Let’s talk about lounge hopping, so what is lounge hopping?
When you get to a large airport that has multiple airline lounges, if your ticket or status allows, you can hop between them. This neat trick allows you to sample multiple lounges on a single trip.
Where can I do this?
It tends to be at the larger airports where either one airline has multiple lounges, or one airline alliance has lots of small lounges with different airlines.
Here are some of my favourite examples:
Hong Kong
Hong Kong airport is the home of Cathay Pacific. I think Cathay Pacific has some of the best lounges in the world. Naturally, at their home airport, they have multiple lounges. If you’re lucky enough to have lounge access then you can visit more than one lounge during your trip. If you have a long stay in the airport, it’s a nice way of getting different types of seating and service options.
London Heathrow Terminal 5
London Heathrow Terminal 5, the home of British Airways. Just like Cathay Pacific, British Airways have multiple lounges in their Terminal 5 facility. This is simply to deal with capacity as Terminal 5 only has British Airways flights. There are North and South lounges at each end of the main terminal building. Additionally, there is a lounge in their B gates satellite building. Note you can only visit the B gates lounge if you’re flying from B or C gates. If you are flying from A gates in the main building you will not be able to take the transit train back. If you want to return to the main terminal, you will have to take the tunnel that runs between A. B and C gates – we’ll write an article about that lesser-known route.
London Heathrow Terminal 3
London Heathrow Terminal 3, is the home of all the other One World Alliance airlines, including some British Airways flights. As this terminal is a little older and smaller in design, each One World alliance airline has its own lounge here. To deal with capacity issues, most of them allow any One World passenger to enter.
So, if you’re on a One World flight from Terminal 3 you have the choice of:
- British Airways
- Cathay Pacific
- Qantas
- American Airlines
All of these lounges have a policy of allowing any One World customer who is flying on a One World airline flight to enter. This is where lounge hopping becomes really good fun, each lounge has its own unique facilities, food and drink offerings, and views of the airfield.
Is there a limit to how many lounges I can visit?
In short, no. The only limit you have is how much time you’re allowed to spend in a lounge, some airlines restrict you to 3 or 4 hours others don’t seem to care. At busy times one lounge might become full and refuse you entry as they are at capacity, but if that happens just go and pick a different lounge.
Final word
Do some research into what lounges are available at your airport terminal before you fly, check the access eligibility for yourself and if there are multiple lounges you can try, have some fun and go lounge hopping!
