Business Class Lounges

[CeeJay]

Thinking about popping over to New Zealand again for a couple of months after Christmas and having for the past few years travelled Economy I fancy spending a lot more and depleting the meagre savings account by going Business Class.

Checking on Cathay Pacific web sites I note that if travelling in that Class you are entitled to visit their Lounges, which for us would be Heathrow, Hong Kong and Auckland. However I cannot find any reference to the meals or drinks served in the Lounges being complimentary.

Could someone enlighten me please.

[Quillan]

[quote user="CeeJay"]Thinking about popping over to New Zealand again for a couple of months after Christmas and having for the past few years travelled Economy I fancy spending a lot more and depleting the meagre savings account by going Business Class.
Checking on Cathay Pacific web sites I note that if travelling in that Class you are entitled to visit their Lounges, which for us would be Heathrow, Hong Kong and Auckland. However I cannot find any reference to the meals or drinks served in the Lounges being complimentary.
Could someone enlighten me please.
[/quote]

No but a ten second search on the internet gives you their phone number.

http://www.cathaypacific.com/cx/en_GB/about-us/contact-us.html

You could try phoning them, it's quite simple.

[CeeJay]

Quillan

Thank you for that reply, I too have seen all their contact points.

I was hoping that someone may have had first hand experience of said Lounges and could pass their views on!!!

[Quillan]

Another 10 second search and I can find all the reviews on Cathay Pacific you would ever want to read. Seems not very good, struggling to get above 3 out of 5 on most review and travel sites. A forum for English people being Francofiles or living in France won't turn up much luck for you I think.

[Loiseau]

Well after reading this

http://www.ausbt.com.au/cathay-pacific-business-class-lounge-london-heathrow-terminal-3#dining

ceejay, I almost feel I have spent a couple of hours there myself...

Granted, the reviewer does not specify whether the food and drink are free but, as the writer doesn't comment on whether it's good value or not, I think you could take it that there is no charge.

Angela

[Pommier]

Angela, that was a boringly good review - I was hoping (although not for ceejay!) for something more amusing such as this http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/the-goose-birmingham-2

[YCCMB]

In general, food and drinks on offer in business class lounges is complementary. They don't do "meals" though, just usually snacks and nibbles. There is usually a serve yourself bar for both alcoholic drinks, soft drinks and coffee/tea.

Having sat in plenty of them around the world over the years,, they offer a bit of privacy from the hustle and bustle of the airport outside, and some (such as BA's Heathrow lounges)have showers and all sorts of other facilities, but really they're nothing more than a quiet place to hang about waiting for your flight, and they call you when you have to go to the gate, so you don't have to worry quite so much about checking the departure screens for an update.

[Cendrillon]

ditto what Betty has said.[:)]

[Judith]

The only time I made use of a business lounge was last year at Gatwick with Emirates ... they had all Betty described, and also hot meals .... and yes, if you go business class it is included in the price of the ticket .. now you know why such tickets are so expensive!

[Loiseau]

Wow, I am impressed that so many of you have first-hand experience! :-))

[Cendrillon]

Loiseau, ex airline staff married to retired airline staff know about these things.[;-)]

[nectarine]

In business class lounges there are always snacks and often a buffet - sandwiches, salads, cakes, etc. - and it is always free. You don't pay for a thing in the lounges. Enjoy!

[Quillan]

[quote user="nectarine"]In business class lounges there are always snacks and often a buffet - sandwiches, salads, cakes, etc. - and it is always free. You don't pay for a thing in the lounges. Enjoy![/quote]

That’s the rub, it's not free, it is included in the price of the ticket. Using Qantas (only because they were the first one to come up in a search) and ordinary return ticket to Christchurch from Heathrow is between £587 and £832 whilst a business ticket is between £2,850 and £3,743. If I was paying an extra £2k or more for ticket I would expect an lot more than a free meal in a lounge at Heathrow, extra leg room and a newspaper on the plane (I know you get more but is it all worth that extra money?). I looked at the Cathay Pacific website for the same dates and the prices are frightening, you could buy a new small car for the money. I also know you can buy tickets cheaper from other sources for the same airlines but the prices are still proportionate as is the difference.

