Where can you fly on British Airways from Heathrow Terminal 3 to visit the Qantas and Cathay lounges?

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Long time readers of HfP will know that when you are flying from Heathrow Terminal 3 you are spoilt for choice when it comes to airline lounges.

The excellent Qantas lounge (review here) has now been open for almost two years, and is regarded as one of the best in the UK. You also have the Cathay Pacific lounges (review) which are a great place to go if you have a BA Gold card and would like to enjoy some fine restaurant dining in the First Class lounge.

If that wasn’t enough, American Express has also made Heathrow Terminal 3 its home for one of the first Centurion lounges to open outside the US. Existing Centurion lounges have a very good reputation so this is one to keep an eye out for when it opens in early 2020 – vague image of the entrance below!

As well as the amazing Qantas and Cathay Pacific lounges, you can also visit the T3 American Airlines and British Airways Galleries lounges. These are both perfectly acceptable but not in the same league as the others. If you have a Priority Pass card, there are also two excellent independent lounges – Club Aspire (reviewed here) and No 1 Lounge (reviewed here).

Have you flown from Terminal 3 in a while?

All this means that Heathrow Terminal 3 is the place to be if you want to relax in style before a British Airways flight (unless, of course, you can use the BA Concorde Room in Terminal 5!)

If you thinking about weekend break destinations for an Autumn trip, you might want to put a British Airways Terminal 3 route on your list.

British Airways is currently running a sale, as we covered here. As it happens, one of the best Club Europe deals – Helsinki for £210 return, which earns a whopping 160 British Airways Executive Club tier points – departs from Terminal 3.

Remember that you need to be travelling in Club Europe / Club World to access the lounges, or have a British Airways Silver card or above, or oneworld equivalent. You will need a BA Gold card or equivalent to access the First Class private dining section of the Cathay lounge.

You should also note that the Qantas lounge is only open from 8am to 8.30pm so it is not an option for very early or late evening flights.

Which BA routes operate from Terminal 3?

I couldn’t find an official list anywhere so this is our best DIY attempt – if there are any errors we will update them during the day. It reflects the changes taking place when the Winter timetable launches in late October.

This list only covers BA flights. A business class flight on any other oneworld airline would also work. A very attractive option would be the handful of Finnair‘s Helsinki flights which use the new A350 long-haul aircraft which I reviewed here. Book yourself in Business Class, for cash or Avios, and you can check out the new Terminal 3 lounges and then fly to Helsinki on a flat bed!

This is where I think we are with British Airways departures from Heathrow Terminal 3:

Short-haul and mid-haul

Accra
Barcelona
Billund (from 27th October)
Budapest
Gibraltar
Hannover (from 27th October)
Helsinki
Lisbon
Luxembourg (until 27th October)
Lyon (until 27th October)
Marseille
Palermo
Pisa
Prague
Pula (Summer only)
Vienna
Zagreb (from 27th October)

Long-haul

Cape Town
Denver
Las Vegas
Miami
Nairobi
Phoenix (until 27th October)
San Diego (from 27th October)
Vancouver

If you are thinking of making a booking in the current British Airways sale, perhaps it is worth giving a Terminal 3 destination a try?

How to earn Avios points from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways BA Amex American Express card

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways BA Premium Plus American Express Amex credit card

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

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

The Platinum Card from American Express

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

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios:

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus:

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

(Want to earn more Avios? Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)

Category

British Airways and Avios, Cathay Pacific and Asia Miles, oneworld alliance partners

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

Roberto says:

9 Sep9 September 08:01

Is your significant other happy to lounge hop? Mrs Roberto prefers not to. I did get her to do both First Class lounges in Hong Kong once but defiantly no bar crawling at Heathrow.

Normally we sit and eat in the CX lounge at T3 but the last few times its been so cold we moved to Qantas bar.
- Anna says:
  
  9 Sep9 September 09:53
  
  +1, OH and son prefer the minimum number of moves. Hence dislike of travelling via LHR and only persuaded to do so when enjoying premium cabins. There are going to be grumblings that we have to travel from T5 to T3 as well!
  - Lady London says:
    
    9 Sep9 September 11:55
    
    Too late for you two to change. But my interviews for new partner will include willingness to lounge hop as well as we take solo seats on long haul flights.
    - @mkcol says:
      
      9 Sep9 September 13:23
      
      🙂
Shoestring says:

9 Sep9 September 08:18

O/T Brian Strutton (General Secretary of BALPA) said on Radio 4 this morning that the sticking point was failure to agree on 7% profit share, which the pilots had suggested should apply to all BA staff including cabin crew. 7% in a bumper year, 0% in a bad year for BA.

