Good morning from the American Airlines Flagship Lounge at London Heathrow. We spent last night at the Hilton Airport by Terminal 4. American departs from Terminal 3, so we walked to Terminal 4 and took the Heathrow Connect train to 3. Easy transfer.
Checked in for our AA first class flight using American’s Flagship Check In counter at Heathrow. Walked right up, and the whole thing was done in 2 minutes. We’re traveling with hand luggage only, so no luggage checking drama. Our first class boarding passes bought us access to Fast Track security at Heathrow. I’d estimate we were through security in 5 minutes, if that. And no stupid shoe carnival! Joyous!
Lots of time to enjoy the Flagship Lounge, which by US airline standards, isn’t half bad. American recently completed a remodel of the lounge along with the adjacent Admirals Club. The facility itself is quite nice. The furniture must’ve been replaced during the remodel because it doesn’t show the usual wear and tear you typically find at a US airline lounge. Food offerings are not suprisingly weak compared to American’s partner British Airways. I can’t help but think that AA is going to have to take some steps to improve its international lounges to match BA as their alliance finally solidifies following anti trust immunity approval by the various regulatory bodies. All that said, the lounge is a very comfortable spot to wait for your flight.
The bottom line, London Heathrow hasn’t been nearly as nightmarish as I’d feared. And I thought BA’s Terminal 5 was marvelous. More on that later.
