Heathrow Terminal 3 lounge hopping. Stop 1: Cathay Pacific First/Business Class lounges

Now that I’m wrapping up my time in London, I’ve decided to take some trips around Europe while it’s still relatively easy.  However, travelling in Europe right now is far from easy because of extensive flight disruptions.  Nonetheless, I’m going to push ahead and try.  Hopefully, having airlines status will cushion the disruption, but I’m not sure.  The first of my summer trips was to Denmark, where I studied abroad as an undergraduate student.  I’ve been to Copenhagen many times, so for this trip, I decided to check out Billund instead before continuing to Copenhagen. 

Like my last flight, from Philadelphia to London, the most interesting part of this flight was definitely visiting the lounges.  Oneworld elite members flying from Terminal 3 have a wide selection of lounges: British Airways, American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, and Qantas.  Of these, the Cathay Pacific and Qantas lounges are supposed to be the best.  I decided to arrive a bit earlier than usual so that I could enjoy multiple lounges. 

While waiting for the flight, I ended up visiting three lounges.  First, I checked out the Cathay Pacific First Class lounge, which I was unable to properly visit last time.  I then popped over the Business Class side to see if anything had changed post-pandemic.  Next, I checked out the Qantas lounge, which I’ve heard is as good as the Cathay lounge or even better. 

Upon clearing security, I made my way directly to the Cathay Pacific First Class lounge.  Upon arrival, I was scanned in and told that the lounge would be closing at 5:30 that day, which seemed a bit early to me.  It wasn’t a problem since I was planning to check out the Qantas lounge anyway. 

The First Class area is in the first part of the lounge complex, and if you didn’t know it was there, you could easily miss it.  The bathrooms are shared between the two sides and are at the far end of the entry corridor.  The First Class lounge side is much smaller than the Business Class side, which makes sense given that Cathay’s aircraft only ever have 6 seats on them.  Any customer travelling from Terminal 3 in First Class or with Oneworld Emerald status (e.g. BA Gold or AA Platinum Pro/Executive Platinum) can access it. 

The smaller size of the lounge definitely gives the lounge a more exclusive feel to it than the BA Galleries First lounge, which is huge (and often crowded).  There was ample seating in the lounge area, but the sit-down dining area is relatively small.  I checked out its menu but was not particularly interested in the offerings.  Instead, I poured myself a glass of champagne and went to check out their light bites.

Interestingly, the light bites offered here were basically an afternoon tea selection.  I would’ve thought the light bites would be more Asian-inspired, but I’m a sucker for a good afternoon tea.  Afternoon tea is also something British Airways serves in First Class, so maybe Cathay Pacific wanted to align its offering more closely with what BA offers to appeal to a London audience. 

After thoroughly enjoying my light refreshments, I then decided to head over to the Business Class side so that I could have my favorite part of the lounge: buffet dim sum! Dim sum is also offered at the First Class dining area.

I ordered a bowl of ramen and the dim sum selection and plopped myself down at a booth.  I’ve spent many hours in these booths enjoying dim sum and waiting for flights to Helsinki.  It was a lot of fun to get the chance to do it again finally!  I would’ve been happy to stay there for the rest of the time before my flight, but I wanted to check out the Qantas lounge.

After finishing my dim sum and getting some work done on my laptop, I headed to the Qantas lounge to check out their dining options, which is the next post in this series.