Official pictures of the new Qantas lounge in Heathrow Terminal 3

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Here is some more information on the new Qantas lounge in Heathrow Terminal 3, which will can be used by qualifying British Airways passengers flying through the terminal.

Rob’s initial thoughts and photos from the launch party are in this article here but we thought you might also like to read some extracts from the official press release and some professional images.

“After a 12 months long building phase the new Qantas Lounge at Terminal 3 will open tomorrow [ie today, Wednesday] at 8am.

The lounge was part of a multi-million dollar investment project which also includes the upcoming launch of Qantas’ non-stop London-Perth flight starting on 25th March 2018.

Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said “[Qantas] is reshaping what customers come to expect from international travel with direct flights between Australia and London. It’s a long flight, so we’re taking a holistic approach to passenger wellbeing on and off the aircraft, and the new Heathrow lounge is an important part of that”

The lounge has seats for 230 customers split over two levels. There are two bars, a gin bar on the lower level which offers the finest Australian and British gins, alongside an all-day barista service ….

and a marble cocktail bar on the upper level serving cocktails designed by the Qantas Rockpool Mixologists, as well as Australian and European wine and beer.”

“Designed by Woods Bagot, the interiors reflect London at twilight with deep greens and rich blues throughout the furniture, while warm-coloured timbers, stone and brass represent the historic architecture of the city.”

There are various seating arrangements including dining tables, sofas and bar stools:

The lounge will cater premium hot and cold buffets and serve an a la carte menu in the dining room:

“Menus designed by Rockpool with a Sofitel service experience; customers will enjoy á la carte service in the dining room with a selection of plates of the day including:

Quintessential British dishes such as ploughman’s platters, pot pies and scones with jam and cream
Australian favourites such as healthy brunch bowls with eggs, avocado and kale, and zucchini and haloumi fritters
The signature salt and pepper squid with green chilli sauce from the Qantas First Lounges in Australia”

and ….

There are six very classy looking shower suites with Aurora Spa amenities:

Qantas has also released an official video which you can find here.

As for opening details:

“The Qantas lounge will be open from 8am – 8:30pm every day. As well as Qantas customers travelling in First and Business and Qantas Platinum One, Platinum and Gold Qantas Frequent Flyers and their guests, the lounge is also open to eligible oneworld Emerald and Sapphire customers, Emirates Skywards Platinum and Gold customers and Qantas Club members and their guests.”

Rob’s on-the-spot report from the opening is here.

Getting airport lounge access for free from a credit card

How to get FREE airport lounge access via UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, here are the three options to get FREE airport lounge access via a credit or charge card:

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express comes with two free Priority Pass cards, one for you and one for a supplementary cardholder. Each card admits two so a family of four gets in free. You get access to all 1,300 lounges in the Priority Pass network – search it here.

You also get access to Plaza Premium, Delta and Eurostar lounges. Our American Express Platinum review is here. You can apply here.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for the first year. It comes with a Priority Pass card loaded with two free visits to any Priority Pass lounge – see the list here.

Additional lounge visits are charged at £20. You get two more free visits for every year you keep the card.

There is no annual fee for Amex Gold in Year 1 and you get a 20,000 points sign-up bonus. Full details are in our American Express Preferred Rewards Gold review here.

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard

A huge bonus, but only available to HSBC Premier clients Read our full review

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard gets you get a free LoungeKey card, allowing you access to the LoungeKey network. Guests are charged at £20 although it may be cheaper to pay £60 for a supplementary credit card for your partner.

The card has a fee of £195 and there are strict financial requirements to become a HSBC Premier customer. Full details are in my HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard review.

PS. You can find all of HfP’s UK airport lounge reviews – and we’ve been to most of them – indexed here.

Category

Airport Lounge Reviews (UK), British Airways and Avios, oneworld alliance partners

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

Lux says:

29 Nov29 November 05:30

Good point that Emirates Gold and Plat card holders can use this lounge too, although without the from-the-lounge boarding. Finally an alternative for frequent flyers! The EK lounge in T3 isn’t that bad though.
- Rob says:
  
  29 Nov29 November 08:05
  
  It was awful, following the refurb it is just average – only direct boarding saves it. For most airlines you would be impressed but I want more from Emirates.
  - guesswho2000 says:
    
    29 Nov29 November 08:34
    
    Until now, it was probably the best option…last time I flew QF First out of LHR (CX lounge was closed), the real options were BA/EK…so BA for a full English at 7am, followed by drinks in EK. Was a sensible compromise, I thought.
    
