Back to O’Hare Terminal 5 and the British Airways Lounge
Surprise, Surprise!
It’s time for something that is now historical – in more senses than one as I prepare to head back to London.
But I’m due a surprise at this point. What will it be?
In this surprise-laden adventure
- We all know the drill by now… don’t we?
- The early morning road to nowhere (and Heathrow Terminal 3 first thing in the morning, with an equipment change shock)
- Morning Lounging at the Cathay Pacific and American Airlines Lounges
- AA87 London Heathrow to Chicago O’Hare – Main Cabin Extra
- Into the USA and The Crowne Plaza O’Hare
- Hyatt Regency O’Hare
- Airplane Art Special from the Hyatt Regency O’Hare
- Various nibbles around Chicago
- An Instagram Trap? Coffee at Brü
- Chicago Classics: Giordano’s Deep Dish Pizza
- Enjoying a Chicago River tour… in the rain
- Back to O’Hare and the British Airways lounge
- BA296 Chicago O’Hare to London Heathrow – Club World (Club Suites)
- Racing across Heathrow… but where’s the coach?
- To onward surprises
Editors note
As of the 25th of April 2024, British Airways has moved their departures at Chicago O’Hare International Airport from Terminal 5 to Terminal 3, with departures handled via Gate K19 and eligible travellers being able to use the American Airlines Lounges at O’Hare T3.
This what I’ve got here is now a little moot.
This was written and flown in March 2024, one month before the change.
We now return to our regular scheduled programming.
Back to O’Hare
With my time up in the Windy City, it was time to start making tracks back to that place back east.
Of course, that means picking up my luggage. Thankfully, it was stored at the Hyatt, so that was all good to go once I returned to pick it up.
All set. If that handle was worrying me earlier, it’s scaring me now…
A quick re-pack and everything was set for travel back to the UK. Including an interloper, who escaped.
Great. Another mouth to feed.
Ready to roll.
With everything down to the requisite number of bags, I headed out and waited for a shuttle bus back to the airport.
Patience is a virtue I guess…
The good news is that the Hyatt has introduced a tracker for its shuttle bus network. The bad news – only one bus was doing the loop at 6 pm in the evening. Oh well.
Eventually, the shuttle arrived, and I loaded up for the trip to Terminal 5.
A short ride later, and I was back at… well, I wouldn’t say my favourite terminal. More like “I’ll deal with you because I have to” terminal.
Once more unto the breach, dear friends.
After finding my way to the British Airways desks, I negotiated the tensabarriers to a check-in podium. Thankfully I was seen quickly by the agents.
After confirming my identity, the agent advised me that there was good news for me… and that my seat in World Traveller Plus (Premium Economy) had been upgraded to Club World (Business Class).
Even better news was that the seat was confirmed as a window seat. I know for a lot of people that it doesn’t matter for a night flight… but it matters to me (as I do like to look at the world below, and also at the airports as we depart and arrive).
At least I wouldn’t be worrying about falling asleep into an aisle.
With the offer of tagging the third bag in (which I didn’t – it still had a bunch of electronics in it), I was given my tags and boarding pass.
Sometimes, the upgrade fairy smiles.
With that, I headed towards security. In previous trips, I’ve used the single lane to the left of the terminal, with varying results. This time, I headed to the main security area.
This is segregated into Clear, Precheck and Normal travellers. As I don’t hold PreCheck or Clear, it was through the normal channels.
The lane setup is typical – an ID check, then the conveyor belt system where everything comes out, is scanned, and then reassembled at the other end.
In total, it took around 15 minutes to clear this hurdle.
With my items recombined together, it was time to go through the Duty Free shop and the catering outlets that are are the centre of the departures part of the terminal.
As well as new vending machines
Choose your adventure.
I skipped past those and headed to the British Airways lounge.
It’s hidden…
British Airways Terraces Lounge
Heading into the lounge, I was welcomed. With a scan of my boarding pass, I was let through.
Given this would be the last British Airways flight out of O’Hare that night, the lounge was pretty busy. I, therefore, headed to the catering section to find some seating – it is normally pretty quiet in that area.
It looks like we’re not going to see the A380 on this route much longer with the move to Terminal 3.
The lounge itself is a walled box. At least it’s kept in good condition. Unlike the Swissport lounge, I visited the last time I was here. That place was a disaster. At least here, the seats aren’t threadbare and broken.
With me near the food section, it would have been rude not to partake in the offering.
On the menu that evening there were cold cuts.
What’s wrong darling? You haven’t touched your salimi rose?
Various curried items – allegedly a Chicken tika masala A Chickpea curry. Various carrots and Rice
And cold items – including salads and sandwiches.
Beyond this, there was the screened area, where first-class dining was being offered. Whilst I miss the burgers that were being offered during the early post-COVID flights, at least the buffet options offer some nice tastiest.
Although the Tikka Masala could have done with more… spice.
I also took the opportunity to grab a glass of bubbles. Just the one. I also had a Coke too.
Balance is everything.
There were also snacks in the main lounge area.
From here, there was more than a little admin to do as I wrapped up some of the things I needed to do in the USA – sadly, the speed of the Wi-Fi wasn’t great – put it like this, shoving 300 MB of files onto a Dropbox took far too long (to the point that the upload only completed when I got home).
It was also a chance to grab a can of drink for the coach trip home too – as I had a feeling I might be pushed for time, and not able to get to a coffee shop before I got on a coach.
After a while, boarding was called from within the lounge by the receptionist, who confirmed we would need to head to Gate 20.
It was time to gather my trash and head down to the gate.
Gate 20 is a little further away from the man central area, but not an onerous walk (unlike the new far gates, which are used by Southwest).
It’s also past the always well-placed SAS lounge.
Arriving at the gate, premium cabins were starting to load. I took the time to grab a few pictures of the aircraft that would be taking me over the pond that evening.
With that done, it was time to head to the podium and have my biometrics taken and my boarding pass ripped.
It was time to head aboard the nighttime club class flight.
Next:
BA296 Chicago O’Hare to London Heathrow in Club World
Time for another surprise. Waaaaaaiitttt. This isn’t the Club World I know…
Welcome to Economy Class and Beyond. Your no-nonsense guide to network news, honest reviews, in-depth coverage, unique research, as well as the humour and madness I only know how to deliver.
Our Social Media pool has expanded. You can find us across most networks as @economybeyond on Twitter, Mastodon, BlueSky, Threads and Instagram!
Also, remember that we are part of the BoardingArea community, bringing you the latest frequent flyer news from around the world.
What will happen to the lounge now that BA has moved terminals?