A Heathrow Airport lounge with free food and drinks, where you can enter if you pay

The swanky Quantas lounge at Heathrow is now open to anybody who is flying on any aircraft but willing to pay the entrance fee. Expensive, yes, fifty five pounds.

What's In It For Me? (WIFM)
What do you get for your money? Fifty five pounds for a meal. And drinks.

And a shower.

And wifi.

More privacy. More importantly, more security for your carry on luggage than sitting in an open place with people milling around.

Reasons Against
Why would you spend so much, regularly, or once off? After all, you will get free food on the plane.

Reasons For
Maybe for a birthday, or a honeymoon. Maybe for a business meeting, or when you are on expenses.

I would be more inclined to use if if I were flying to Australia. You feel you are leaving England when you see the scones. You feel you have started your journey to Australia when you see the lunch or dinner buffet includes Pavlova.

Pavolva
Pavlova is a hard meringue formed into a circular bowl with a raised edge and hole in the centre for fruit. The dish is claimed as a national dish by both Australia and New Zealand. From a tourist's point of view the good thing is that you can find it in both countries. When I first went to Australia I tried to track it down to the hotel in Perth where it is said to have been invented and named the Pavlova to honour the light dancing of ballet dancer Pavlova. I imagine her wearing a white tutu. New Zealanders had a similar recipe printed, they claim earlier.

Another topic you could bring up in conversation. In either country. Australia. Or New Zealand. Or England.

Watching Your Flight Times
Another advantage of the stop in the lounge is that you are more likely to keep in touch with other passengers on the plane and see when they start leaving for the flight, regardless of whether any announcements are made. The staff are more likely to be able to tell you how long you need to allow to reach your departure gate. Or to call for assistance if you are late or too tired to walk a distance.

Other Advantages
I can imagine having a business meeting, or any meeting, in a lounge, using Heathrow in transit.

If you don't meet anybody until you arrive in Australia, at least you have something to talk about on arrival. The lounge. And Pavlova.

Useful Websites
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7887675/Qantas-opens-luxurious-airport-lounge-London-Heathrow-Airport.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ico=taboola_feed
https://www.qantas.com/sg/en/promotions/100-reasons-to-travel-in-2020.html?alt_cam=sg:dg:omd:sem:gg:new-year-sale:

About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Free pizza, hot drinks and jelly babies Hatch End Thursday Dec 4 2014

Free pizza, hot drinks and jelly babies at Fellini Caffe in hatch End tomorrow afternoon, Thursday Dec 4 2014, after 4 pm when the Christmas Tree lighting takes place.

Here are the workers out in their lifting device to put the decorations on the tree and around the lamp posts. Bet you wondered how it was done, as I did.

That's how you get the fairy or angel or star on the top of the tree!

I saw a team of three vans out. You can just spot the orange lifter above the trees in the distance.

A brochure was delivered to nearby houses informing them of the tree lighting ceremony. Usually carol singers, a VIP, a collection for charity, free food given away by several shops. For example, mince pies at estate agents. In a previous year the tree lighting was done by Barry Cryer. This year it's a sporting hero.

See next post for pictures of Christmas cakes, Christmas trees and other shop window decorations and temptations.

Christmas Lights & Free Food in Hatch End

My red rheindeer hat cost me only £1 in Tesco Express. That was my contribution to the evening celebrations when the Xmas lights were turned on alongside the street Xmas tree, with carols and free food.
Free food!

Where in the world do you get free food? In the USA back in the Sixties you could get free food in summer in the park in Haight Ashbury, San Francisco, California - bread dyed pink? With food colouring. We hoped.

Later in several cities
we lined up for pancakes and syrup, sometimes sausages or meat. We had free breakfast in summer at towns with rodeos.

Nowadays in the UK NW London in a leafy lane near Watford a Hindu Hare krishna temple serves a free rice and curried vegetable lunch regularly. It is sponsored by a family with a celebration that week.

Nearer the shopping centres, you can get free food and drink two or three times a year in Hatch End, Pinner, Middlesex. This summer we had a street party for the Jubilee and then Royal wedding. We always look for an excuse to attract visitors in summer and winter.

So we had comedian Barry Cryer, a local resident, to speak when the Xmas lights were switched on December 6th. Then several shops in tiny Hatch End high street started serving food and drinks. Hatch end main street is the Uxbridge Road. One restaurant facade boasts a plaque to Mrs Beeton, the pioneer cookery writer, ('first kill your chicken … take a dozen eggs').

I started with a juice outside Fellinis. Then chocolates at Tanna the chemist. Chuck had a great display of lights, moving reindeer.

On to a glass of bubbly, olives and chicken canapés on sticks in the upmarket furniture store opposite Chaplins, where I met the staff who do renovations of furniture in their Stanmore workshop. They said it would cost me £100-£150 to cover a headboard. they are very proud of their covering a sofa for Mr Ross. (See the plaque about this under the Xmas tree across the road.)

On the Xmas tree side of the road a tried a free chocolate at the newly opened (late 2013) chocolate shop, Rainbeau. the Genuine Cakes shop gave me a delicious piece of vanilla cake. Then up to B and K Salt Beef bar for a slice of turkey and a small latke (potato cake). Luckily we had small portions everywhere. I still had room for a mince pie over at Robertson and Philips estate agent.
A couple of last photos of windows - the antique shop had a chef holding a bottle of wine.