7 Days in Lisbon, 8 Hours in London: Qantas A380 Y, Heathrow Lounges, TAP to Lisbon

[yflyer]

Off the plane in Heathrow T3, I now had to find my way to T2 for my onward flight to Lisbon in several hours time.

Airside transfers in Heathrow are via a bus shuttle. No need to clear immigration and head landside in order to transfer.

There was very good signage in the terminal directing transfer passengers to wherever they needed to go. You just had to follow the purple signs.



I have no idea how this is done if you had checked baggage, but for passengers with hand luggage only, interline, inter-terminal transfers were quite simple.

I joined a short bus queue, and a few minutes later, I was on a bus to T2...



Nice views of VH-OQD, in new Qantas livery, from from the bus...





And once in T2, there was a Star Alliance Gold Track Lane for Star Gold members (For connecting pax only, not for arrivals...) for security and re-entry to the airside area.



There were no lines at the Gold Track, and I was through to T2 Airside in moments...



I already had an online boarding pass for my onward TAP flight on my iPhone app, but for those without boarding passes, there were manned airside airline service desks...



...as well as self service check in kiosks...



I took the opportunity to use the self service kiosk to check the aircraft seat map and reprint a fresh copy of my boarding pass.

[yflyer]

It was now 8:03am, lots of time before my 12:25 flight on TAP to Lisbon....



At airside newsstands, Brexit was in the news again (Like almost every other time I have been in the UK in recent years).



Of course reading about Brexit in the news was nothing like physically being in the thick of things, as I would find out a week later in London, while on my transit stop back to Singapore. But that was still days in the future.

It was now time to check out the Star Alliance lounges in T2.



But which lounge? There were so many...

The sign indicated 4 Star Alliance Lounges: Lufthansa, United, SIA, Air Canada...

I WhatsApp'ed my friend, M, who was a regular to LHR and T2..."which T2 Lounge do you recommend?"...

"All...Do the lounge hop", M replied...

"Tempted", I texted back...

But 4 would have been too many in one go. I had already covered the SQ and AC lounges in previous TR's...I would first check out LH in the main A concourse, where I was now, and then trek across the long walkway to the T2 B concourse to check out the UA Lounge....

[yflyer]

I headed to the Lufthansa Business/Senator Lounge...



At the Lounge reception inside, I was welcomed inside, and given a ticket to access the Senator section of the lounge.

The Lufthansa Business Lounge was large and spacious, with modern styling in white, metal and wood tones...



Sofa style seating, next to large glass windows looking out towards the tarmac...



Bar-style counter seating...



Tables for dining...



Self serve beverages...



Beer...



Prosecco (I poured myself a glass...)...



Red and white wines...



The liquor selection...

[yflyer]

It was breakfast time, with cold selections...



...and hot breakfast selections available...







Touchscreen coffee machines...

[yflyer]

There was also a separate business centre area in the lounge...



...and several small booths for phone calls...



There were toilets, but no showers, within the lounge...

[yflyer]

All in all, I thought the Lufthansa Business Lounge was quite a decent lounge offering. Lack of showers aside, I thought it was a pretty good facility. But then, at the far end of the lounge, I noticed a door leading to another area, almost a lounge within a lounge: the Lufthansa Senator Lounge.

When I checked into the LH Lounge, I was given a paper ticket, which I assumed was for wifi. It turned out to be my ticket to access the Senator section of the lounge, which Star Gold members were eligible to use.



I held the ticket in front of the scanner...



...and entered the Senator section of the lounge, which was almost the same size as the Business section of the lounge...



Senator section seating...



Bright light streaming into the lounge from the large tarmac-facing windows...



Facilities and decor wise, the Business and Senator sections were quite similar, but the Senator section had an upgraded F&B selection.

Instead of Prosecco, you had German Henkell Trocken Dry-Sec sparking wine...



..and different, more upmarket white and red wines...





The whisky and liquor selection was similarly more impressive, with Balvenie and Bowmore 12 year Single Malt whiskies, and premium Gin and spirit selections available...

[yflyer]

Senator side breakfast selections were also impressive...



Breakfast cereal...



Cold cuts...



Cheese...



Bakery items...



Hot selections, including delicious sausages...







I enjoyed my 3rd breakfast of the day in the Senator Lounge...

[yflyer]

At that point, I left the LH Lounge to head to the UA lounge, but later that morning, I returned to the LH lounge just as they changed over to the lunch menu.

Some of the lunch selections, starting with the Business Lounge...

Two soup selections...





Salad and spreads...



Madras Chicken Curry...



Vegetable Curry...



Once again, on the Senator side, the lunch menu was more elaborate, with a larger selection of salads and mains...



On the Senator side, the vegetarian selection was penne pasta with olives....



