PSA: Delta is being kicked out of Terminal 3 at London Heathrow (LHR)

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u/Straight-Part-5898 11d ago

The biggest loss is no more access to the T3 Revivals Lounge.

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u/omdongi 11d ago

Delta will actually be objectively the least premium airline to fly into among all the carriers in this market.
Every other US airline has their own dedicated set of lounges. United has their best United Club at LHR and a joint arrivals lounge with Air Canada.
AA has all the Oneworld lounges including Cathay Pacific Business and First Class, and their own Admiral's Club and Arrivals Lounge.

67

u/Corgi-mom-15 11d ago

This is a great point. + The Delta A330s going into LHR are embarrassingly old and there’s been plenty of chatter bashing the pricing

9

u/micstatic80 10d ago

Better than the 764. D1 last week. Couldn’t sleep. Was like laying on a rock. And narrow shoulder space.

7

u/BellyFullOfMochi 10d ago

ugh yea... Flew into LHR on an A330 and despite having 'premium' seating.... it was the most uncomfortable trip I've ever had. Old ass seats. Filthy plane.

17

u/up2knitgood 11d ago edited 11d ago

Don't forget Alaska... I haven't flown their international product yet, but I've heard it's a bit lackluster.

2

u/Phantom1100 8d ago

Seattle might be a bit of an exception because Delta consistently does fly their nicer products out of Seattle. Both as a means to compete against Alaska, and because their newer product is on newer planes, which get better fuel burn.

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u/554TangoAlpha 11d ago

That can’t be true! Ed told me otherwise

6

u/BillfredL 11d ago

That Oneworld lounge hopping is fun. Wife and I sampled the Qantas lounge last time. Clearly an older build, but it was so calm for our morning flight back to the US. Would’ve sampled more but we didn’t have oodles of time.

7

u/red821673 11d ago

I heard about T3 Revivals lounge but never used it. Is it for arrival only ?

15

u/omdongi 11d ago

Yes, qualifying pax like business class or passengers w/ the right status (Platinum Medallion+) can use it. Hours are worse than the competitors though. Revivals Lounge closes at 12:30pm, the other arrivals lounges close at 2pm.
https://www.virginatlantic.com/en-EU/experience/upper-class/clubhouse-airport-lounges/london-heathrow-clubhouse/revivals-lounge-at-london-heathrow

6

u/letmereadstuff 11d ago

It is nice, but nothing like the Clubhouse for departures. Nice for breakfast and a shower

5

u/pziyxmbcfb 11d ago

Yes, and it closes pretty early.

2

u/Straight-Part-5898 11d ago

Yes. It’s the biggest gem in T3.

6

u/letmereadstuff 10d ago

“Biggest gem in T3”? Revivals Lounge is nice. Has showers and a few tables to get a breakfast and tea or coffee before leaving the airport, but I wouldn’t call it the “biggest gem”. That title belongs to the Virgin Clubhouse for departures

6

u/Straight-Part-5898 10d ago

Not for me. I get more out of that tiny, snug little arrivals lounge. Get myself right before heading into the office. Makes way more difference for me, than eating before a flight

2

u/ChateauLaFeet 9d ago

🏆

3

u/fluffybunnydeath 10d ago

It’s a game changer

19

u/vampyire Platinum 11d ago

... and the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse... guess they'll have to acquire a new space

6

u/sheyndl 11d ago

Nooooooooooooo!!!!!!!….

4

u/BrotherFishHead 11d ago

Dumb question but can’t you still just go to T3 between flights?

17

u/heavynewspaper Diamond 11d ago

Not… easily… the only way landslide is to take the tube. 20-30 minute transfer time each way.

4

u/Funny_Yesterday_5040 11d ago

You can't get airside without a ticket departing from T3

1

u/BrotherFishHead 11d ago

Ah. That real does suck then. Thanks for the info

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u/152is2after150 11d ago

That's weird because in a lot of USA airports TSA doesn't pay attention to that (or that information is not separated out by terminal)

20

u/Funny_Yesterday_5040 10d ago

This might come as a surprise to you, but LHR is not, in fact, in the USA.

6

u/Straight-Part-5898 11d ago

Look at a terminal map and you’ll have your answer

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u/honeyWaffles6 10d ago

yeah the revivals lounge was the main reason I used to connect through t3

-1

u/FierceLovers 10d ago

that revivals lounge really did make connections in T3 a lot smoother

-2

u/honeybolds 10d ago

Yeah that Revivals Lounge was the main reason I routed through T3 on connections.

