By Patrick Griffin.
A few years back when I lived in Dublin and had family in England I would fly with Aer Lingus every couple of weeks or so.
I remember they had a number of executive lounges dotted around Dublin airport (I can recall at least three) and one at Heathrow.
Over the years I noticed that they were getting perhaps a little tired and rundown but they were still preferable to jostling with the crowds in the main terminal buildings for one of the less-than-comfortable seats airports provide for passengers.
I had another opportunity to sample the Aer Lingus lounge at Heathrow when I booked a recent flight to Belfast – the LHR – BFS service is all-econ0my now but all passengers are able to access the lounge should they wish to do so.
For the passengers on the most expensive fully flexible tickets lounge access is included in the price and for those, like me, on the cheapest tickets, lounge access is available for an additional fee of £20 (payable at the time of booking your flights online).
I paid an extra £20 for the privilege of sitting in the comfortable seats so I could share the experience with PGTravelTips readers – never say I fail to look after you.
To get to the lounge you must first get to that most distant of Terminal One piers from where Aer Lingus fly, turn left and it is close to Gate 90.
No entry...the main Aer Lingus lounge at Heathrow is closed for refurbishment. Pic © 2010 PGTravelTips.
I found one tiny problem though. The lounge was closed. Shut. Unavailable for access. The door was shielded from public gaze buy one of those portable medical screens doctors provide for patients to get changed behind.
There was no mention of the lounge being closed when the airline took my £20 just days before – at least if there was I failed to notice it.
But it was not all in vain. Aer Lingus was not leaving its passengers high and dry.
You see the main lounge is being refurbished (maybe other passengers had also noticed that it was getting a little shabby and needed updating) and a temporary affair has been provided a few feet further down the pier.
And temporary it really is.
Workmen have hived off about two thirds the width of the already narrow tubular pier and crafted a lounge space out of wooden panels, pieces of timber and MDF.
Back to basics...inside the temporary Aer Lingus lounge at Terminal One. Pic:© 2010 PGTravelTips.
A narrow strip of green carpet covers most of the floor area, tables and chairs have been imported from the old lounge and narrow cubicles for passengers to work at their laptops line one side of the lounge.
Seating is provided down the middle of the lounge and benches containing free drinks and snacks are set out at intervals long the wall opposite the workspaces.
It is a bit cramped, there is not much space between seats, there are no plugs to charge laptops or phones and it is the only show in town from now until mid-December.
But while it is all rather basic, it must be said that Aer Lingus have done a fine job in putting together a more than acceptable temporary lounge while the main one is done up.
There is no TV or computer terminals to use but there are a selection of newspapers and magazines and a flight departure board is slap bang in the middle of the structure.
A machine dispenses tea and coffee while there was a large range of pastries, crisps, nuts, and chocolates to snack on.
Soft drinks, beers and white wines were on hand in an upright glass fronted fridge and beside it a selection of spirits, red wine plus still and sparkling water were available on a wooden table.
There was also a large bunch of keys with an Aer Lingus key fob lying next to the bottles of mineral water and looking decidedly out of place.
Comfortable if rather sparse...seating at the temporary lounge. Pic:© 2010 PGTravelTips.
As I could see no staff member on duty inside the lounge at the time, I picked up the keys up handed them in to a uniformed staff member sitting outside the temporary wooden structure.
“Someone left these inside,” I explained as I handed the bunch of silver keys over.
“Yes, they are mine,” said the female staff member who quickly added: “…but thanks anyway.”
“But thanks anyway,” – what wonderful use of the English language – so much meaning in so few words.
While being polite on the surface, it really means: “Thanks for nothing – why didn’t you just leave the keys on the table where you found them?
“I knew where they were. Nobody was going to steal them. I was about to go and get them anyway and they were not even lost. Now please go back into the lounge and don’t bother me again. And don’t touch anything that doesn’t belong to you. Understood?”
I took the hint and returned to my seat - helping myself to a two-finger kitkat and two chocolate mints wrapped in gold foil along the way. (I made a mental note to collect another two mints on the way out but then promptly forgot all about them when time came to leave for my flight.)
Shape of things to come...artist's impression of new Aer Lingus lounge at LHR T1. Pic © 2010 PGTravelTips.
When booking lounge access, passengers receive a separate email to the accompanying flight booking. While there is no need to print off the flight booking (as long as you have the all-important booking reference) the airline says you must print off the Airport Lounge Pass and hand it in to a member of staff upon entry.
And if you see any keys lying around on your next visit then just leave them where they are…but thanks anyway.
PG.
