Review: The laughably basic British Airways first class lounge in Seattle

It’s rare that I am at a loss for words when it comes to flights and lounges. My reaction I when entered the laughably basic first class lounge that British Airways operate in Seattle was one of those times.

I arrived from Honolulu on Alaska Airlines which decanted me into the North Satellite. As I had some time to kill, I first visited their lovely new lounge for an hour before heading off on the inter-terminal train to the BA lounge.

Arriving At The Lounge

When heading for the lounge, I found the lift appropriately marked. It is a Terraces Lounge, which is the very old lounge concept at British Airways, something that was replaced years ago. Not here, it seems.

My Passport had not been checked in Honolulu, so the friendly desk agent did that and issued me new boarding passes. Once done, he announced I could use the first class lounge behind me.

A Laughably Basic “Lounge”

Quite frankly I did not realise there was a separate first class lounge in Seattle. I can see why I didn’t know, as it’s not something you would really advertise. I entered to a cone of silence, noticing a few people sitting around in chairs on computers or reading.

The entire thing is smaller than my apartment, and that’s saying something! There was not a sound to be had, so I put my bag down and decided to check out the food and drinks on offer.

The Bare Minimum

You could choose between two types of sandwich, a grilled eggplant, mozzarella, caramelized onion, garlic, herb aioli focaccia or an oven roasted turkey, swiss, honey mustard ciabatta. Big bread for a small lounge! Otherwise it was fruit, cookies (chocolate chip and oreo) or some other little savory snacks.

You could order from the app, as is available in the BA lounges in the UK, so I did. My Champagne and water arrived promptly, which is the only good thing I can say about it. The Champagne was vile.

What About The Business Class Lounge?

Since this lounge was laughably basic, I figured perhaps the business class lounge was better equipped. I was wrong. A heaving mess of noisy people in a room laid out along the arc of the building, with boring seating and the same pathetic food offering greeted me.

After a walkthrough, I headed to the toilets and found my favourite part of the lounge design. The basins are really quite lovely and I was pleased to find something I could report on with pleasure. From there it was back to the silence of the other lounge, then off to my flight.

Overall Thoughts

When the basins in the toilets are the highlight of the lounge experience, something is very wrong. The underwhelming first class room is easily the nicest part of the lounge and even that is not up to par.

I would strongly recommend that if you have time to spare in Seattle to head over to the North Satellite and hang out in the Alaska Airlines lounge. That has a tended bar, sweeping views and much better food.

Have you been to the laughably bad British Airways lounge in Seattle before? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

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