Lounge at Gatwick

[turkeyfoot]

Hi
First time using a lounge this am.
Not greatly impressed .

If you have back problems you need to be 6ft + to be able to sit comfortably in the majority of the seats to be able to support your back.

With few exceptions you have to sit on the edge of the seat to eat at the tables and your knees are level with the table tops. Not a comfortable eating position I find.

No bread to make a sandwich or toast. No toaster anyway. Only soft white fluffy rolls.

The biggest disappointment was not being able to have a bacon sandwich, or a decent roll.
To top it all no English Colmans mustard.Attempted their Harrison's mustard,like yellow vinegar. Tried the brown sauce from a pump and all you could taste was vinegar.
The buffet breakfast display was very limited.
In all , not value for money.

In my experience the only advantage was being away from the hustle and bustle of the main airport area.

Would think twice about using a lounge , or at least see if there better ones available. We were at the North Terminal Number1 lounge

Geoff

[Donpipez]

Shame Geoff

Doesn't sound a good experience.

I must admit I don't think we'd bother with a lounge for early departures - Last September we flew @ 15.00 & booked a lounge at East Midlands - Found it to be very good & really enjoyed it.

Flying from Birmingham soon & again afternoon flight so will be booking lounge - £65 for the two of us using O2 Priority - Didn't think that was too bad?

On another note - How expensive is Birmingham Airport Parking!! - Strangely we can get an overnight hotel & parking cheaper.

Cheers

Neil & Jill

[Truth]

£65 is good Neil , as I said to Geoff on his original post about airport lounges it really does depend on how much you're going to use what they "offer" as to whether its good value or not.
I'd be more worried about the queuing at Brum airport than the parking charges mate , I know I'm a little concerned after my mate was in a line outside last week for hours and then had to be rushed to the front !
Hopefully it will improve over the coming months

[turkeyfoot]

Hi
Another issue at the lounge was that we booked for 3  hrs.
We arrived at 0400 hrs. The plane departure was 0800 hrs. The boarding gate had a closure time of 07.20.
Thinking we would leave the lounge prior to 07.00hrs.No problem.

Checked in at the lounge and was told we can't enter prior to 05.00. As we booked 3 hrs .
Said that is not a problem as we will leave before 3 hrs after arriving at 04.00.

They asked for another £20 as the rules are the three hours are from the departure time of the flight.
Explained we can't stay till 08.00 as we would miss the flight. Wouldn't budge so reluctantly had to pay another £20 to be able to enter at 04.00 and leave at 06.45.

Not happy

Geoff

[turkeyfoot]

Hi
Another issue at the lounge was that we booked for 3  hrs.
We arrived at 0400 hrs. The plane departure was 0800 hrs. The boarding gate had a closure time of 07.20.
Thinking we would leave the lounge prior to 07.00hrs.No problem.

Checked in at the lounge and was told we can't enter prior to 05.00. As we booked 3 hrs .
Said that is not a problem as we will leave before 3 hrs after arriving at 04.00.

They asked for another £20 as the rules are the three hours are from the departure time of the flight.
Explained we can't stay till 08.00 as we would miss the flight. Wouldn't budge so reluctantly had to pay another £20 to be able to enter at 04.00 and leave at 06.45.

Not happy

Geoff

They wouldn't take cash which was even more annoying
Geoff

[Donpipez]

Guess you'll not be booking lounges again Geoff?

We sat & booked all our necessary stuff last night - Result on the lounge - A further discount brought it down to £53 for the two of us.

Decided to pay for just parking rather than overnight but sooo expensive!!

Karl - Couple of Years ago we got caught at Leeds flying with Jet2 - Took us 3 Hours to get to security - Since then we've paid for fast track - Best £10 we spent - Done the same this Year for Birmingham so hopefully all good & can enjoy my time in the lounge?

HeyHo - Whatever happens we'll soon be there & all forgotten about..............

Take Care

Neil & Jill

[Truth]

Agreed , it will all melt away when you get there !
From what my mate said so many people had booked fast track that that was as bad as the normal line !

[turkeyfoot]

Hi
Another thing I forget,  at the bar, although ''free'' drinks were availble there was a payment point where you can leave a £3 tip

Geoff

[Donpipez]

Result!!
Arrived @ Birmingham Car Park (Express Airparks) for 11am - Bus waiting - Already checked in so dropped bags & through security by 11.25 - 25 minutes!!

Only downside is that we gave ourselves extra time and now we have to wait for our allocated slot for the lounge.😫

Cheers

Neil & Jill

[Truth]

I was going to say grab a beer but I'd wait until its free !  lol