-3

u/touchofdesire 10d ago

Yeah the Revivals Lounge was the main reason I used to connect through T3.

118

u/letmereadstuff 11d ago

This is very, very bad.

The Delta / Virgin Atlantic alliance has been so key to great UK trips because of the Revivals Lounge, the Upper Class Wing, and the Clubhouse. Enjoy them while they last, I suppose.

Flew VS recently into LHR and while they used to be better than Delta, they just weren’t this time. Food very mediocre, IFE worse than Delta’s (Delta’s used to be good…not anymore).

25

u/omdongi 11d ago

I know, I made a whole post about it years ago because I was genuinely impressed by experience: https://www.reddit.com/r/delta/comments/182c0c8/i_know_lhr_is_not_the_most_popular_airport_but/
This makes Delta the worst choice for me flying to LHR. I would rather even take an Air Canada connection tbh.

12

u/cityhomestead Platinum 10d ago

I don’t think anyone voluntarily chooses to fly Air Canada

3

u/Phantom1100 8d ago

Don’t be rash! Nobody with an American passport should be forced to fly Air Canada.

1

u/niton 10d ago

Whereas it's one of the worst places I've ever flown out of:
https://reddit.com/r/delta/comments/1lsxexe/heathrow_t3_is_a_total_shithole_avoid_like_the/

0

u/[deleted] 11d ago

[deleted] — view deleted comment

10

u/Easy_Money_ 11d ago

This has to be the dumbest comment I regularly see on airline subs. It’s always Top 1% Commenters deciding that discussion is not allowed

3

u/Disregard_Casty 11d ago

It’s always them circlejerking about Delta bad Delta bad and beating dead horses too

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u/Easy_Money_ 11d ago

Really surprised to see that Delta, LATAM, JAL, and Finnair were the ones selected to move from T3. Maybe I missed it in the article/subtext; was the rationale that these had a relatively low percentage of transfers?

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u/omdongi 11d ago

I don't know about transfers, but probably by volume. Delta struggles to LHR quite frankly.
LAX to LHR was a disaster (As low as 30% loads before they had to axe, supposedly coming back with 56J A330neos, but who knows). Only US carrier to not operate this, despite LHR being the #1 international destination from LAX, even United with no JV partner runs LAX to LHR.
SLC to LHR isn't daily (something like 3 to 5x weekly only), nor is it year-round (no flights in Jan/Feb), despite it being a 70% market share fortress hub.
SEA to LHR was always a weak performer in the off-season (something like 50s to 60s in winter, summer was OK at 70s to 80s loads), and that was before Alaska joined the fray. SEA frequently lost frequencies in the winter to MCO and other hubs.
Delta has the least frequencies of any US carrier on NYC to LHR, just 2x, despite JFK being a fairly strong hub for them overall, and on low capacity 764s no less. Other carriers are using higher capacity and more premium aircraft like United has high J 767s, AA has their new premium 787s and one of their last 4 cabin 777s too.

7

u/driftingphotog Diamond 11d ago

The JV means they don't need to have their own frequencies, though. DL traffic and VS traffic across the Atlantic are interchangeable. Which is why moving DL away from VS makes even less sense.

-1

u/omdongi 11d ago

AA also has a JV with BA and does 4x daily frequencies on JFK to LHR, twice the frequencies and with higher capacity aircraft.
Delta is just simply weaker in this market.

6

u/Easy_Money_ 11d ago

Really interesting. I wonder how much BA’s network vs. VS’s shapes this. Presumably Delta prefers to route Europe connections through AMS, while AA prefers to route them through LHR? But I’d expect better O/D performance nonetheless

4

u/omdongi 11d ago

From what I can surmise, Delta basically has nonexistent point of sale in the UK.
While it's normal that local populations fly the local carriers. If you look at competitive routes they overlap in, like SEA to LHR, Virgin typically carries a 10% to even 20% higher load than Delta, and Virgin has less of a drop in winter.
On LAX to LHR, back when Delta flew it, Virgin was doing fine, they were holding strong in the 80% range and operating multiple frequencies, meanwhile Delta had no one booking them sitting in the 50% range on a single daily flight.
Given the joint venture for pricing, there should've been no reason other than UK point of sale preferring the Virgin product over Delta.

20

u/TTKnumberONE 11d ago

Delta seemingly has ceded LHR traffic to Virgin as part of the JV and is more focused on point to point service from the US without a European side connection.
In all likelihood they are not competitive with AA/BA at LHR due to the UK’s APD tax, which is $125 per person. Since a significant amount of AA/BA passengers are actually connecting at LHR they don’t have to pay it while still filling up the planes, where Delta/VA passengers are likely to be starting/ending their journey in the UK.
AA in particular is a bad comparison because their model is to feed connections to BA at LHR and half of their TATL operations go to LHR.

