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Review: British Airways Galleries Business Lounge, Vancouver, Canada

Since this is a British Airways trip report, it wouldn’t be complete without a swing through the British Airways Galleries Lounge in Vancouver International Airport. The lounge is located right at the very end of the International concourse, against a portioned wall that will be the end of new construction when the expansion of the international terminal is complete in 2020. We left Cathay and headed over to our last visit of the evening. Unlike the Cathay Pacific Lounge, this one opens at 5:30 PM (unlike Cathay Pacific’s 8 PM)

Accessing the Lounge:

Access to the lounge was granted again thanks to the First Class / Business Class on our Britsh Airways boarding pass. At reception, the lounge attendant indicated that the first class side was “quite busy” at the moment and that we would be welcomed and likely more comfortable on the business class side of the lounge.

Lounge Seating:

We settled in and took a little exploring. The lounge is divided into about a 33% first class, 66% business class split with completely separate seating areas for both in a square rectangular space. The first class side had slightly more space between the loungers, but otherwise there was better opportunity to get a nicer view in the business class side thanks to more available seating by windows and a greater amount of seats near the glass. High density is the order of the day here, which is not always a sought after quality in an airport lounge.

“Thanks to the oversized furniture, the small foot print, and the large amount of premium cabin travellers, the Vancouver British Airways Galleries lounge makes for a slightly cramped lounge experience”

Similar to almost every other British Airways lounge that I’ve visited (save the Pre-Flight dining facility in New York JFK) there was virtually nothing to snack on here other than disappointing packaged chips, cookies and other cello-wrapped goodies. At least the familiar BA lounge decor black and white cursive print made a reappearance (laughing)

The Bottom Line:

There were some basic wines on offer, with slightly better ones available in the first class portion of the lounge. Overall, aside from some funky colored furniture, there wasn’t much purpose to this lounge. It was more of a comfortable hold room with dollar store snacks. Although it was quiet on our visit thanks it being last our tour, I can’t imagine how full this place would be at its peak. If you had the choice, I wouldn’t bother coming early just for this experience.