I should add that if your company is paying the business class price who cares anyway but if your paying yourself it's different and half the facilities you get you don't need anyway.

[Judith]

Q - I do so agree .... you really Do NOT need that many extras!  It is possible to pay for the use of lounges (not nec business class ones) at about £20 or so, where services vary, but once in there they are usually free.  I considered using one at Gatwick, until I upgraded myself at a reasonable cost to business, but I have friend who travels low cost often, but sometimes has a long wait between flights, and then she uses the lounges, useful when a single traveller as you can leave your luggage safely to go to the loo!

[minnie]

I have used the Cathay Pacific lounge in Hong Kong and you can have as many noodles as you like there....You get drinks also and can have a shower, towels provided. We go to New Zealand every year and I've come to the conclusion that my favoured airline is Singapore. We change planes in Singapore and the airport is superb. For a small charge you can use the facilities of the transit hotel, including en-suite rooms for sleeping or just relaxing. I believe that it is regarded as the best airport in the world. Consequently, personally I'd rather travel economy with Singapore and pay for extra facilities, using the money saved as spending money.

[mint]

I agree, Minnie, Singapore has got to be the BEST airport in the world.

Everything is so clean, the food is excellent and the airconditioned library is as good a place as any to spend the inevitable waiting times for your connection.

I understand that some of the more canny locals go there for meals and using all the facilities and meeting up with their friends!  I thought it a bit bizarre as airports are just about the most hateful places to be in my book.

[YCCMB]

Jeez, they must've improved Singapore airport a lot since I lived there! I can't remember it being that fantastic when I was using it on a weekly basis, but that was 15 years ago.

I'm not sure that you can write off the increased cost of a business class ticket to the cost of a few sarnies and a lounge...the extra space, better inflight service, higher crew ratio and other facilities all have a cost. As to whether you'd want to pay it out of your own pocket, that's a personal choice. Don't knock it till you've tried it, though.

I always thought it was a complete waste of money until I realised how much better I felt when I arrived. I felt even better after flying first class, but neither I, nor my employer would ever have paid for that! Luckily I've been the recipient of a fair few upgrades.

Those days are long gone now. ?

[minnie]

We travel economy with Singapore airlines but pay a little more than the basic price which allows us to change flights or cancel for a small fee. We can also choose seats. As we normally travel in the A380 double decker I normally choose to sit in the economy section upstairs where there are more business class seats and less economy. There are also more pairs of seats as opposed to threes, fours and more. I do reiterate that Singapore airport is so relaxed with relatively few passengers in the transit areas, loads of comfortable seating, easy listening music and always really clean. There are plenty of food outlets which remain uncrowded. A couple of times we have been via Hong Kong and have had difficulty in finding anywhere to sit such are the crowds. It's a no brainer for us.

[PaulT]

Remember seeing a programme about people who owned passenger jet airliners. One American company owner had something like a 707 very nicely fitted out. He commented that when he flew commercially he always flew economy and on that basis none of his staff could ever demand to fly anything other than economy.

[CeeJay]

Thank you so much for all the replies, we have experienced economy class for several years now and dread the in flight arguments regarding the seat being pushed back or having to be woken because someone needs to go to the toilet etc etc so  we have opted for a bit of luxury. Yes, of course it is expensive but our philosophy is that enjoy it while you can, who knows what the following year will bring ,we may not be able to make it at our age, not having every experienced this little bit of luxury and we are so looking forward to it.........isn't that the way to look forward to a 30 hour flight!!!! Lie flat beds and champagne on demand.......WOW.

[mint]

Ceejay, I can see that, after all that champagne on demand, you WOULD need to lie down[:D]

Indeed, I like your reasoning, whyever not?  It's your money and you choose to spend it how you will.  Have a lovely holiday!