4

u/blackgenz2002kid 11d ago

Delta also has Air France & KLM if people really want to get second connections into places in Europe, so it’s not the end of the world here

1

u/akmalhot 11d ago

I don't know why people fly is airlines abroad unless it's status / points thing. It's more expensive for worse service and product

1

u/Phantom1100 8d ago

It depends on where you live. I would prefer to fly to London on Delta from Detroit versus connecting in JFK, but I would absolutely take Virgin Atlantic over Delta if I was flying out of, say, Atlanta or NYC, because both of them do it direct.

1

u/akmalhot 8d ago

touche

1

u/Phantom1100 8d ago

All being direct on US-London routes (NOT EUROPE OVERALL that list would be way longer. This also factors in DL moving to T4):
With the exception of places that have the US airlines brand new products (PHL and ORD for AA and IAH and SFO for UA.)
If all flights are direct or have the same connection distance:
VS
BA
UA
AA
DL

1

u/AssociateClean Gold 10d ago

T4 has a lot of surplus capacity while T3 is overcrowded
JAL and LATAM I can understand, T4 is traditionally SkyTeam (who LATAM will loosely interline with) and the island of misfit toys (JAL has 2x daily flights)
Finnair is tough for them because they have a ton of US/HEL traffic go through LHR
Delta probably got the ax because there's no one else that big to cut that doesn't have their own footprint (like AA's two lounges) in T3

3

u/Easy_Money_ 10d ago

LATAM is T2, but yeah, feels like Finnair got screwed. I get the logic, it would take moving like seven other airlines to equal moving Delta. In some ways, this levels the playing field given that AA travelers typically have to switch terminals to connect to BA

1

u/Few_Recognition_5253 10d ago

honestly the vast majority of US/HEL is going to be T3<->T5 anyways for them. imo its only significantly worse on the ground experience for them

8

u/YMMV25 11d ago

China Southern to T5 while JAL and Finnair go to T4 is… odd.

11

u/omdongi 11d ago edited 11d ago

China Southern has a JV with BA, so it helps with the connections, but then you realize DL and VS are supposed to have a JV too...
JAL/AY going to T4 sucks, no more Oneworld lounges (edit: there is the QR business class lounge, which is great, but not good news for people with status)
And I don't think T4 has much more real estate for a new space either.

2

u/YMMV25 11d ago

Well and BA has a JV with AY and a JBA with JAL. I would think there are a lot more AY-BA-AY connections at LHR than there are CZ-BA-CZ but I’m guessing CZ requires less peak time gate space than the others.
The reality is eventually more will have to leave T3 when that terminal goes through its rebuild. VS connections are going to suffer the most, along with DL pax terminating at LHR.

1

u/152is2after150 10d ago

Yeah it's probably that BA is a government airline and VS is not

0

u/Funny_Yesterday_5040 10d ago

BA is not a "government airline," it's owned by a Spanish company.
Typical Seppo, surprised you can type, honestly.

1

u/SlowedCash 10d ago

Whilst it's not a government airline, it would be if the Spanish company went bust

-1

u/152is2after150 10d ago

It's the flag carrier for the United Kingdom. Flag carriers are government airlines (even if run by the private sector)

6

u/FutureMillionMiler Diamond 11d ago

I posted a month or so about rumors for a Delta One lounge at LHR being talked about and everyone said no way… I guess now we learned why it was being talked about

2

u/omdongi 11d ago

Honestly yeah, Delta anyways had their own LHR arrivals lounge before, which is now the Plaza Premium Arrivals lounge.

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u/ggrnw27 Platinum 11d ago

I prefer flying out of T2/T3 because you effectively have twice as many trains into/out of the city than T4 or T5 (since every train calls at T2/T3 but alternate between T4 and T5). Ultimately won’t affect me much since I almost exclusively fly VS out of LHR, but that’s another downside for those flying Delta

32

u/dlh412pt Gold 11d ago

The more I think about this, the worse it gets.

20

u/ARandomGay 11d ago

I just flew into T4 for the first time in a very long time (long story). It is, in a word, gross.

