One feature of the British Airways ground product was the Elemis spa. Passengers flying first class or Club World, plus Gold frequent flyers on long-haul flights were entitled to a free 15 minute treatment. This perk is now gone.
Many top tier airlines offer a similar experience. For example, you have a range of treatments offered in the Qantas First Class lounges, and Cathay Pacific offer things such as a foot massage in their top lounges. What will British Airways offer now?
My Experience of the Elemis Spa
Quite frankly, it was always difficult to get the promised 15 minute treatment as the spa was always busy. While that may sound like bad luck, this happened virtually all the time, so the spa didn’t even feature on my radar after that.
One time I was put into a massage chair for my experience, which was certainly not particularly premium. I didn’t rate the design of the spa, which always reminded me of a hospital ward, with its white curtained treatment spaces. Certainly not appealing to me!
What Might British Airways Do Instead?
According to a statement, “Over the coming months we will be reviewing new propositions to support our customers’ health and wellbeing pre-flight.” This could mean absolutely anything.
One way they could be going is yoga classes, like those Qantas offer in their Perth transit lounges which run for 15 minute periods before and after flights. There are also spaces for this in Cathay Pacific’s lounges.
That’s really the only caveat. Short of it being some hardcore bootcamp style thing, I will certainly give it a try. I’ll be interested to see what happens.
Overall Thoughts
Goodbye British Airways Elemis spa, you won’t be missed by this frequent flyer. A change is as good as a holiday, so the saying goes, so I’m sure whatever replaces it will be very welcome.
Since the bar is pretty high when considering competing lounges around the world, BA are going to really have to do something innovative to set themselves apart from the pack. I guess it’s a case of watch this space.
What did you think of the British Airways Elemis spa in their lounges in London and New York? Were you a regular and/or what was your experience like? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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