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Two pieces of news coming out of BA and, for a change, both are pretty positive. The airline is finally putting aircraft in the air which offer Wi-Fi (although the rollout appears to be competing with the world’s glaciers for the slowest possible speed) and it has negotiated lounge access for BA/oneworld elites (those flying with BA) at three more European lounges.
British Airways Starts Rolling Out Wi-Fi…At Last
British airways now has 3 long-haul aircraft equipped with over-water Wi-Fi (yes, a whole 3 aircraft!) and the airline has partnered with Visa to give customers an hour of free browsing and streaming.
The promotion will only be available for a “limited time” (which could mean anything) but at least this will give passengers a chance to try out the new service and report back on how good (or bad it is).
British Airways says that its aircraft will offer “high-speed” bandwidth to flyers and, just like with other airlines, Wi-Fi will be available once the aircraft has reached 10,000ft.
When it comes to actually paying for Wi-Fi this is what BA has to say:
Customers can choose from two paid-for Wi-Fi packages including the ‘Browse’ package, which supports internet surfing, social media and WhatsApp, or the ‘Stream’ package, which supports streaming of music and entertainment, from the very best online content services, including Netflix. The packages are available to purchase for one hour, four hours or the full flight.
Prices for the Browse package begin from £4.99 and Stream from £7.99.
BA has come up with this pictorial to emphasise how dependant some of us are on staying connected:
Thoughts
Leaving aside the fact that BA still only has 3 Wi-Fi equipped aircraft (which is a joke) there is good news in here. Firstly, the Wi-Fi will apparently be fast enough to allow streaming (presumably regardless of the number of passengers online) and secondly, there will be an option not to pay for the streaming service.
As someone who’s more than happy bringing my own entertainment onboard with me I was concerned that I’d have to pay the same Wi-Fi rates as those wanting to stream from Netflix – fortunately this doesn’t appear to be the case.
Now all that’s left to do is to check that the Wi-Fi speeds offered are good enough to actually get some work done.
BA Now Offers Access To 3 More European Lounges
British Airways passengers traveling from Innsbruck, Ibiza and Seville now have a lounge they can use before they fly out.
The airline has announced that it has reached agreement with lounge operators at all three destinations so you should now be able to access these lounges if….
- You have BA Silver status or higher and traveling on BA
- Oneworld Sapphire status or higher and traveling on BA
- You’re traveling in Business Class (BA Club Europe)
- You have a Priority Pass membership
Innsbruck Tyrol Lounge
The Tyrol lounge can be found opposite gates 11 & 12 and it’s open between 05:30 and 19:00 daily.
There are the only pictures I can find (they’re courtesy of Priority Pass so apologies for the quality!)
Images courtesy of Priority Pass (click to enlarge)
Ibiza Cap des Falco Lounge
The Cap de Falco lounge is located on the 1st floor of departures (airside) next to Gate 1.
The lounge’s opening hours vary on the season:
- April – October 06:00 – 00:30 Daily
- November – March 06:15 – 22:45 Daily
Images courtesy of Priority Pass (click to enlarge)
Seville Sala VIP Azahar
The Sala VIP Azahar lounge is on the 2nd floor of Seville airport (airside) just by Gate 3.
Opening hours are 06:00 to 22:00 daily.
Images courtesy of Priority Pass (click to enlarge)
Thoughts
Ok, the Sala VIP Azahar lounge doesn’t look like it’s going to blow anyone’s socks off but the other two lounges look perfectly nice. And, lets face it, a lounge is almost always going to be a better place to wait for your flight than the gate area so this is good news for BA elites and oneworld travelers flying on BA.
