow - Terminal 3

[Boss Raptor]

For those of you unfortunate enough to travel through an already crowded T3 the BAA have decided to 're-model' the departure lounge and it is chaos (no doubt = yet more shops)...

A good third of the departure lounge is behind hoardings 'under renovation'. This means all the previous public seating areas are gone and have been replaced by two small areas of temporary seating whch are totally insufficient for the numbers of passengers concerned.

There is only one place left to eat or drink, TGI Friday, which as a result has a 20 minute queue...one of the two sets the toilets at the far end is out of action etc. etc.

I was in the lounge from 1000-1200 on a weekday and it was a highly unpleasant experience, no where to sit, pushing through the crowds just to get to the entrance for the gates...

Oh and all the travellators on the way to the 30's gates are out of action...no reason given...expect a very long walk!

Congratulations BAA market leaders in how to make air travel an obnoxious experience!!

[The_Banking_Scot]

Hi,

With the low ceiling and no natural light in the T3 lounge , I think it is one of the worst lounges in the BAA UK airports and rates poorly with many of the US terminals ( SFO International is very nice, IAD Concourse B is good). The other LHR Terminals are much better It has plenty of shops but not enough seats and the smoking area is not in a separate area.
I feel it is too small for the number of people
I generally quickly go around the stores buying some water for the flight /books/camera film before heading to the Prioirty Pass lounge (free with my credit card) or the Virgin Clubhouse.
I hope it is better after the construction work.
Regards
TBS

[PAXboy]

It will be more shops because BAA are the largest retailer in the country. They make more money from renting space to shops than renting space to aircraft :eek:

I agree with T_B_S and head for Priority Pass whenever available, they are tremendous value. If no lounge is available to me, or I only have a short time and it's not worth the sometimes out of the way walk to get to it (like LGW dometic), then I head straight for the gate. Although the waiting area is simplistic, if you get there first, you can get a seat near the gate door and just read the paper.

BAA is not a company that I enjoy doing business with.

[The_Banking_Scot]

Hi,

However with the BAA worldcard ( VISA) I get 1 Worldpoint per £ 1 spent ( 2 points per £ for spend at BAA airports) which I can convert into VA FC miles on a 1:1 basis :D ( a good thing as there are places that do not take Amex) so I can build up my miles.

Regards
TBS

[PAXboy]

Indeed TBS, right there at the counter with you!!

The BAA Wolrdpoints system is not good value for money, however, when you use it to Double Dip then it becomes more worthwhile. This is the expression for gaining two lots of points at the same time. If I buy stuff at T3 with my Texaco VISA card, then I score points that I can expoer to VS Flying Club and then I present my Worldpoints card and get some more!

One has to do something to regain all the time spent standing in queues at BAA 'security' :rolleyes:

[MarkD]

Yet another reason to avoid Air Canada at T3 and use BA at T4 for my periodic YYZ and YUL trips.

My girlfriend who is flying in from YOW soon has no choice though...

[trustno1]

I couldn't agree more with the sentiments expressed here regarding T3. It has to be the worst airport lounge in the world. Too many shops, too few seating areas, no natural light, overcrowding and miles to walk to the gates. It's so bad in fact that I refuse to fly with any airline using it after my experience in April 02.