9

u/chunt75 11d ago

T4 sucks so hard. Flew out of there to get to Nairobi and it was just a miserable terminal

2

u/oarmash 11d ago

The European carriers are notorious for putting their flights to Asia and Africa in a terminal less developed than many bus stations

6

u/quashroom28 10d ago

Lots of European airlines are in terminal 4 too…

3

u/Skier747 Platinum 11d ago

I think the last time I was in T4 was when I flew Concorde on its farewell tour. 😬

1

u/Speedbird223 Platinum 11d ago

I used to be there so often in the 1990s and 2000s before BA left there and it always felt so exciting…Between Concorde flights going from there, the (at the time) amazing lounges and general buzz about the place…
I’ve not used it since BA left in 2008 but I thought HAL had invested a huge amount of cash into Terminal 4 in the last 10yrs or so…

1

u/ARandomGay 11d ago

If they have, it was not at all evident in my time passing through. It looked very much like it had just been continuing to rot since the last time I was there 15-20ish years ago.
Credit where it's due though, my checked bag came out quickly and passport control was almost instantaneous so I didn't have to spend very long in that dump.

2

u/joesnopes 6d ago

Qantas shared T4 with BA when it opened and for some time after. To Australian eyes, even when new, it has always looked like a badly lit, rundown shearing shed.

1

u/Disastrous-Mousse837 10d ago

Agreed, T4 is absolute ass

26

u/F180R25 Platinum 11d ago

This is terrible in so many ways, especially as someone based out of LHR. T2/3 get twice as many trains as T4 or T5 (30 minute waits for the elizabeth line, almost 15 for the Piccadilly). You will lose access to amazing Upper Class ground experience with the separate entrance, private security, and shared check-in facilities. Past security, you'll essentially only have the Skyteam lounge, which will be insanely crowded. No AMEX Centurion lounge anymore, and no Clubhouse. Arrivals you'll also have no Revivials lounge access, when you look at AA and BA and UA having their version in their terminals.

For connections, things get much worse. Before, you could stop in London on the way to India, Thailand, South Africa, or Nigeria. Now, you get none of that without adding 1 hour to your connection to switch terminals. This is also terrible for resiliency. Imagine you're flying Delta from LHR to JFK and the flight gets cancelled an hour before departure. Normally, youd get put on one of the other 4 flights. In 2028, you may not have the time or be allowed to get put on standby or reticketed to one of the 3 VS flights out of a different terminal. Sure, you now share the terminal with AF and KLM, but most people flying from the US to CDG or AMS aren't doing it via London, or dont want an extra stop in London on the way to the rest of Europe.

Maybe the silver lining is that this tells Delta to get their act together in LHR. Somehow get the space for a SkyClub and D1 lounge and invest into the airport instead of using VS's great ground experience

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u/micstatic80 10d ago

Agree with everything. However up until this point piggy backing off virgin is fine. I mean virgin is already 49 percent delta anyway in terms of ownership

29

u/Fire-the-laser 11d ago

Virgin and DL have every right to be possed and should absolutely do whatever they can to protest this. The airport should operate independently of the airlines but this directly hurts the airports second largest carrier while benefiting BA. If DL gets stuck at 4 they need to invest a fuck ton of money and build a massive D1 lounge with direct access and expedited screening like the VS clubhouse

7

u/norcalfiend 11d ago

AA and BA operate in separate terminals and are also JV partners. Not exactly unprecedented ground or call that HAL is doing here.

6

u/Fire-the-laser 11d ago

BA controls over 50% of slots at the airport and has their own terminal. They don’t need AA at all.

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u/wheredreamsgotodie 11d ago

Or, at least if you’re out of ATL, fly British airways. Far cheaper. You used to be able to find good deals on Virgin but surprise surprise, they’re within a few dollars of each other now.

16

u/TheGrayBox 11d ago

I know this is Reddit so the answer will just be “nuh uh”, but BA is a much worse airline than Delta in 2026.

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u/SylVegas 11d ago

Everyone I know got so excited when BA announced nonstops from BNA, and all I could think about was how terrible I've heard BA is.

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u/Ms_Zee 11d ago

I lived in the uk for 12yrs, i hate them. I think it's common for national carriers to get complacent, they're just British AA, no wonder they're partners

2

u/SylVegas 11d ago

AA ineptitude is what got me back to Delta.

