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Home » Travel » If I Had To Pick An Airport Terminal To Live In…
Travel

If I Had To Pick An Airport Terminal To Live In…

Matthew Klint Posted onMarch 2, 2020November 14, 2023 17 Comments

A six hour layover (which eventually turned into an eight hour layover) might sound horrible, but not with oneworld emerald status in Terminal 3 at London Heathrow. On the contrary, the layover flew by.

I’m on my next trip and started by flying from Los Angeles to London (on United, sorry…I could not stomach the surcharges on British Airways for an award redemption). But I scheduled in a long layover before my Finnair A330-300 connection to Helsinki, specifically to lounge hop.

Finnair uses T3 in London Heathrow, which contains, not one, not two, not three, but four oneworld lounges. If you hold oneworld status, especially top-tier emerald status, you are in for a treat.

My first stop was to the Qantas lounge, which offers barista-made coffee. The coffee is always a treat, but the the entire lounge is beautiful and there’s a nice buffet spread plus a la carte dining each evening with a decent menu of choices.

a bowl of strawberries and a cup of coffee on a table

a menu on a table

Next, I headed over to the Cathay Pacific lounge. The first class section is beautiful and a mini-version of The Pier in Hong Kong. It’s comfortable and includes a restaurant with la carte dining. On the business class side of the lounge is more barista-made coffee and a noodle bar.

a sign on a wall

a room with a couch and chairs

a table and chairs in a restaurant

a hand holding a menu

Then I headed over the American Airlines lounge. Rather than call it “Flagship” the “International First Class Lounge” is not a beautiful area, but also features a dining area with a very respectable a la carte menu.

a sign on a wall

a room with tables and chairs

a menu board with a menu on it

The AA lounge sits just below the wonderful Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse, which I reviewed here.

Finally, I headed over to the British Airways Galleries First lounge, which was huge. It also offers a restaurant with an a la carte menu.

a sign on a wall

a menu on a table

a booth seating in a restaurant

It I Had To Pick An Airline Terminal To Live In…

With five nice lounges and five restaurants with different menu choices, if I had to pick a terminal to live in it would be this one, if for nothing else than variety of choice…there are even a couple Priority Pass lounges.

Now if I was forced to sleep in the terminal area at night, perhaps Hong Kong (HKG) or Singapore (SIN) would be better choices, but I just loved the lounge choices all in one place.

Have you visited T3 in London Heathrow? What is your favorite oneworld lounge there?

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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17 Comments

  1. JBM Reply
    March 2, 2020 at 1:00 pm

    Interesting. I would personally take SIN over LHR. The Jewel is worth it. I also give a shout-out to DXB, given that the Emirates First Class lounge has such nice sleeping chaises.

    Which would you pick with Star Alliance Gold status instead on Oneworld Emerald?

  2. Expatriate Days Reply
    March 2, 2020 at 1:09 pm

    It says so much that the other airlines present a nice menu while AA plants their menu on a floor pedestal in their “International First Class” Lounge. Their dining area also looks like the breakfast nook of a Best Western.

    • Matthew Reply
      March 2, 2020 at 1:19 pm

      They had table menus as well.

  3. Paolo Reply
    March 2, 2020 at 1:21 pm

    Off topic, but you should look at the marvellous vignette on the Gander terminal on the BBC website.

  4. Scott Schultz Reply
    March 2, 2020 at 1:33 pm

    I visited Cathay Pacific, American and British Airways my last time through T3. I don’t think Qantas was open yet for the early morning LHR-ORD American flight. I’d say Cathay Pacific is by far the winner for me. BA was super busy and American was just ok. The Cathay Pacific lounge was quite and very nice.

    • Scott Schultz Reply
      March 2, 2020 at 1:34 pm

      quiet*

    • Matthew Reply
      March 2, 2020 at 1:35 pm

      My favorite too.

  5. Joey Reply
    March 2, 2020 at 1:34 pm

    Given how CX is losing so much money right now, I wonder if they’re better off shutting down this lounge and have their customers use the other oneworld lounges instead.

    • Phil Duncan Reply
      March 2, 2020 at 2:57 pm

      The Cathayy lounge is the lounge of choice for many using T3, it’s the recommended lounge for Finnair among others and they have not reduced their flights at all. The lounge may be making more money than the airline at the moment.

  6. Lisa Rasmussen Reply
    March 2, 2020 at 1:35 pm

    Is there any possible way for you to please make it so that your entire articles open in feedly, instead of having to click multiple times to get to the website to read? Other blogs I follow all are able to do this, I was wondering if you can please try to do this as well as it makes it a lot more readable.

    • Matthew Reply
      March 2, 2020 at 7:55 pm

      I’m sorry. Please tweet Boarding Area on Twitter. I can do nothing.

  7. Alan Gore Reply
    March 2, 2020 at 2:33 pm

    I don’t have lounge status (other than that Priority Pass card that I have never actually been able to use at any airport), but I recently did reserve a European flight whose return through LHR involves a rather long layover. Rather than roll the dice on another attempt to get into a lounge, I booked a room at the Aerotel which is also right inside T3. What lounge that I could conceivably access would include sleep, shower and breakfast?

    • Matthew Reply
      March 2, 2020 at 3:18 pm

      Depending upon how well you sleep on a chair or couch, all of them.

  8. Mick Reply
    March 2, 2020 at 8:28 pm

    The Cathay lounge is my favorite business class lounge In the world. Made to order dumplings. Great seats over the apron. Moet. Always quiet for the American flights. I always choose American for this lounge alone, rather than the BA codeshares (although I do like the upper deck on the 747 (despite the seemingly universal dislike for BA). I think it’s a somewhat hidden gem.

    Side point but why isn’t there one nice lounge in ohare terminal 5?

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      July 29, 2020 at 3:20 pm

      Good question. ORD T5 is truly deplorable!

  9. JDS Reply
    March 3, 2020 at 4:16 am

    Friends of mine who use T3 a lot tell me “drink at Qantas, eat at Cathay.”

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      July 29, 2020 at 3:20 pm

      Agreed!

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