Sweet Home Chicago
Back to Terminal 5 and the British Airways Terraces Lounge
- Well, it’s been
- Well, it’s been a long two years, hasn’t it?
- Testing, Testing, Swab 1-2-3…
- Off to Heathrow (Take the coach they say. It’s fun they say)
- Cathay Pacific T3 lounge, Heathrow Airport
- AA87 London Heathrow to Chicago O’Hare International (Main Cabin Extra)
- Into the USA, Crown Plaza O’Hare
- Hyatt Regency O’Hare
- Airplane Art from the Hyatt Regency O’Hare
- Fooding around Chicago… Badly
- Starbucks Reserve Rosterary, North Michigan Avenue
- Exploring Chicago with a smartphone
- Back to O’Hare, British Airways Lounge
- BA296 Chicago O’Hare to London Heathrow (World Traveller Plus – Premium Economy)
- Welcome back to the UK, or how to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory
- To the Journey
Back to Chicago O’Hare Terminal 5
With my time in Chicago up, I headed back to the hotel from the city centre. After retrieving my luggage from the hotel and repacking it with the last minute goodies I got for people, it was time to start heading home.
Eventually, a hotel shuttle bus turned up – I was the only passenger aboard for the short ride to Terminal 5 – the distant terminal away from the O’Hare Central area.
Thankfully, it was a short ride – and I was at the terminal in double-quick time.
To sign, To serve
From here I entered the door and straight to the check-in desks.
There was confusion about how to handle one of my bags, but with that clear, the check-in process continued. I was asked to present both my passport and completed VeriFly pass.
With the paperwork done and dusted, a boarding pass spat out, indicating I was clear to go.
O’Hare security with the TSA can be a crapshoot some days – on bad days, good luck making your flight. On a day like I went through, there were approximately three people there.
I will treasure this sight forever.
My boarding pass and passport were checked, and I was allowed to proceed. It was then time to engage in the TSA’s shoe fetish, as well as electronics out.
Thankfully, hand luggage did not offend the TSA, and I was allowed on my way quickly.
With that done, it was time to head into the hub area – which was pretty quiet. Interestingly, a new low-cost option has opened up, with Dunkin Donuts now in the terminal. I guess having Southwest and Frontier at Terminal 5 has forced the airport to consider value options at long last for this terminal
The main food court
Because America runs on burnt coffee.
I briefly checked Duty-Free and Hudson News for anything remotely interesting. With that boredom done, I made my way to the black box that is the British Airways lounge.
The British Airways First Class lounge – hopefully, it is currently being refurbished.
If you don’t want a lounge but want a pod, there’s an interesting – if a pricy option…
Looks good, don’t they? Except…
Starts at $10 for 15 minutes. Be prepared to pay…
Fun.
Entering the lounge, there was a little bit of heated discussion in play, as a couple were expressing their displeasure with the changes in seat assignments.
But before you go in, how to order your food.
With them out of the way, I was blipped in and headed to a table to do a little editing.
But first, food.
Help-your-self food options are limited to a salad bar, soup station and snacks, with the rest of the menu behind a webpage.
Those who have been through Heathrow will be familiar with the drill now.
There was a burger on offer – something more substantial than I’ve seen before on the ORD Lounge for those who don’t qualify for pre-flight dining.
So of course, I ordered one.
This wasn’t a bad burger at all – with reasonably juicy with a nice enough bun. Lots of good points here. Bubbly was on the menu, as was topped up too.
It also gave me time to edit up a blog post I was working on in Starbucks that day, which is always welcome.
The lounge itself is the same windowless box it’s always been. It was a bit busier than normal as the First Class part of the lounge (which has this odd thing called “windows” in it). I suspect the refurbishment is still come – because it still felt like a doctor’s waiting room rather than a British Airways lounge.
Editing always gets me peckish – so I decided to test this lounge a little deeper – this time with a Beyond Meat burger. How would they handle this?
Well, it seemed a little poorer than a normal burger, with a 20-minute wait – I guess the beyond meat burgers are still new to the lounge here, and they’re getting used to it.
As for the burger – it was again – tasty. A little less juicy than a normal meat-based burger, but still more than passable for a burger.
With boarding time closing in, I started to gather my stuff together for transit – however, there would have been an announcement in the lounge at this point. I overhead that the inbound aircraft had been delayed – so there was going to be a bit of a knock-on to boarding.
I sat back down to watch basketball – because let us face it – what else is there to do?
This went on for a good 30 minutes until the pre-boarding call was made. I took this chance to exit the lounge and prepare for travel.
Heading to Gate M12, pre-boarding had been completed, with First Class making their way aboard. Some people of course did not understand what first-class meant (and we’ll get onto that later), but eventually Group 2 was called.
I took that as my opportunity to line up.
My boarding pass was scanned, along with a TSA exit camera. With those requirements complete, I was allowed to board.
It was time to start heading homewards.
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