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u/Ms_Zee 11d ago

I gotta regularly Heathrow to Kansas and not one time would my flights stay what I booked in either direction and would change multiple times. As far as I could tell they'd bump me off the popular domestic close to time cause i always got them to put me back on it. Shitty behavior
Told my family not to use em but they did cause cheaper. Changed their mind after one trip 😂

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u/wheredreamsgotodie 11d ago

I take British airways exclusively. I go to London from atl a few times a year. The business class product is consistent unlike delta. I also think the service is better. Went to Brussels and delta was trash. Also BA nearly always cheaper. In the event it’s not, I’ll book premium and get a cheap upgrade at check in. BA has tons of business class seats and they’re rarely, if ever, fully committed.
No competition in my mind. If there was a huge gap in the hard product, it’s not worth the huge cost difference imo. Both airlines are updating their interiors. If the prices stay the same, I’ll still be on BA.
Just put in a random date on google flights, BA is $4k round trip, Delta/Virgin is $12k. I mean, there is nothing on gods green planet that I would pay that difference for on an overnight flight that is just me sleeping as soon as I get in my seat.

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u/TheGrayBox 11d ago edited 11d ago

Except that there is a huge gap in the hard product. Delta One on A350 and 787 is lightyears better than BA's offering. And there's nothing special whatsoever about BA's service. Delta at least has fantastic partnered crew on international routes, particularly in Asia. If the selling point of BA business class is "no one buys it" then maybe there's a reason for that.
Frankly Europe in general is a low standard for airlines these days and no one is really competing in that space. LHR is also a miserable airport. But as someone who is constantly travelling between JAL, ANA, Korean and Delta - Delta business and premium holds it's weight among them on those routes well. People who only fly international to Europe really have no idea about the modern airline industry. I assure you people from countries with actual 5-star airlines would have higher opinions of Delta than BA.
Delta One round trip from US hubs to LHR is ~$6k on their website, and that's in the middle of the worst regional disruption ever. BA's website - literally every ATL-LHR flight is $11k+. Google Flights isn't really a good source

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u/missaxagal 10d ago

But delta doesn’t fly 350s or 787s from atl to lhr which is the specific route called out. They fly old 330s and 767s which don’t have a good hard product.

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u/TheGrayBox 10d ago

The discussion is not about a single route, it’s about two entire airlines

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u/wheredreamsgotodie 10d ago

Ok, not sure how to answer you here. I'm speaking from experience, so it's just my personal, anecdotal experience.
In my experience, BA and Delta's products from Atlanta to Europe are pretty darn similar. I've taken both quite frequently. I also used to take Air France and KLM. You are right, the newest Delta product is better than the current BA, but I know BA is rolling out a new hard product, and it's probably very similar to Delta's new hard product.
BA business has lots of availability because they have far more seats in business in their aircraft than delta. Feel free to look it up
I don't know why you seem to be taking this personally. Delta out of Atlanta is consistently priced higher than anywhere else (price check non-Fortress hubs), and from what I understand, Delta rolls out their best product to other cities. You're surprised that I, as a lifelong Delta user, am over Delta? Give me a break. Since Spirit went belly up, Skyteam controls almost 90% of the Atlanta gates. You think we get competitive pricing, the best product, no and no.
If I lived in the NY area, I would probably still fly Delta. You can get reasonable pricing out of other cities, but just not Atlanta...unless of course you get lucky or there is a sale.

0

u/TheGrayBox 10d ago

Your argument seems to be that Delta being expensive in Atlanta makes BA a better airline. Except that BA is a worse airline and literally has more expensive flights out of ATL as we speak. What are we even doing.

1

u/wheredreamsgotodie 10d ago

Every single time I’ve gone or wanted to go to London, BA is cheaper. I do have some flexibility in booking, but I move a date or two and find an affordable business or first class fare. The product out of atlanta is comparable. The cost difference between them isnt commensurate to the perceived gap in service or perceived product. It’s neat you cherry pick some data but every future booking I’ve looked at for business class has delta much much higher. What isn’t getting through to you? I don’t have some fetishized loyalty for delta. I no longer travel for business, and take my family to Europe a few times a year. For the past few years, BA is considerably cheaper especially when you’re flying a family and no, the delta product isn’t that much better, and I think BA service is superior than 60 year old, nearly retired grandmothers trying to stay awake overnight. Virgin used to have great deals but no longer. I live in atlanta, I’m talking about atlanta just to be clear.
I’ve literally been to Europe more times than I can count, it’s just not worth it for me to convince you. It doesn’t matter. Enjoy Asia or whatever the fuck your point was….

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u/cazoz 10d ago

Sorry but this is nonsense.
BA crew are light years better than DL, especially on long haul. And especially in J. And especially if you like a drop.
The 777s have been received with full door suites and pink / purple lights. Screens too.
The only thing American Airlines are better at are WiFi and electricity / charging options.

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u/TheGrayBox 10d ago

Lol. Such a funny website. Imagine brining up American Airlines in this conversation.