    However, I agree this is a game changer, I do like QF lounges. The proper ones, not Qantas Clubs, which are dotted around Australia for those who choose to pay for membership (think almost Servisair lounge…ok maybe not that bad, but they’re far from inspiring).
    - Alan says:
      
      29 Nov29 November 09:47
      
      Melbourne and Sydney ones not bad, used them quite a bit as BA Gold. I’m not a coffee drinker but their in-lounge barista was certainly popular.
Mike says:

29 Nov29 November 06:49

looks far better than the Concord Room……sadly
- Rob says:
  
  29 Nov29 November 08:03
  
  Oh yes, but this is T3 so luckily not a straight fight. It is waiter services in the restaurant – any other oneworld J lounge doing that?
  - Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:
    
    29 Nov29 November 09:32
    
    Globally? DOH certainly used to, at the other end from the fountain. Not sure if that was the victim of one of the cuts. QF in SIN has table service, but I think you have to order from the counter and it comes to you.
  - Nick Burch says:
    
    29 Nov29 November 09:41
    
    There’s some OneWorld F lounges that don’t do proper waiter service, eg BA’s Galleries First! There’ll be a menu on some tables, not all, not usually enough, but if you want to get served you’ll have to stand up and go flag down a staff member to get them to grudgingly take your order…
    
    Concorde Room can be a bit hit-and-miss with service. If you’re on the high tables near the bar it’s fine, if you’re in a booth they seemingly some times forget about you. A few times I’ve had to get up and walk back to the dining entrance to order something more (after waiting a long time for them to come first)
    
    Never had a problem with the waiter service in Cathay’s First lounge in T3, hopefully the Qantas lounge is as good as their Sydney lounge (where service was excellent)
Scott says:

29 Nov29 November 07:17

Typical. I’m in T3 next week and changed my HEL flight from 10:20am to 7:30am 🙁
Will have to slum it in the CX lounge instead :(.

Might have to see if I can grab a quick RFS to LUX or something.
- Catalan says:
  
  29 Nov29 November 08:17
  
  @Scott, sounds like you also missed the opportunity to fly on the Finnair A350 by changing from your 1020 flight.
Richard says:

29 Nov29 November 07:55

No mention of Fosters and castlemaine XXXX?
- Rob says:
  
  29 Nov29 November 08:01
  
  No, Oz gin is the best you get.
  - Richard says:
    
    29 Nov29 November 08:03
    
    And trying out those would be a great way to pass some time!
  - Alan says:
    
    29 Nov29 November 09:44
    
    Plus their beers have thankfully also vastly improved!
- Hingeless says:
  
  29 Nov29 November 10:20
  
  You can’t get fosters in Australia, it is British
Gidon says:

29 Nov29 November 08:02

if flying BA CW from T3 to CPT can I use this lounge as alternative to Galleries?
- Genghis says:
  
  29 Nov29 November 08:05
  
  That’s my plan in Feb.
  - Gidon says:
    
    29 Nov29 November 08:17
    
    Ive just realised can use Cathay first lounge as I am Gold.
    I wont have enough time to visit them all…
gumshoe says:

29 Nov29 November 08:17

How embarrassing for BA that, at its own home airport, its customers seemingly now have access to significantly superior lounges operated by not one but two of its oneworld partners.
- Clive says:
  
  29 Nov29 November 09:30
  
  I suspect BA can live with embarrassment which involves other companies paying for facilities for their customers… 🙂
  - Rob says:
    
    29 Nov29 November 09:33
    
    Rumour is that the bill is $50 or so, I doubt they are that keen.
    - CV3V says:
      
      29 Nov29 November 18:14
      
      So, if I were to go lounge hopping in T3 around the one world lounges BA are having to pay an entry fee for each lounge? Hmm.
- vlcnc says:
  
  29 Nov29 November 10:04
  
  Its not good when your customers actively want to travel from your ancillary terminal because your own lounges are so poor! 😛 Even with the dreadful T3, if you have access it is worth it…
OverTheHorizon says:

29 Nov29 November 09:43

Someone told me that BA pays CX £51 for each Goldie accessing the T3 CX F lounge…
- Catalan says:
  
  29 Nov29 November 11:19
  
  Yes. I believe once your boarding card is swiped there is a transaction from the customer of the visiting airline to the host airline’s lounge.
- Adrian says:
  
  29 Nov29 November 11:58
  
  Sweet, so penny pinching BA have to pay then? Next time we fly we will do both Qantas and CX! Hey if BA upped their game with their own lounges they could save money!
  - Doug says:
    
    29 Nov29 November 16:38
    
    I understand only the first lounge you enter gets to bill. Maybe BA will offer you a few Avios in exchange for going to the cheapest competitor first.
Richard G says:

29 Nov29 November 11:00

I’m looking forward to trying this in December. Hopefully it’s not too busy, so I can actually get in (I’ll be flying BA).