Review: British Airways Galleries First Heathrow T3

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I’m a creature of habit so, despite having the choice of any of the One World First Class lounges I always seem to find myself at the British Airways Galleries First lounge when flying out of Heathrow’s Terminal 3. This trip was no different. (I promise to change it up on my next trip – all requests in the comments section at the end please!).

Lounge access is available to anyone flying a OneWorld airline in first class or, on the day of travel, to anyone with OneWorld Emerald status flying a OneWorld airline (in any class). Full details of who’s eligible for entry and what the guesting rules are can be found on the OneWorld website site.

As lounges go the Galleries First Lounge in T3 is pretty big and, at the hours I tend to travel, nice and quiet (which is probably why I gravitate to it so often). As the sign that greets you shows, there’s quite a bit on offer:

The self-serve champagne bar is the first thing that you see as you walk into the lounge:

Apologies for not getting any close up shots of the bottles but there was an unusual amount of traffic in the lounge on this visit – the Champagne bar was the focus of most guests’ attention!

The lounge is split  into two distinct areas – one to the left of the Champagne bar and the other to the right.

The area to the left of the Champagne bar is further divided into a seating section on the right and a more work-orientated area on the left. The divider in this area is another long drinks bar with soft drinks, glasses and water.

The work area has a number of  workstations with computers.

And they’ve got you covered if you forgot to print something out before you left home or the office.

At the end of this side of the lounge there’s a long self-serve drinks bar with spirits on the counter and cold drinks, juices and mixers in the refrigerators below – the “Gold Bar”.

The second area of the lounge (to the right of the Champagne bar as you walk in) holds even more – starting with the tea & coffee-making facilities and the kids’ room.

Further on inside this second part of the lounge are more seating areas…

At the end of the seating areas is yet another self-serve bar – this one is the “wine gallery”….

The lounge isn’t exactly short of alcoholic options but, unfortunately, they’re all wasted on me because I’m almost always here in the mornings – and I’m not a morning-drinker. I am, however, assured that the offerings are “pretty good”.

The last of the self-service areas in this section is the food island or, what I think BA calls, “the Deli”.

As I was on a morning flight the options were geared towards breakfast….

The food options don’t end there. If what you’ve seen so far isn’t to your liking there’s also a menu for you to peruse….

You can choose to either have your choice brought to you in the lounge area or you can choose to go into the “First Dining Room” and have it brought to you there.

I didn’t have time to try out the Spa (I never do!) so that will have to wait for another trip but that’s where you’ll also find the showers that Galleries First T3 offers.

Lastly, as you leave the lounge to catch your flight, you can always grab a bit of last-minute reading if you forgot to bring some with you…..

That’s a pretty decent selection of magazines for an airport lounge and it looks even better when you compare it to the selection you get at American Airlines’ Flagship (fist class) lounges – which you’ll see when I get round to reviewing their lounge at LAX.

Overall I like the British Airways Galleries First lounge at T3. It may not be as modern-looking as its counterpart in T5 but it’s certainly easier to find a seat here. The staff all seem pretty cheerful and I had a particularly friendly gatekeeper on this trip (friendliness not being something I normally associate with BA lounge gatekeepers). The food is adequate if not stunning and, importantly for me, the lounge has a good amount of natural light which makes it a pleasant place to be while you wait for a flight.

I’ve visited (but not reviewed) the BA business class lounge and the two American Airlines lounges at T3 in the past and Galleries First is head and shoulders above all three. I think I’ll probably try the Cathay Pacific lounge on my next visit to see how that compares but, if anyone has any other suggestions/requests, let me know below.