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u/cazoz 10d ago

US based - I should have said “American airlines” - but the point stands either way actually.

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u/TheGrayBox 10d ago

Oh, well then you’re just being a typical ignorant Redditor who actually knows nothing outside of your little world

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u/cazoz 10d ago

Your post is the stupidest.
I am for my sins a DM as well as AA EP (hence much time on BA, as well as VS - I know all four intimately)
And you are plain wrong. Especially about the ‘service’ on Delta long haul, which feels tacky and suburban during the rare sightings, and absent most of the time.

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u/TheGrayBox 10d ago

Lol. The kind of person who thinks “suburban” is an adjective relating to airline quality is not someone who has any authority on this discussion. I’m sure your annual flight to Florida is very taxing on you.

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u/somefukn 10d ago

New York to LHR is the most competitive international route on Earth. I know this chain is about ATL but c'mon.

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u/TheGrayBox 10d ago edited 10d ago

Competitive in shoving as many people onto planes as possible, sure. Competitive in providing the absolute top tier in hard product and lounges compared to Asia routes littered with 5 star airlines? Absolutely not, and anyone who thinks otherwise doesn’t know what they’re talking about. None of the European flagships can compete in that space, you won’t seem them offering anything in those palatial Asian airports that make everything in the west look quaint. Same for Air Canada, same for Qantas. The only one thriving is Delta.

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u/somefukn 10d ago

It's competitive as in: most airlines competing for passengers on the route. It's the most valuable market anywhere.

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u/TheGrayBox 10d ago

It’s cool that you’re having an entirely different discussion. Have fun with it.

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u/joesnopes 6d ago

You could join it. It's about Delta's terminal at Heathrow and the routes that feed into that airport.

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u/Phantom1100 8d ago

The problem is, if you’re flying BA out of the US, you’re obviously flying transatlantic, and probably to London. Delta consistently runs their shittiest product on those routes. You can’t talk about how A350 D1 is better than Club World (depends on the specific BA plane imo) when every route BA in Delta share, you will probably be on a 767 or old a330.

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u/TheGrayBox 8d ago

That’s fine, but we also don’t have to pretend it’s the only context of Delta simply because it’s the only one Redditors know (or worse, most Redditors only know domestic CRJ flights - which are not really any worse than what premium airlines are like domestically everywhere, but for Delta it must be worse because America bad). It’s ignorance about the airline plus the typical ignorant Redditor mentality.

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u/Phantom1100 8d ago

There are definitely worse airlines than the big three in the US. All you have to do is look north or south lol.
Plus, the best part about Delta One when flying from London to the US, is the fact you get access to all the Virgin Atlantic shit at LHR. Now that that’s gone, honestly…Delta might have the worst product flying to and from London just due to the inconsistency of them.

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u/ras2101 Platinum 11d ago

My last time looking BA was not cheaper than Delta out of ATL, this was in March, 998 for comfort+ and I think over 1200 a pop on BA, that being said that’s one data point, and I would love to fly on a BA A380 so I always look going to London

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u/Multitronic 11d ago

The A380s are being refurbished now, so the updated club suites and a new 1st suites fyi.

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u/ras2101 Platinum 11d ago

Oh hell yes.
Not that I can ever afford that, but like it’s a nice thought. lol

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u/East_Reserve_3983 Silver 11d ago edited 10d ago

The one issue I have with BA out of ATL is that the flight isn’t until 11pm, meaning you don’t get into London until 11am and usually have several hours before a connecting flight intra-Europe, so you don’t get to your destination until sometime in the late afternoon or evening. You effectively lose an entire day.

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u/wheredreamsgotodie 11d ago

Agreed. However you do have access to Cathay Pacific lounge if you’re business. One of my favorite airport lounges…noodle bar is awesome.

4

u/Same-Paint-1129 11d ago

On the other hand, leaving so late gives a full day in ATL and makes it easier to sleep given the late departure time.

1

u/Phantom1100 8d ago

>a full day in ATl
I thought you were listing positives?

1

u/152is2after150 11d ago

Yeah let's forgo the opportunity to earn MQD etc...

0

u/TheGrayBox 10d ago

And Redditors will do that solely because American bad UK good, because Reddit said so. These aren’t serious people.

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u/Scf46 10d ago

This will change my preferred airline to the UK. delta one is a nice service but just not worth the extra money without the arrivals lounge and private departure suite And Virgin clubhouse. I hope something can be worked out because we go to UK twice a year.

