I arrived way to early at the airport even that I was actually late for with my set goals to arrive. I was planning on arriving by not later at 1 pm at the airport. But it took me quite a lot of time to figure out how to make use of my free extra bag of being Oneworld Sapphire. British Airways hides their phone number pretty good on their website and I called American Airlines to get their number. After I talked to a BA agent how to use this free baggage allowance I tried to continue with my Check-In online. However BA great check-in system wouldn’t allow me to change my seat. After a view tries I gave up and took the shuttle to the airport. Arrived around 1:20 pm at the airport. Tried to get a luggage cart for all my bags, but both of the closest luggage cart machines were broken. I hooked two of my bags together and dragged the three bags to the check-in counter, which was not far from my drop-off point. I lined up at the first class line because I am Oneworld Sapphire. Heck I should be even Oneworld Emerald, but American Airlines has some computer issues and the AAdvantage Customer Service is not available on the weekend. What a great start for the start of my holiday travels.
So now standing in front of the counter and nobody is here. Just another family waiting with their bags at the economy line. According to the schedule at the counter, they will open at 2:10 pm. Actual opening was 5 minutes later. Now started the check-in process and checking my 3 bags was no issue. The system recognized that I pre-paid one bag and that I have 2 free bags because of my Oneworld level. Now they made trouble with my carry-on. I have a backpack with my camera equipment and a laptop roller bag for my laptop and some other travel stuff. Now they told me to check one of this bags as well because they wont fit in the seat in front of me. I did like 30 flights this year and always flew with my same carry-on combination. Nothing was different, not even the contents of both bags. British Airways made a big deal out of it and forced me to check one of them and gave me a small bag if I want to take some stuff out of the one which gets checked. I complied and gave up, because even when you are right, you can’t win against airlines. If it would be a different occasion, I would had cancelled this flight and rebooked on another airline.
After I settled everything with the check-in agent she told me that I can use the British Airways Terraces Lounge near the gate. This was a welcome positive surprise. This is due to my status level with Oneworld. Besides First and Business Class Passengers, Oneworld Emerald and Sapphire members can use the lounge here in Seattle.
After I passed the security checkpoint I took the train to the South Satellite Terminals and looked for the entrance to the lounge. The entrance is close to the departure gate (S10). Just follow the stairs upstairs and you are there.
Check-In was super quick. Nobody else was in front of me and when I went inside I was the fifth person arriving in the lounge. A lot of space available and very quiet. Most of the people watched the Seahawks game on one of the two big flat-screen TV’s.
I put my stuff down and was getting a soft drink. Finding a seat with power outlets was quiet an adventure. There are only a view nice comfy seats which have power outlets right next to them instead of behind the seat. They are all located along the window to either end of it. The mid-section doesn’t have any power outlets. From the windows you have a view of the Tarmac and you can see the planes taking off or landing, depending on the direction. Most of the view is unfortunately obstructed by the roof of the South Satellite Terminal.
Additional power outlets are available at the bar desks at the very end near the book shelf with the little business center setup, two PC’s and a printer. In the book shelfs you will find a great selection of magazines and some of them are free to take with you. There is plenty of seating available in the lounge area.
They serve great food, snacks and drinks. The alcoholic beverages are served at the little bar window inside the lounge. Boarding times are announced in the lounge. You won’t need to worry about missing a plane if you listen to the announcements.
I grabbed some snacks and opened my laptop to check mails. I connected to the WiFi network, but was unable to get the login site to pop up. I was using Google’s Chrome Browser and it showed ERR_SSL_VERSION_OR_CIPHER_MISSMATCH. I tried Internet Explorer instead and was able to get the login site loaded and to log on to the network. I never had issues with Chrome before, it really seems they have a SSL issue.
The bathrooms are very nice and well designed and you can make an appointment to use the shower inside the lounge to get refreshed before the flight leaves.
Overall this is a pretty good lounge with great food. The food was a welcome surprise. Shortly before the scheduled boarding time the lounge was pretty full. Service was well, but could have been better sometimes especially with the raising amount of people.
Peter has a passion for Traveling, Photography, and Geocaching. These are the best ingredients for amazing adventures all over the globe. “Traveling is fun, no matter if you stay in a luxury hotel or travel like a backpacker.” Peter shares his experiences on his Blog www.gatetoadventures.com
Some of Peter’s photos are published on corporate websites, in-flight magazines, travel guides, and much more.
