Elegantly Lounging Around Heathrow Terminal 3 featuring Cathay Pacific Business Class Lounge and American Airlines Business Class Lounge
New Aircraft, Old Friends
Time to lounge and make some good use of my British Airways Silver card, before the thing expires in March next year.
In this Trip Report:
- Well, this year has been a pile of toilet so far
- Take the National Express, when your life is a mess, it will make you smile – To Heathrow Terminal 3
- Heathrow Terminal 3 Lounges – Cathay Pacific Business Class Lounge and American Airlines Business Class Lounge
- AA087 London Heathrow to Chicago O’Hare – Main Cabin Extra
- Into the USA
- HOTEL: Holiday Inn Rosemont
- HOTEL Hyatt Regency O’Hare
- Airplane Art Extra from the Hyatt Regency O’Hare
- Playing with the Apple iPhone 17 Pro Camera around Chicago
- Back to O’Hare Terminal 3
- American Airlines Flagship Lounge
- BA296 Chicago O’Hare to London Heathrow, World Traveller Plus
- Buses and Buses
- The way old friends do
Lounging around Heathrow Terminal 3
With plenty of time on my hands, I’ve decided to stick to my usual lounges at Heathrow – The Cathay Pacific Business Class lounge (to spend most of my lounging time) and the American Airlines Lounge (in case of gate changes, possible upgrades and changes in situations).
Choose your own adventure, subject to access…
Also, the Qantas lounge was closed when I passed it. And no, I won’t go to the BA lounge unless I have to.
Cathay Pacific Business Class lounge
Hello, restful brushstroke. It’s been too long.
Arriving in the Cathay Pacific lounge, I was greeted by a receptionist who scanned my boarding pass and asked if it was my first visit. With me confirming I knew my way around, I did what I always do – headed to the business class side of the lounge.
And straight to the noodle bar. I placed my usual getting-started order (Dan Dan noodles, Char Siu bao, and some Dim Sum bits), then headed to my usual seat, facing the runway.
Noode Bar menu.
Yes, sometimes life is about routines and habits – especially when I’m travelling. And having little routines like this means I can switch off my mind. That’s welcoming, especially after the past 10 weeks, where all I’ve seen are Windows 11 screens.
Lounge area
Main Business Class Lounge
The world is a better place with noodles. Trust me on this..
Dandan noodles, Char siu bao and Dimsum (Some veggie thing, ha gow and shu mai)
I also picked at the self-service offerings to ensure I wasn’t missing out, which, as usual, looked pretty good (and tasted good too).
Omelettes and Scrambled Eggs – nice to have a choice of eggs
Hash Browns and Tomatoes
Beans
Bacon and Sausages
Cold Cuts, Drinks and Cheese
Pastries and fruit
And of course, to celebrate that I was on my way out of the country, I had a glass of bubbles.
Business Class bar
Bubbly.
Because, traditions.
I sat back and watched the world go by, as I worked out how to get my new earbuds to work, whilst updating the iPad with content in case I got bored.
And of course, having a window view of the airport meant I had a great vista over the South Runway, as aircraft took off and landed.
American Airlines Boeing 777 rear (normally a Virgin Atlantic aircraft is parked there)
British Airways ShortHaul A320 parked
British Airways A320ceo with winglets starting its takeoff run
KLM Airbus A321neo
I also might have stopped for some refreshing and clarifying wanton noodle soup. Some days, it fixes a lot in life.
With 8 am coming faster than I would have liked, I packed up my bags and headed out of the Cathay Pacific Lounge and to the much brighter American Airlines Lounge.
American Airlines Business Class Lounge
Towards Lounge H.
I was welcomed and directed into the main lounge, where I chose a seat and settled in.
Compared to the muted colours of the Cathay lounge, this is bright.
Food was not on the menu for me, but liquids were more on the requirements list. However, for the food lovers, it is a self-service breakfast
Breads
Breads
Scrambled Egg
Tomatoes and mushrooms
Sauauges and Bacon
After all, having extra liquids on a flight, without resorting to asking flight attendants, is helpful.
Soft Drink and Bar
Caffeine.
I enjoyed a coffee whilst I could.
With a few cans of cola stuffed away and helping a couple who were having issues next to me, boarding was called from the lounge.
It was time to head off to the gate, with Gate 29 being my destination.
Off we go again
Thankfully, this is one of the main spider arms of Terminal 3 – so it was a case of following the signs and walking on travelators until Gate 29 turned up.
Mostly American Airlines tails… it feels like we’re in the US, not London.
On the travelators we go.
Sliding into the priority queue, I was marked as boarded and allowed into the main gate area. This was filling up fast – to the point where it was standing room only and more people were piling in.
Certainly, this was not going to be a quiet flight.
It seemed that there was some delay in boarding. That’s not helpful. At least I didn’t have a connection at the other end.
The patiently waiting 787-9 to Chicago
Eventually, priority boarding was called in groups., With staff watching, I held off until Group 3 was called.
With the group being called, I headed down the jetway to one of my favourite places in the world – being aboard an aircraft.
Next:
AA87 to Chicago (Main Cabin Extra) – This is a little posh…
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