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British Airways Has Bidets In Their First Class Lounge

Since we're doomed to spending our lives outside of first class airport lounges, we hungrily roam the internet drooling over the places we'll never see inside. Today we're curious about the British Airways first class lounge at Heathrow's Terminal 5.

It's pretty swish looking, as any brand new first class lounge should be. And then there's the bathroom.

This is a fully-equipped bathroom, as you can see, complete with bidet. We don't usually expect this kind of cleaning service from the Brits. The really scary thing is that there's a little voice in the back of our mind saying, "If they've even got bidets, they must have fantastic WiFi."

Related Stories:
· The First Class Lounge at Turkish Air is Rather Palatial [Jaunted]
· Security Guards in Qatar's First Class Lounge Won't Allow Any Pictures [Jaunted]
· Heathrow Terminal 5 Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: garybembridge]

Tags: London Heathrow / Airports / T5 at LHR / London Travel / → All Tags

Third Runway At Heathrow Approved But Not Accepted

Looks like our most hated airport, the chaos they call London Heathrow, may get a third runway. British Airways CEO Willie Walsh has been agitating for this for years, but not everybody's on his side.

The British government has just approved the third runway proposal, but there are still a few obstacles before planes will be landing there. To start, the new runway (plus another terminal for it) would be ready, at the earliest, in 2015, and more likely 2020 or later.

On top of that, it's not even certain that the third runway will be allowed. With an election due before mid-2010, some are speculating that anti-runway campaigners might be able to delay construction long enough for the political leadership to change in the UK. And if the Conservative Party wins, they might scrap the whole idea.

So the third runway at Heathrow sounds like a story that won't go away any time soon. Perhaps it'll become farcical enough that we'll see music videos and online games about it, just like the disastrous opening of Heathrow's Terminal 5. That'd be fun.

Related Stories:
· British Govt OKs 3rd Runway for Heathrow [AP]
· We're So Not Alone In Hating Heathrow [Jaunted]
· US Airways Joining the Heathrow Scrum [Jaunted]

[Photo: Liberal Democrats]

Tags: Airport Hell / Airports / London Heathrow / T5 at LHR / → All Tags

We're So Not Alone In Hating Heathrow

You couldn't accuse us of being big fans of London's Heathrow airport. If the ridiculous drama of the opening of T5 wasn't enough to put us off, delays and lost baggage are another Heathrow specialty.

And guess what: The world agrees. A recent survey found that frequent travelers voted London Heathrow as the worst airport in the entire world. CGD in Paris is the second worst, while Hong Kong's main airport came in first at the right end.

Personally, we've only had horrific experiences at Heathrow, from fainting in passport control lines to nearly missing planes because of overzealous security checks. With the British government slapping on extra fees for us to fly out of London, we're thinking a Heathrow boycott is definitely in order. Sorry, Brits. Nothing personal.

Related Stories:
· Heathrow Named Worst Airport in World [CheapFlights]
· World's (Previously) Worst Airport [Jaunted]
· London Heathrow coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: James Cridland]

Tags: T5 at LHR / Wifi / Free WiFi / Airports / → All Tags

Heathrow T5 WiFi: Now as Big as 50 Football Fields

If you get stuck waiting for a plane (or hanging around to see if your baggage will show up) at London Heathrow's new Terminal 5, then things just got a bit more pleasant if you're keen to hop online while you wait.

T-Mobile has launched a WiFi hotspot that covers the entire area of Terminal 5, and they're boasting that it's the biggest in the country, spanning an area equivalent to 50 football pitches.

If you're not already a T-Mobile customer then you can get an hour's access for £5 or 24 hours for £10; but don't forget that if you can get into a British Airways lounge you'll get WiFi for free.

The other dream possibility? Your experience at T5 is so smooth and quick that you don't have time to log on. That really does sound like a dream.

Related Stories:
· T-Mobile Launches T5 Hotspot [Business Traveller]
· BA Can't Find Bags But Does Have Free WiFi [Jaunted]
· Special People Get Their T5 Baggage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Roo Reynolds]

Tags: Travel Advertising / Travel Marketing / LHR / T5 at LHR / British Airways / → All Tags

Travel Ads: London's T5 Now Functioning Like an Average Airport Terminal

After the horrible first few days that spawned YouTube videos and Flash games, it seems the new Terminal 5 at Heathrow is finally starting to function like your average airport terminal. So what's the play for British Airways? Hype that mediocrity in some new ads!

The campaign involves photos of real passengers using T5 combined with reasonable statistics that explain how "Terminal 5 is working." Among the ho-hum stats featured: "Yesterday at T5 average time through check-in was 8.5 minutes."

The airline is also posting the snaps on its T5 website. We're waiting to see if the carrier posts a photo of passengers crying over lost luggage: BA still mishandles an average of nine bags per jumbo jet flight.

Related Stories:
· BA Launches New Heathrow T5 Campaign [UK Travel Weekly]
· First-Person Airport Review: So Is T5 Really That Bad? [Jaunted]

[Photo: Travel Weekly]

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First-Person Airport Review: So Is T5 Really That Bad?

The opening of T5 at London Heathrow was so outrageously botched, sometimes "shambolic" didn't seem good enough to describe it. But in the months since, have things changed? And, more importantly, can you fly there and hope to see your checked bags ever again?

NewYorkology blogger Amy Langfield transited the terminal three times during a recent European trip, and described one experience in T5 as "flawless." Really?!

more ›

Tags: British Airways / T5 at LHR / London Heathrow / LHR / Fashion / Security / Airport Security / → All Tags

Trouble at T5: Tainted by "Transformers" Tee Transgression

There are plenty of offensive things one can wear on a plane--a too-short skirt, for example, or a political message for the President. Add Optimus Prime to that list: A British IT consultant was not allowed to board his British Airways flight because of his "Transformers" T-shirt.

