Terminal 5B ( B Gates), London Heathrow Airport

Introduction

This is my review of the British Airways (BA) Lounge at B-Gates or Terminal 5B. This is a lounge which generally much quieter and the lounges at Terminal 5A (the main terminal).

At Heathrow, British Airways are exclusive to Terminal 5 – and Terminal 5 is split across 3 sub-terminals, each of which is connected with a train (or you can walk);

• Terminal A is generally used for short-haul and domestic flights on the Airbus A320 fleet ……..I don’t believe anything larger than a Boeing 757 can fit into Terminal 5A!
• Terminal A also had bus gates, which can be any type of aircraft for long or short haul (though generally not the A380)
• Terminal B is traditionally a long-haul terminal with BA’s 787, 777, A350 and A380 aircraft parking up here – however sometimes A320’s will park here too
• Terminal C is essentially the same as Terminal B.

The only real major difference between Terminal 5B and 5C is that there is a lounge in Terminal 5B. For reasons I don’t understand, there is no lounge at Terminal 5C.

Opening Times

The lounge is open daily from 05:00 to 22:00.

Entry Conditions

This is a Business Class class lounge, with the First Lounge and Concorde Room being in Terminal 5A.

Therefore access to this lounge is available to:

• Those flying First Class with British Airways
• Those flying Business Class with British Airways
• Those with BA Gold/OneWorld Emerald Status
• Those with BA Silver/OneWorld Sapphire Status

To the best of my knowledge, BA do not allow any kind of payment or credit cards into their lounges.

How to Get There

Before I explain this, I offer a WORD OF CAUTION:

In my experience, 95% of long-haul flights leave from T5B or T5C – HOWEVER if your gate has not been displayed, it COULD be going from T5A via bus.

This does not stop you going to visit B-Gates lounge, but if you do – DO NOT get the train back to T5A/A-Gates, as you will find yourself in immigration and having to go back through Security. Instead, use the tunnels to get back to A-Gates.

Getting to the lounge is quite straightforward, there are trains which run around every 3 to 5 minutes which go from A to B and then to C. Alternatively, there is an underground tunnel, which will take you there if you prefer the walk. It’s about 15 minutes.

Whether you’ve taken the train or tunnel, once you are at the Gates level in Terminal 5B, you’ll find the escalator just in front of you – I believe opposite Gate 53.

Layout

This lounge is a very light and airy lounge and offers great views over the apron of the airport.

The seating is made up mostly of casual seating, with coffe tables, sofas and low seating.

There is a sort of dining area, and there is also some high-table seating for working.

If you want to be an American, you can even sit at the (self-service) wine bar!

That is pretty much it, it’s fairly large lounge – but also quite modest at the same time.

Food and Drink

Drinks

All drinks are self-service, and have BA’s usual range of wines, beers and soft drinks. With that said, often, if you want a glass of Champagne you’ll need to collar one of the servers – as whilst it’s available, it’s rarely put out.

There are also self-service coffee machines. What I do like about BA’s lounges is they always have plenty of biscuits next to them!

Food

Seemingly even in the First Lounge food is deemed as self-service, where as it was previously a mixture of self-service and on-App. In this lounge there was no food on the BA App at all, so all self-service.

During my visit, breakfast was just finishing and lunch sort of starting to come out.

BA offer a decent range of breakfast items, including cereals, porridge, a full range of cooked options, toast, breads, cheeses – and my favourite pastries!

As someone who ‘doesn’t do’ breakfast, I am always appreciative that BA’s offering is pretty extensive!

Lunch was starting to come out, so I managed to get a peek. I believe lunch and dinner are the same thing.

On my visit lunch was only just starting and involved salad and nachos. I am sure there will be decent hot food options too – I just need to get back at the right time!

Wifi

The Wifi was pretty good, and I was getting 30mps up and down. I had a Zoom call to do in the lounge, and the connection was extremely stable – so good news!

Showers

There are showers in this lounge, but I’ve not used them (blame over-running Zoom calls!). To grab a shower you’ll head to the shower reception where I guess they’re give a towel. In fact it may be the case you book via the App, which I have done before.

I’ll check out what you’re supposed to do next time – and update!

Conclusion

One my main complaints about the British Airways lounges in Terminal 5A is over-crowding. Where as the 5B Lounge tends to be a lot quieter with plenty of seating and a much more calming atmosphere. For that reason it is a bit of a hidden gem.

It probably isn’t quite as extensive in its food and drinks offerings as the First Lounge (and certainly not the same as the Concorde Room) – but equally when I’m out of B/C-Gates with time, this can be a good secondary stop.

This is also a very good lounge if you’re flying from B-Gates and your flight is delayed!