Review: British Airways Galleries North Lounge Terminal 5
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Terminal 5 deals exclusively with British Airways flights, and the only way you can gain access to the British Airways Airport lounges in London Heathrow Terminal 5 is by buying or upgrading your ticket to Club Europe, Club World or First Class or being a silver or gold tier member of the British Airways air mile club. High-tier members of OneWorld Alliance members can also access some of these airport lounges.

First-class tickets (or gold tier membership with a Concorde room card or gold tier and flying long-haul) will whisk you into the Narnia that is the Concorde Club Lounge, complete with crackling fireplaces and elitist service. If you are traveling within Europe, the only lounge you can access with your ticket (or as a silver tier member) is the British Airways Galleries Club Lounges. This review is of the Galleries North Lounge. You can instead choose the Galleries South Lounge.

My latest trip through this lounge was around 11:00 am. My general thoughts were that it was larger and busier than I remembered. If you walk down to the end and turn left, or as I prefer, head right out through the double doors and out into the more airy outer atrium, you can find a quieter space with room to breathe.

I have to say. When compared to the No.1 lounge in the North Terminal at Gatwick, this lounge impresses. I like the design. It is large and airy, with excellent views of planes on two sides and plenty of sitting areas, but it’s always full and so very busy. Even though the food spread is good, the lounge itself can be overrun. Add to this, the staff seemed overrun too, and all the available tables still tended to need clearing – this visit, I sat for 10 minutes before giving up and clearing my own table of my predecessor’s drinks, plates, and crumbs. Very McDonald’s?!

The breakfast food offering is extensive, with loads of pastries, cereals, fruit, and yogurt. It is replenished regularly but on a self-service layout, which limits hygiene on a winter’s day when everyone seems to be coughing with a cold.

There are two main help-yourself bars. People were helping themselves to wines and spirits at 11:00 am, so these seem to be available throughout the day, with every liqueur you could think of plus snacky nut things and mini cans of coke, sprite, etc. Also on offer are Newspapers in a variety of languages. From the UK, they have every paper except the Telegraph, plus some business-skewed magazines.

Is this Club lounge worth paying extra for and upgrading your flight for? For me, yes, as the other lounges are so poor in Terminal 5. Is Club Europe worth paying for? We have outlined whether we think British Airways Club Europe is worth it separately.

I do absolutely recommend club lounges to de-stress and fill up, but these lounges can be busy. The food is good, with an extensive salad bar with hot curry, etc., and there is a huge array of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks for guests to choose from.

British Airways features in our top Business Class Airlines and we compare British Airways Club World vs. Virgin Atlantic Upper Class including the Galleries Lounges vs. Virgin’s Clubhouses.

Note: Benefits & upgrades subject to availability. Benefits offered correct at the time of writing. Terms & conditions apply. Enquire for more information. Posts may be sponsored by the proprietor or brand being appraised. All opinions remain our own & are in no way influenced.