British Airways Galleries First Lounge is the second best OneWorld lounge at Heathrow Airport Terminal 5, but the only one available for economy BA passengers with one world Emerald (Qantas Platinum) status. A four hour layover between Zurich (ZRH) and Stockholm (ARN) gave us the opportunity to fully explore the lounge. We choose the south lounge as it was closest to our gate.
Geek fact: We chose a longer BA flight with no food or drinks to enjoy the lounge experience rather than a shorter direct Swissair flight with economy wine and food.
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Galleries First Review
First impressions are positive as you walk past the two full size bronze horse lamp statues. The Galleries first lounge is huge, reflecting the fact this is the home lounge for one of the worlds biggest airlines.
We had no problem securing a seat with a good tarmac view. We initially did not spend that much time in our seats as we were trying out the various food and bar options.
Galleries First Food
There are excellent food choices in the lounge with everything from menu based ordering to self service bain-marie.
We started with the menu service choosing the burger, charred broccoli and orange salad and ceylonese curry. We had to seek out service but after that the food arrived promptly. The advantage of eating in the lounge is that most European BA economy flights do not offer any complimentary food. Being sandwiched between two food free flights we were not going to go hungry.
Hot food from the bain-marie was also available and we tried the chicken curry and ox cheeks. The cheeks were a highlight with that lovely gelatinous texture.
This was followed by scones with Cornish clotted cream and jam as well as a Victoria sponge. There were lots of cakes, biscuits, pastries and sandwiches on offer. They display was a visual treat and the cakes were very popular.
Having spent two weeks in Switzerland we did not think we could face more cheese but they had a great selection of English cheddars and blue cheese. Combined with lovely oatmeal biscuits and apple chutney we went back for thirds
Yarde Farm Ice Cream
Yarde Farm ice cream is offered on request. They are an award winning luxury ice cream from Devon. Both clotted cream and chunky chocolate are available and I had both for review purposes, the clotted cream was the stand out.
Champagne Bar
One of the highlights is the champagne bar. However on our trip the bar only had two types of champagne a rose and a regular. That being said the Canard-Duchene Charles VII Blanc de Blanc Brut was fabulous. You did not have to visit the champagne bar as it was available throughout the lounge.
The other champagne was the Jeeper Champagne Brut – Grand Rose, another fine choice. Both these champagnes retail for over A$100 a bottle.
Whiskies and Other Spirits
I counted over five different whiskies on offer. They were well laid out with two of every spirit. I did not see any Campari to create a cocktail.
View from the Lounge
While you have a tarmac view there was not a lot of plane action happening. Far more interesting is listening to the conversations around you and where people are going. Seems people lose their inhibitions about talking in public in a lounge.
Wifi
The wifi worked well and the password was Vancouver.
Power and USB
Lots of power points and USB points are available. They do cater for UK based outlets so make sure you have the right connection. There were at least two business areas that you could set up your PC with proper lighting and seating,
Children’s Area
There is a discreet children’s area which was unoccupied on our visit.
Galleries First Summary
BA has a huge number of connections throughout Europe. If you have the right status you can enjoy the Galleries First lounge. You can then fill up with food and champagne before your next leg. Genius.
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