London Heathrow Terminal 5: British Airways Concorde First Lounge

British Airways Concorde First Class Lounge Heathrow Terminal 5

This article is about British Airways Concorde Lounge at London Heathrow Terminal 5. It describes the lounge, facilities and has many photos showing what you can expect.

The latest addition to London Heathrow is Terminal 5, which serves as the main terminal for British Airways.

I have flown British Airways First quite a few times both for work, for holidays and when been upgraded from Club. Always a nice touch. One of the perks of being in First is you get to use their premium lounge which is called The Concorde Lounge. This is right after you come through security (the one at the far end of the Heathrow Terminal 5). There is a BA host standing by a small stand and if you have the magic First Class boarding pass they usher you through. It saves you having a long walk along, down and across the lower level of the terminal to the main entrances for their other lounges. Make sure you use this entrance!

Now here is the thing about BA lounges. They have 3 types of lounges, and from the names it is not actually that clear who they are for. They tend to have names that flatter the traveler by notching them up a level of flight class. There are 3 lounges, and they take up a huge amount of space in the terminal. The lounges are:
– Executive Club Lounge (for people with silver cards or flying Club World or Club Europe)
– First Class Lounge (for people with Gold Cards)
– Concorde Lounge (for people actually flying First Class…)

Of course, other than Concorde stopped flying in 2003, and so the First Class lounge is really for Gold Card holders and Concorde Lounge if you are actually flying First.

Years ago, the Concorde lounge was just that. It was for Concorde flyers. It was amazing as you boarded straight from the lounge onto the plane. Something I was lucky enough to have done twice.

I have been to the Concorde Lounge at T5 in a few times, and have posted about the First Class lounge.

Restaurant

The Concorde lounge is pretty good, with a restaurant with booths where you can order meals (for nothing). I ordered a breakfast of scrambled eggs and smoked salmon from a smaller menu and sat in the open area. They have a fairly good menu that changes based on the time of the day. Meals come pretty fast. It is possible to have a full starter, main and pudding dinner if you should wish. You can also have an afternoon tea with sandwiches and scones too.

Bar and Champagne Bar

There is a large bar and then loads of sofas and chairs dotted about to relax in, both in the lounge and then on a more open seating area overlooking the main terminal.

Concierge Desk

There is a Quintessential concierge desk to offer arrangements to travelers, and there also seems to be cabana rooms you can book to nap in.

Meeting room and boardroom is available.

There is free wi-fi access.

I also visited the massive executive lounge in the B section of Terminal 5, where my flight departed from (B section is where many of the long haul flights depart from, and is reached by a small monorail)

Summary

The lounge has some style and is more sober than the Virgin Upper Class Lounge, which you would expect. The choice of food and drink is good. Though unlike the Virgin lounge, there is less to entertain and help you to pass the time. But it has some style and class. There is a large balcony area as well as the indoors and you can sit out there and hear more of the buzz and noise of the terminal.