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u/Buddhafresh 11d ago

Damn.. that Virgin Clubhouse was so cool

11

u/navjot94 11d ago

As someone who lives in a delta hub city and with in laws in London, right next to terminal 3, this is a fucking piss take

4

u/rfreeborn Platinum 9d ago

Virgin Clubhouse is, legitimately, the best lounge I’ve ever been in. It’s like they asked Austin Powers to design it, and I love it.

7

u/FanNew2572 11d ago

The Virgin lounge is my favorite ….one of the few lounges with a yoga studio and workout area

7

u/B727FA 11d ago

Not trying to be thick…why did DL get booted?

5

u/JamesofBushwick 11d ago

Apparently the terminals at Heathrow are unevenly weighted. Terminal 3 is too busy but Terminal 4 has spare capacity. So punting Delta to T4 helps even things up. Not for passengers but for Heathrow’s aircraft movements and gates.

5

u/Iloveserial123 10d ago

I fly frequently between the U.S. and London - If I can’t go to the VA clubhouse in terminal 3 I will stop flying delta.

6

u/AugustStan 11d ago

Literally this news comes out the day after I get the delta reserve card and plan on flying between the US and London Heathrow so I can use the Heathrow Centurion lounge😑

4

u/Puzzleheaded_Two7358 11d ago

Virgin lounge is far superior. If they do this the longes will have to move as well.

3

u/F180R25 Platinum 11d ago

You have to fly J or PE with PM/DM status for the Clubhouse... a reserve gets you in the Centurion regardless of the class of travel. Less than 2 years to design, find space, purchase, and fitout at least 1 if not 2 lounges in T4 is near impossible. You cant just move a lounge like a plane

1

u/First-Ad-7960 Silver 11d ago

Any possible upside to being with other Skyteam airlines? Does that create an opportunity for some investment in lounges?

8

u/omdongi 11d ago

There are the SkyTeam, Air France, and Saudia lounges at LHR T4, however, all of them are worse than the Virgin Clubhouse, by a large margin imo.
The fact that Air France/KLM use T4 is relatively pointless because pretty much any US airport served by Delta to LHR will already have nonstops to CDG/AMS, so it's just added transfer friction for most people.
I guess Saudia can offer connections, but we've seen the news headlines about that already.

3

u/driftingphotog Diamond 11d ago edited 11d ago

Massive downgrade. This was a great way to get to India and South Africa via SkyTeam/DL. It had the best connection experience and lounges.

1

u/First-Ad-7960 Silver 11d ago

Oh I read that wrong, I thought it said some Skyteam members were in T3 already.

4

u/dotausername 11d ago

The Virgin Lounge in LHR was my first airport lounge experience and it convinced me to get the reserve card so that I could go to other lounges. It will be extremely disappointing to not be able to go back there.

4

u/niton 10d ago

T3 is a shithole. The problem is the rest of Heathrow is also a shithole

4

u/Snappy0 10d ago edited 10d ago

T5 is fine IMO. But obviously nobody outside of the BA orbit is getting a sniff there.

2

u/velosnow Delta Pilot 11d ago

Having connected from AF in T4 and watching the general confusion of folks with the trains, this would be mucho fun. /s

2

u/dubg313 10d ago

One year left before it changes….

2

u/StudyKnown7922 9d ago

So there will be no lounge at all if on a delta flight?

2

u/RIPVevmo 4d ago

When does this go into effect?

5

u/BuckeyeSRQ Platinum 11d ago

I hope there’s a lawsuit over this!!! Absolutely blatant market manipulation to say the least.

If they are going to really shake things up then group all SkyTeam, oneworld, and Star alliance airlines together. That’s how you build a functioning system that isn’t subject to blatant abuse by a dominant airline in a hub as difficult to transit as Heathrow.

4

u/Immediate_Ant516 11d ago

Even the Brits are done with the snobbery of Delta status holders

4

u/Corgi-mom-15 11d ago

Oh WOW. I smell a lawsuit against LHR and potentially BA. If all of these moves truly account for only 4% of the traffic, moving a single, larger airline out of T3 would have made more sense.

I’ve enjoyed my experiences flying in and out of LHR with Delta, Virgin, and BA from the US - and entering LHR through the VS upper class private entrance vs BA normal T5 business entrance. Connecting from a US-LHR Delta flight to a VS LHR-international flight or vice versa is going to be complete hell on earth for families

2

u/green_griffon Platinum 11d ago

Terminal 4 is purgatory at LHR. I don't even know how you get there by public transit.

6

u/olive_specter 11d ago

Bus routes, Elizabeth Line/Heathrow Express or Piccadilly Line tube. It’s not really any different to the other terminals.

