airport departure lounges

[Olicg]

travelled from heathrow terminal 3 last saturday and the so called departure lounge is a complete joke! there is not enough seats and far to many shops. ok so duty free booze and cheap CDs r all gud but who really buys any bloody versache clothes/ rolex watches/ gucci shoes ect... the shops that sell these ityems take up all the bloomin space leaving no room for us decent people who just want to sit down. its mean to be a departure lounge not a bloomin' shopping mall!

but on my way back to england i departed from oslo airport. nicest airport ever in my opinion: large open areas, comfotable chairs, whole place made mainly out of wood ,glass and metal. and best of all not as many crappy shops.

[Big Adam]

Try spending 5 hours at Delhi airport in the middle of summer mate. Makes H/row Term 3 look like a bleedin' palace. And I was in the Business lounge!!!

Those shops are there cos they make money. The likes of you and I may pass by them on the way to the £8 litre bottles of Schmirnoff but yer US / Middle Eastern / Southern Europe ladies are making a beeline for 'em with daddy's/hubby's credit card.

Profit per square foot, they make way more than the Duty Free Booze/Fags area.

BA

[Olicg]

US / Middle Eastern / Southern Europe ladies are making a beeline for 'em with daddy's/hubby's credit card.
thats the annoying bit! most people would rather more seats and stuff but because the whole thing is completely profit orientated instead there is sumwhere for spoilt people to waste their money. also on the plane i was on , on the return journey, sum1 who was on the same holiday as me had been upgraded to bussiness class because he broke his ankle on holiday and so it was in a cast. he told me that some little spoilt 8yr old boy looked at the flight shop catalouge and said " mummy i want that aftershave!" and she just said to the hostess "oh just give him 50 pounds worth to play with"

[conan]

Just on the subject of upgrades, on one of my frequent trips to Japan one time. Stayed at airport hotel at Tokyo (narita) airport night b4 the flight. Went down 4 brekky b4 the flight, dining room was choc a bloc. Sat down with two nice looking ladies and got chatting. Turns out they were from Manc (not far from me), had a good chat and found out we were all on the same flight back. Said I'd see them l8r, went to airport to check in and the 2 girls were stewardeses on my flight (on the check in desk). They gave me an upgrade to business class as soon as they recognised me. Smoked salmon, champagne, caviar, personal cinema, PS1 to play with (was hoping for more but they were working). Understand what you say about heathrow but as BA says, it's all about money.

I travel all the time, 3-4 times a month and find that the best airports are the mickey mouse ones. The prices are cheap, seating quiet and can usually find a bit of room on the plane (unless it's Monday morning or Friday afternoon/evening). :cool:

[Alan]

Staying domestic, Cardiff's not bad but Glasgow used to be the best, but it's going downhill!

Mind you, the BA Lounges are the bees knees. Got in early at Cardiff once, the BA Lounge was actually available, woot! big armchairs free booze and shortbread, big TV etc. I watched a DVD on my laptop, using earphones, reclining in a a big easy chair while sipping on some of the good stuff.

Bugger sitting out in the main waiting area with the masses - for one flight at least!!

[master baits]

on a similar vein , i read that dixons has duty free stores in some airports , anyone know which ones?

[Check6]

Heathrow, Gatwick and a small one at Stansted. I think I saw one at Manchester last year. Bugger all at London City Airport where I mostly fly from. Best duty free I've seen was Dubai, closely followed by Abu Dhabi, unbelievable.

[conan]

Seen the duty free store at Manc but the prices aren't much better than the shops in town.

[Alan]

They have it at Glasgow though I think you have to go through departures to get to it.

There is a Dixons outside departures but I don't know if it qalifies.

[Big Adam]

The duty free dixons at heathrow terminal 1, offers tax free discounts on regular (dixons) high street prices.

i.e. You get the kit for about the same price as if you shoped around in the UK!!

BA