Brad Jayakody has a cool enough job that on a business trip to Dusseldorf, he was allowed to dress down for the plane. But after one of his colleagues was searched, he was pulled aside and told his shirt was inappropriate.

So a silk-screened gun is the same as a real gun now? We've just got to be more careful with our T-shirt selection. But the real person in danger? Shia LaBeouf. After all, he's a known associate of Mr. Prime.

Related Stories:
· Heathrow Security Tackles Transformers T-shirt Threat [The Register]
· Willie Says T5's Working Well [Jaunted]
· Shia LaBeouf's Cold-Plane Defense [Jaunted]

[Photos: The Sun, Recycled Teenager]

Tags: T5 at LHR / British Airways / London Heathrow / LHR / Airports / Willie Walsh / → All Tags

Willie Says T5's Working Well

British Airways boss Willie Walsh must be smiling this week because he's going around telling anyone who'll listen that the disaster that was the new Terminal 5 at Heathrow is now "working well."

So well, in fact, that BA is now finally going to move the rest of their flights over there--yep, the flights they were going to move back in April. On June 5, eight destinations from Terminal 4 will move to T5, including flights to New York's JFK. The rest will be moved over in the next couple of months.

Willie probably wasn't smiling when the news came out over the weekend that "a small number" of incoming foreign passengers in the early days of T5 were dropped off at the wrong doors and let into Britain without showing their passports. They probably just turned around and flew home in disgust after their their luggage never showed up.

Related Stories:
· British Airways To Begin Shifting Long Haul Flights [IHT]
· T5 Foreign Passengers Unchecked [BBC]
· Terminal 5 coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: terminal5insider]

Tags: T5 at LHR / British Airways / London Heathrow / LHR / Airports / Videos / → All Tags

Terminal 5: Now In Music Video

They made an online game about our suffering in Heathrow's problematic Terminal 5, so it was just a matter of time before the song came out too.

This video from Roguetune whines about Terminal 5 in a way that a whole lot of travelers can understand, except for special people like Kate Moss, that is. The chorus goes on with endless variations of a line like this:

I went down to get my bags, but I'm in Greece and my bags are still in Terminal 5.

As well as funny lyrics, you'll get a nice tour the trendy new Terminal 5 building, inside and out, and an entertaining cast of extra characters. Unfortunately, although this song might make you laugh, it won't change much for those still wondering which Italian warehouse their carefully packed bags have ended up in.

Related Stories:
· Baggage Trouble: Making A Game of Your T5 Suffering [Jaunted]
· Special People Get Their T5 Baggage [Jaunted]

Tags: T5 at LHR / British Airways / London Heathrow / LHR / Airports / Baggage / → All Tags

Special People Get Their T5 Baggage

We held a minute's silence recently for anyone affected by London Heathrow's Terminal 5 baggage hell and we'll spare another thought for the thousands of travelers whose luggage is still lying around somewhere. A warehouse in Italy seems to be the common (if illogical) answer to "Where's my bag?" Some might be so lost that they'll end up incinerated rather than reunited with with their owners.

Ouch. Some of the luckier (but still very unhappy) British Airways passengers got pre-paid credit cards credited with their compensation payment of, for example, £175 for three bags. But other travelers--let's take supermodel Kate Moss as an example--are getting £10,000 pounds in compensation for ten bags which were delayed, but have now reached her.

Moral of the story? Don't fly unless you're famous. If you find that a touch unrealistic, then we can ease that a bit: go carry-on only with British Airways.

Related Stories:
· BA's Paltry Payout for Lost Bags [UK Times]
· Kate Moss Reunited With Her Lost Luggage [The Mail]
· Baggage Hell: Making A Game of Your T5 Suffering [Jaunted]

[Photo: Xurble]

Tags: T5 at LHR / British Airways / London Heathrow / LHR / Airports / Willie Walsh / → All Tags

Baggage Hell: Making a Game of Your T5 Suffering

Speaking of airport baggage drama, this Flash game has to be the funniest take on the T5 debacle we've seen. Think of it as Donkey Kong with an airline executive instead of an Italian plumber.

You control British Airways CEO Willie Walsh, and you have to get a pile of bags sorted onto a conveyor belt while maniacal luggage carts come at you. We're still working on our technique, but we hope to improve our score by this afternoon.

Just think: Now that there's WiFi in the baggage claim, you can play this game while endlessly waiting for your actual bags!

Related Stories:
· Play the Terminal 5 Baggage-Sorting Game [Travel Weekly]
· Your Daily British Airways Apology: T5 Still a Complete Mess [Jaunted]

Tags: London Gatwick / London Heathrow / Airports / Baggage / LHR / T5 at LHR / → All Tags

Gatwick Catches Up on Baggage Rules

London's biggest airport is hogging the headlines this week, but why should Heathrow's T5 disasters overshadow little brother Gatwick's news: The smaller airport finally overturned the one carry-on bag rule which other UK airports gave up long, long ago.

In the first week of January this year, airports like Heathrow canceled the rule that passengers could only bring one bag on board, brought in awhile back as a security measure. Gatwick has been slow because it needed more x-ray and archway technology installed, but the place has finally caught up with the rest of the country.

But be careful if you're flying out of Gatwick, because there are a few airlines there who are sticking to the old rule. Better to pack small, though, and fly out of Gatwick, than wave goodbye to your checked baggage at Heathrow.

Related Stories:
· Gatwick to Lift One Bag Rule [Business Traveller]
· Your Daily British Airways Apology [Jaunted]
· London Gatwick coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: puck-man]