Did you know you can see how busy BA's T5 lounges are on your phone?

If your tier dropped overnight, sorry.

But plenty of you still have lounge access today that has nothing to do with status, mind. If you're flying in Club or First, your boarding pass does the job. And to the lucky few who requalified, well done. Either way, here's a handy tip for all of you.

Did you know there's a live page that shows you how busy each BA lounge at T5 is in real time?

Here's how busy the BA lounges are in T5

Here's the link, ba-uk-occupancy.livereachmedia.com.

When you're walking through T5 you'll have no doubt seen the lounge occupancy boards dotted around. Well, this is the same feed they use.

You'll see four lounges: the First Lounge, Club Lounge North, Club Lounge South, and the Club Lounge in T5B. The Concorde Room is not included.

Each one with a percentage and a row of people icons that fill up as the lounge does.

North and South are the busy ones, at any time of day. The Club Lounge in T5B only sees passengers who've gone to the trouble of getting out to the satellite, and you don't need a flight leaving from the B gates to be one of them. Same access rules, same food, same drink, just much quieter.

As you're most likely familiar with the North and South lounges in the main part of the terminal, let me explain the T5B lounge.

How to get there

After security, head down to the lower level where the gates are. Follow the signs for B and C Gates, past the Pret, and take the escalators down to the train. Two minutes later you're at the B Gates. Take the escalators back up to the top, and you'll see signs for the lounge.

There's even a Whispering Angel bar in the T5B lounge

Getting to your gate from the T5B lounge

If you're departing from a B gate, you're already there.

If you're flying from a C gate, the train carries on from B to C. Go back down to the platform, one more stop, easy.

If you're departing from an A gate, this is the bit that you need to remember. You can't take the train back to the A gates as the train going back that way feeds passengers into immigration. So you'll need to walk. Take the lift down to Level -4 by gate B26, and you'll end up in the walkway tunnel. Walk back to the A gates, and then take the lift back up to departures at the other end. The walk will take around ten minutes at a normal pace.

The bottom line

Some people will say using this link is overkill, and they're not wrong. But you'll save yourself a walk to the wrong end of T5 just to be met with a heaving lounge.

Sam

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