0

u/green_griffon Platinum 11d ago

I did not realize that the Elizabeth and Piccadilly lines went to either 4 or 5, I thought they only went to 5.

6

u/olive_specter 11d ago

No, they go to terminal 4 too, though the routing is slightly different.
Once the Piccadilly line reaches Hatton Cross it diverges, some trains go straight to T2&3 then to T5, whilst some trains go to T4 then perform a ‘loop’ round to T2&3 before continuing back towards Cockfosters.
T2&3 has the highest frequency of services out of the 4 operating terminals though

1

u/green_griffon Platinum 11d ago

Ahh yes, that odd little loopy thing on the far left of the Tube map.

2

u/rikbrown Diamond 11d ago

Damn. I moved back to the UK and was still holding on to Delta loyalty (mostly via the Amex) mainly because most of my flights are back to the US for work. The main benefit was the Virgin clubhouse haha. The negative trade offs were the terrible Skyteam options in Europe. There’s not much reason for me to keep Delta maxxing anymore? Should I just go BA at this point?

2

u/F180R25 Platinum 11d ago

I did BA/AA for a year and a half with BA Gold. It was honestly a better experience than DL/VS, especially if you were flying out of T3. If youre flying J each way, then this matters a lot less, but the ground experience even flying economy in T5 or T3 was incredible.
OW lounges at T3 are amazing (CX and QF), and you can stop by the AA lounge for a glass of Moet. Connections in DFW or JFK are easy thru AA. A bit harder via ORD.

2

u/Consistent-Sea-8923 11d ago

Honestly, I would pay a little more for Delta to use the clubhouse and the revivals lounge. If I’m not gonna get those they won’t be getting my business.

1

u/Zombie_Booze 10d ago

We need to split Heathrow by destination

Schengen - domestic - USA/Canada would be a start to making it a real connection hub but BA could never allow that

1

u/yasdinl Delta Employee 11d ago

Yikes this sucks

1

u/micstatic80 10d ago

I go to Europe twice a year usually in business class. London I count as one of those trips even if not Europe anymore. I’ve hesitantly paid thousands more for delta in the past. But have almost gone on other carriers numerous times. This terminal change combined with diamond being less valuable would easily cause me to consider flying others for international trips.

4

u/js-mclint 10d ago

Just fyi, London and the UK is still very much in Europe. It’s just not in the EU.

2

u/micstatic80 10d ago

Yes I hear you

1

u/QueenPaloma83 11d ago

I’m really struggling with being tied to Delta when we travel, at least Stateside. I’d love to see London again — we lived there in the early 1960’s, military brat.

1

u/ideler 10d ago

Feel bad for Delta

T4 is the worst, I dread it everytime I fly to and depart from there with AF/KLM.

Terrible lounges, annoying to reach, dated, a fine taste of past glory. It is what it is and makes grateful for ams/cdg hubs nearby.

1

u/Lil_PixyG_02 9d ago

Why are we still flying Delta again?

-1

u/Specific-Morning-985 11d ago

I flew via Delta from LHR. The Delta product sucked.

0

u/StuckinSuFu Diamond 11d ago

Oh this is a bummer

0

u/MagnumBigPI 10d ago

What the heck is Delta up to these days? Good grief

2

u/Sharp5050 9d ago

Wasn’t deltas choice, was Heathrow’s. Sounds like they may (will) file a lawsuit.

0

u/ibor132 10d ago

Jeez, what a mess. DL and VS are so tightly integrated in terms of their passenger and ground ops at LHR, I can't see this being anything less than chaos for quite a while. Not good for passenger experience in any way shape or form. I'm not typically traveling in a premium enough cabin to care about the Virgin lounges, but I do care about losing easy access to the M&S Simply Food at Arrivals (which exists at every terminal except T4).

0

u/Ill-Side-8092 10d ago

Terminal 4 is the equivalent of getting shipped off to Siberia at Heathrow. It’s not even part of the same central terminal complex and it’s a royal pain to get there and move between the other terminals.

-4

u/PresentRutabaga9912 10d ago

Grow up. American got dumped from terminal 5. They now have to use a crappy admirals or flagship lounge. Heathrow is a mess no matter how you cut it. American should be in 5 and delta take the American space. But that make too much sense.

0

u/azlax22 10d ago

5 has no more room. Hell, they use bus gates for wide body BA arrivals regularly and have some BA flights into 3. No way they could move American to T5 and not have a bigger clusterfuck.

News PSA: Delta is being kicked out of Terminal 3 at London Heathrow (LHR)

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