You’d have thought that a reasonable compromise could have been negotiated, eg just improving the bonus structure for the pilots. I don’t know what the existing bonus structure is, but I guess (in non-City jobs), 10% for company hitting targets and you your KPIs is fairly standard. So why didn’t they just improve this in some measure? eg up to 15%-20% depending on IAG performance, no need for profit share as such, 7% of £2b is plain crazy/ greedy.

11.5% over 3 years, reinstate the £5000, up to 15% bonus, no profit share.
- Shoestring says:
  
  9 Sep9 September 08:28
  
  there are a couple of people on FT who have been pro-actively offered an alternative (re-ticketed) flight on Virgin!
  
  BA traditionally hate doing this, so good to see. Air France, KLM and Lufthansa are on their pre-approved competitor airlines list for re-ticketing for the strike/s, though.
- Rob says:
  
  9 Sep9 September 08:59
  
  I have worked in 30-person banking businesses that have shared a £50m annual bonus pot, so £140m across 45,000 people is not ‘crazy’. It is £3,100 each. If you think giving staff a £3,000 bonus – at the top of the cycle – is ‘crazy/greedy’ then you are mistaken.
  - Shoestring says:
    
    9 Sep9 September 09:17
    
    I was thinking £140m/ 4000
    - Rob says:
      
      9 Sep9 September 09:27
      
      The three unions and BA have an agreement that anything offered to one of them is given to all.
      - Lady London says:
        
        9 Sep9 September 12:05
        
        I think IAG’s worry is that this might spread to other airlines in the IAG Group. I think they will fight tooth and nail to avoid more parties than shareholders having an official right to a direct share of the profits.
        
        Problem is most things the pilots could ask for that would ensure they share in the good fortunes of the company in good times can be easily manipulated by IAG/BA.
        
        This sticking point plus patience of the pilots when BA did not reinstate sacrifices temporarily agreed when times were bad, and longtime previous good behaviour of the pilots union, tells me that this standoff is not just a p****ng contest but a clash on fundamental issues that IAG feels vulnerable if they concede.
  - Lady London says:
    
    9 Sep9 September 12:07
    
    Would you agree that in the profit-sharing world, investment banking is a pretty special case Rob?
    - Rob says:
      
      9 Sep9 September 12:19
      
      John Lewis pays out all of its profits to staff.
      
      Football clubs pay virtually all their REVENUE (not profit) to the players.
      
      Bottom line is that the more important the staff are, the more likely they are to have a generous profit share scheme. And today we see how important the BA pilots are ….
- Travel Strong says:
  
  9 Sep9 September 09:28
  
  I heard that interview as “7% of pay” rather than “7% of profits” … but I may be mistaken.
  - Shoestring says:
    
    9 Sep9 September 09:32
    
    I *think* you’re wrong as they insist on calling it ‘profit share’ as opposed to ‘bonus’ – maybe it’d be bonus #2, though, as presumably most middle/ senior BA staff will already be on a bonus incentive
    
    happy to be wrong myself!
Andrew MS says:

9 Sep9 September 08:20

OT – thinking about the article the other day regarding earning avios by booking Emirates flights with a Quantas flight number , how do I achieve this ?! I looked on the Quantas website , Opodo , Expedia but nothing came up . I was looking at Manchester to Bangkok via Dubai .
Thank you for any advice
- Shoestring says:
  
  9 Sep9 September 08:29
  
  https://headforpoints.com/2019/01/02/can-you-earn-avios-if-you-fly-with-emirates/
jc says:

9 Sep9 September 08:54

o/t: Reward Flight Finder (so renamed from BA Redemption Finder when they added Virgin Atlantic too) has now removed Virgin Atlantic.