Prawn curry...



Rice...



There were also savoury snacks and desserts in both sections of the Lounge...



Finger sandwiches...



Dessert...



A pretty impressive F&B offering, especially on the Senator side!

[yflyer]

The LH Lounge was in Concourse A of T2.

In order to get to the UA (And SQ / AC) lounges in T2, one had to cross a long underground walkway from Concourse A to Concourse B.



The escalators and moving walkway were one way only, from A to B, however it was possible to take lifts up and down to the underground walkway level, and also walk the return journey from B to A, so timing considerations aside, it was very feasible to head to the Concourse B lounges and spend time there, even if your flight was departing from Concourse A.

I headed down the escalators...



And headed across the underground walkway...



...and then up the escalator into Concourse B, where the United Club was located...



The United Club was a lot larger than the SQ and AC lounges in the same concourse.



There was a large bar running across one side of the lounge, which had decent tarmac views...



I found the lounge decor to be very attractive, modern but less minimalist than the LH lounge...



...with a variety of seating options...







A/C power and USB charging on some of the tables...

[yflyer]

One unique feature of the United Club at Heathrow was the presence of shower suites. These were beautiful shower suites, as good as any I have seen in any airport lounge, and positively luxurious.



These came with plush towels and a full complement of toiletries...



Shower stall with rain shower...



...and space to hang your clothing...



There were quite a number of shower suites, but these might get busy at peak hours, so better to head to the shower suites early and get your name on the list if you need a shower before your flight. A great lounge feature!

[yflyer]

There was a buffet area with hot and cold breakfast selections...



A nice bakery selection...



Fruit and yogurt...



Cereal...



English porridge...





Cold cuts...



A full hot selection, with delicious grilled Cumberland sausages...





Hot and cold beverages...



Elsewhere in the lounge, there were also self serve beverage stations set up...

[yflyer]

After my fourth breakfast of the day (Who could resist those plump, hot Cumberland sausages?), I headed to the bar...



Unlike the bars at the United Clubs at airports in the USA, all alcoholic beverages here, including bespoke cocktails, were complimentary...amazing...

The wine selection...





There was also a very impressive selection of cocktails, from Classics...



...and specials...



...to unique creations from the LHR United Club bartenders behind the counter...





I started with a "Sunrise in Cairo"...



...superb!

Next, "Il Pera-Diso"...



...which also hit the spot...

The lounge got quite busy as the morning progressed, but the large space and natural light meant that it never felt over congested when I was there.



It was now time to head back to Concourse A. During this transit stop, I would not have time to check out AC or SQ lounges to see how they have evolved since my previous visits to those lounges years ago.

So at this point, having sampled all 4 Star Alliance Lounges in T2 at some point or other, which was my favourite Star Alliance Lounge in LHR T2?

Surprise surprise, based on my visits on this trip to UA, LH lounges, and my past visits to SQ and AC Lounges (Admittedly a long time ago), my favourite Star Alliance Lounge in Heathrow T2 at this moment would have to be the United Lounge, on account of the luxurious shower suites and impressive bar. I've not visited any of United's Polaris lounges, but this lounge at LHR is the most impressive UA Club I have ever visited.

Was this the most impressive Lounge in LHR across all terminals and airlines? Probably not. Once you open the competition up to all of Heathrow, the competition ratchets up a few notches, with the BA Lounges in T5 and the QF Lounge in T3 coming into contention. And of course, you would also have to try and top the mother of all lounges, in my opinion, LHR's Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse.

[yflyer]

To get back to Concourse A, one had to catch the lifts to the underground walkway (Since the escalators only went up).



I took the lift down to the tunnel level...



...then walked back across the underground walkway.



Just a 5+ minute, 560 meter walk, according to my fitness tracker...



I then popped back into the LH lounge briefly (Pics previously posted) before it was time to board my TAP flight to Lisbon.

[yflyer]

My 12.25pm TAP flight to Lisbon left from gate A17, which boarded from A17, a gate in a prime location right in the middle of the main T2 atrium.



Flight TP1367 was operated by an A320.





This A320 had a very new interior. Seats were in leather, with premium seats with headrests in the first section of the cabin, trimmed in red...



...and regular slimline Y seats, trimmed in lime green...



These seats were ultra slim, and did not recline...



...but felt fairly comfortable to sit in.

Seat pitch was ok.



No underseat obstructions...



Small fold-down tray table...



Raisable armrests...

[yflyer]

This 2+ hour flight would take us over France, the Bay of Biscay, and Spain before crossing over into Portugal...



This was a beautiful day for flying, we passed the French coastline over Brittany, near the island of Groix and the seaport town of Lorient...



...before overflying the Bay of Biscay.