Whenever I am connecting in London Heathrow Terminal 2, my first stop is always the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge thanks to one amenity that none of the other lounges in Terminal 2 offer…
Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge London (LHR)
That amenity is barista-made coffee…typically, if I’m flying in on United Airlines, I’ll skip my second cup of coffee with breakfast and save it for here. I’m an insufferable snob when it comes to coffee, but I’m grateful that this particular amenity exists. Air Canada partners with Lavazza.
As for the rest of the lounge…
Hours + Access + Location
The lounge is located in Terminal 2B, adjacent to the Singapore Airlines lounge, and open daily from 6:00 am to 5:30 pm. Access is granted to:
- Business and first class ticket holders on an Air Canada or other Star Alliance flight
- Star Allinace Gold members, including Aeroplan Super Elite, Aeroplan 75K and Aeroplan 50K Members
- Aeroplan business and corporate Credit Cardholders using a one-time guest pass
- Maple Leaf Lounge members
- Holders of an Aeroplan premium credit card
- TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege Car
- CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege Card
- American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card
- American Express Aeroplan Business Reserve Card
- American Express Aeroplan Corporate Reserve Card
- Chase Sapphire Reserve cardmembers and authorized users
Seating
The lounge has seating for 149 guests (it has changed the furniture a bit since my visit) and most seats have power ports (UK style), USB-C, and USB-A ports wtihin reach.
Food + Drink
Buffet-style dining includes hot and cold options like salads, soup, bread, sandwiches, hot dishes like beef bourguignon and rice, muffins, pastries, cookies, and fruit.
I was also impressed at the panini station, which is a nice upgrade to a cold sandwich:
A full-service bar offers beer, wine, and spirits (all complimentary) as well as self-serve coffee (ask the barista for coffee instead), water, and soft drinks.
Restrooms + Showers
Restrooms and shower suites are available. Request shower access from reception.
CONCLUSION
This lounge often gets crowded, and so I generally prefer the United lounge, especially on the Global Services side. But I always start here if I want a cup of coffee: the barista-made cappuccinos hit the spot.
Below, you might enjoy reading my original review, published on July 7, 2018.
In theory, I love this lounge. It has all the elements of an airport lounge that I love. In practice, however, I found the lounge to be very overcrowded. It seems I visited at the wrong time of day…
The lounge, located in Heathrow Terminal 2, has a great design with comfortable seating. I like the (faux) marble finishes and color scheme. It’s sleek but timeless. You’ll find it right next to the Singapore Airlines lounge on the second floor.
And also very crowded in the late morning. Very, very crowded. Think about it: Air Canada has late morning or early afternoon departures to Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Halifax and St. John’s. It’s no wonder the lounge gets crowded from Air Canada flyers alone. Plus access is granted to Star Alliance gold members flying any other Star Alliance carriers serving LHR.
In addition the design, I appreciated the showers. I opted to take a shower here after my flight from Los Angeles on Air New Zealand. Despite the crowds inside the lounge, there was no wait and I enjoyed a nice shower. The water was piping hot with decent pressure.
I also appreciated the made-to-order coffee and panini sandwiches. The panini bar reminded me of the Al-Mourjan lounge in Doha, which offers excellent sandwiches.
Although the coffee looked beautiful and featured Lavazza beans, it was very weak. Too bad.
A buffet offered additional hot and cold items.
Moving back to the seating area of the lounge, you can see that even the meeting room and work areas were crowded. I had to print a boarding pass for my return flight and appreciated the complimentary printer that allowed for easy wi-fi printing. Wi-Fi, by the way, worked well in the lounge.
A selection of newspapers and magazines were also available:
CONCLUSION
Note the Singapore Airlines lounge next door, which I’ll review next, was not only more spacious but virtually empty at the same time the Air Canada lounge was packed. I’d rate this as a solid lounge, but one to avoid in the late morning.
Hi Matthew,
I’m flying LAX to LHR on air canada business class with my wife this October. We land at 6:30 am and would like to take a shower before heading into the city. I’ve heard there are “arrivals lounges” that air Canada and united operate. I can’t seem to find much info on them. Would you recommend one?
Hi Wesley,
You will have access to the lounge if you are flying in revenue business class. Did you purchase your ticket with miles or cash?
Here’s my review of it:
https://liveandletsfly.boardingarea.com/2014/09/26/united-first-class-arrivals-lounge-london-heathrow/
I purchased with miles.
Hi Matthew! I have a question – I’ll be flying into Heathrow in the morning and I’d love to take a shower before getting on my way. Do you get your bags from luggage claim before or after? (I’m still a newbie to non-economy flying)
Hi Meg,
Will you be connecting in London or terminating your travel there? If connecting, you won’t have to pick up your luggage and can head directly to this lounge. If your travels are ending in London, you’ll be using this arrivals lounge:
https://liveandletsfly.boardingarea.com/2014/09/26/united-first-class-arrivals-lounge-london-heathrow/
It has showers and a nice breakfast spread.
Enjoy!
I have coffee at the MLL before I meander over to the United Club
Aspiring coffee snob here – how do you distinguish between the quality of coffee brands (e.g. that Lavazza is better than Illy or Nescafe or whatnot?) Is it merely a matter of personal preference or are there “objective” metrics one can use?
I guess like good wine, it’s a bit subjective, but you know it when you know it.
LHR T2 Rankings:
1. Singapore Silver Kris Lounge
2. Air Canada Maple Leaf
3. United Club
4. Lufthansa Senator Lounge
You may want to confirm lounge access on the credit cards. I hold TD VIP cards. The rules explicitly state:
Primary Cardholders and Additional Cardholders on the account can access Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounges in North America whether they’re flying together or separately with a same day ticket on a departing Air Canada or Star Alliance® flight. They can even each bring a guest.
https://www.td.com/ca/en/personal-banking/products/credit-cards/aeroplan/aeroplan-visa-infinite-privilege-card
Did you ever do a post on accessing T3 lounges while flying out of a different terminal at Heathrow?
This refreshed lounge is a great place to relax before your flight… It never gets overly busy… The food & drink options could be improved.
I was in this lounge back in September. I hadn’t been in since the remodel and was looking forward to seeing it and having some barista coffee.
As my UA flight was departing from the gate just next to the lounge, we spent a little time in it before decamping to the Singapore lounge.
It was, as Mathew said, crowded. On top of that, the food was very meh and barista coffee not very good…like, so not good that the machine coffee in the UA lounge was better.
I rank this lounge last among the four Star Alliance lounges in this terminal.
Worse than Lufthansa’s? Yikes.
Yeah. The food in the LH lounge is better, it’s generally less crowded, and the beer is, of course, much better than the Carling in the AC lounge.