Announcement: https://headwayapp.co/reward-flight-finder-updates/reward-flight-finder-no-longer-supports-virgin-atlantic-116528

Real shame. Sounds like Virgin Atlantic changed something at their end that stopped it from working.
Liz says:

9 Sep9 September 09:10

For our upcoming Safari trip we fly down BA domestic and connect to Qatar (economy) out of T4. We have an 8.5 hr wait time at LHR. Would we be able to check in our cases at Qatar so far out before the flight? We could then go in to London for a few hrs. Or is that not allowed? We have 2 Dragon passes we could use for Plaza Premium or Art & Lounge but assume we can’t use them for more than 3 hrs. Luggage storage want £12.50 per bag for more than 3 hrs!
- Anna says:
  
  9 Sep9 September 09:59
  
  I think it depends when the check in desks actually open, I would imagine at LHR they are open all day? It’s quite a faff getting to and from central London though, I would not bother for the sake of a few hours, though I am rather over-cautious and would worry that some transport calamity might stop me getting back to catch my connecting flight! Also you’d have to do the full security thing again, which for me would definitely make me decide to spend the time relaxing in the lounge and doing a bit of shopping.
- Lady London says:
  
  9 Sep9 September 12:30
  
  Piccadilly Line runs direct to Harrods/Sloane St/Peter Jones area. I’d do it even though it wouldn’t give me much time there. Backstop would be getting back by taxi if Piccadilly Line failed (that means dont Get into a taxi 4pm-6.30pm or so if you want to be safe due to traffic jams).
  
  Of course I’d suss out the busiest lounge first. QR should be able to confirm what hours you could check in and drop your bags if you phone them.
Andrew says:

9 Sep9 September 09:25

I wouldn’t get too excited about the upcoming Centurion lounge – I went into the one in Miami and it was appalling, nothing better than a No1 lounge. I left after about half an hour and went to the American Airlines Flagship First lounge (which was excellent in comparison).
- Shoestring says:
  
  9 Sep9 September 09:28
  
  but you can get in on Plat when PP lets you down if you’re flying in Economy
- Rob says:
  
  9 Sep9 September 09:28
  
  I think T3 is a mistake. It is, literally, the best terminal in the world – adjusted for passenger numbers – in terms of number and quality of lounges. Why add to what is there?
  - Lady London says:
    
    9 Sep9 September 12:21
    
    I guess they didnt want just the BA-dominated catchment area that is T5 even though décent louanges are sorely needed there.
- Qwertyknowsbest says:
  
  9 Sep9 September 09:36
  
  +1
Carson Wentz says:

9 Sep9 September 09:53

Am I right in thinking that flying AA Business from T3 will get me access to the Qantas and Cathay lounges too, even without any Oneworld status?
- Shoestring says:
  
  9 Sep9 September 10:00
  
  yes
- Anna says:
  
  9 Sep9 September 10:00
  
  Yes, as flying BA in J would.
Graham says:

9 Sep9 September 10:06

Flying with a couple of pals in first in Jznuary to Denver from T3, but have a connection from MAN that gets us to the terminal 4 hours early. Can we use Concorde Room for a couple of hours, then go to T3 – are the logistics just not worth it?
- Shoestring says:
  
  9 Sep9 September 10:23
  
  https://www.heathrow.com/flight-connections/at-a-glance
  
  they say allow up to 105 mins! even on FT they say allow 95 mins/ is comfortable
  
  sounds like an exaggeration to me – but you should be fine for 90 mins in the CCR then resume lounge activities in T3
  - Jonny says:
    
    9 Sep9 September 13:51
    
    1. If arriving BA domestic into T5, with an onward BA F flight departing T3 eight hours later the same day, is it actually possible to get airside T5 to access the CCR? Won’t they direct you to flight connections when you attempt this?
    
    2. Separately, if arriving BA domestic into T5 at 7pm, with onward BA F flight departing T5 the following morning, when is the earliest I can access T5 airside?
    
    Thanks!
    - Robert says:
      
      10 Sep10 September 03:03
      
      5am.
  - Robert says:
    
    10 Sep10 September 03:03
    
    You cannot access the CCR if your onward travel is from T3.
- Lady London says:
  
  9 Sep9 September 11:13
  
  If in J or F incoming I’d make sure to do the AA Arrivals Lounge at T3.
- Anna says:
  
  9 Sep9 September 13:23
  
  AS long as your MAN flight is on time (and it usually arrives before the scheduled time IME), it’s definitely worth popping into the CCR for an hour. That’s plenty of time to have something to eat washed down with LPGS and maybe spot an aging rock star in the loos!
  - Brian says:
    
    9 Sep9 September 13:36
    
    So which ageing rock star did you spot in the women’s loos, Anna? :))