To say I was impressed by the Cathay Pacific first class in London Heathrow T3 would be an understatement. While not as grand as The Pier, I have yet to visit a nicer outstation first class lounge. This detailed review of the Cathay Pacific First Class Lounge in London will cover access restrictions, operating hours, seating, food and beverages, restrooms and showers, and service.
Let me note at the outset that my visit to this lounge was in February 2020. Hours and amenities have changed due to the pandemic, though it is not clear (yet) how temporary in nature these cutbacks are. Please expect modified hours and more limited food and beverage options during this unprecedented time. The lounge is currently closed.
Cathay Pacific First Class Lounge London Access + Hours
You’ll find the lounge in Heathrow Terminal 3. Clear security then head through duty free and then left, where the lounge sits net to the Qantas Lounge, another great oneworld lounge in T3. The lounge is open Monday – Saturday from 5:30AM to 10:30PM and on Sunday from 7:30AM to 10:30PM. Access is reserved for Marco Polo Diamond members, oneworld Emerald members, and passengers departing in first class on a oneworld flight. One guest is permitted. Passengers connecting in first class from Cathay Pacific are allowed in, but without a guest. Take the elevator upstairs to the lounge.
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Cathay Pacific First Class Lounge London Review: Seating
The first class lounge is fairly spacious, with a a mix of couches and chairs in semi-partitioned alcoves plus a row of lounge chairs along the windows. I spent several hours in the lounge and it never got crowded, though it always filled up a bit before each Cathay Pacific departure. I love the furniture and marble walls, which reminded me of The Pier in Hong Kong. Ilse Crawford designed both lounges.
UK plugs and USB ports are located throughout the lounge, included many hidden in side table drawers that stand between couches and chairs. I had trouble using my adapter with these plugs and had to borrow another adapter from reception.
Cathay Pacific First Class Lounge London Review: Food + Drink
The lounge includes a self-serve bar and a counter with finger foods and lighter dishes, along with soft drinks, tea, juice, and soda.
But the culinary highlight of the lounge is the restaurant, which offers an a la carte dining menu in a restaurant that is best described as a mini-version of the restaurant in The Pier.
I enjoyed a mid-afternoon lunch in the lounge and found the food to be delicious. I was not all that hungry, so I ordered a glass of rosé Champagne (Layton’s Brut Reserve) along with rose petal & harissa topped salmon.
The salmon included warm couscous and was drizzled in tahini dressing, making for a superb lunch. For dessert I ordered a fruit plate then walked over to the business class lounge for a cappuccino.
My Finnair flight to Helsinki ended up being delayed for a couple hours and I almost had dinner in the lounge, but figured I’d wait for the onboard meal. Next time I’ll try the Dan Dan Mien.
Tip: while the first class side only offers a machine to dispense espresso-based beverages, barista-made coffee is available at the bar in business class lounge. Those with access to the first class lounge access can also make use of the business class lounge. The business class lounge also has a noodle bar.
Cathay Pacific First Class Lounge London Restrooms + Showers
Restrooms and showers are shared with business class passengers and located down the hall from the first class lounge toward the business class lounge. A shower attendant is usually present if you wish to use a shower suite. If not, check with the front desk. After an overnight flight from Los Angeles, I was happy to take a refreshing shower.
Restrooms are are spacious and both the restrooms and shower suites feature Cathay Pacific’s signature Aesop’s amenities.
Cathay Pacific First Class Lounge Magazines + Newspapers
Magazines and newspapers, which many lounges have jettisoned, are still available.
Cathay Pacific First Class Lounge London Service
The ladies at the front desk were very nice. I was in and out several times because I ended up using my extended layover to check out several oneworld lounges in T3 while using the Cathay Pacific Lounge as my base. When my flight was delayed, they offered to help put me on an earlier (also delayed) flight to Helsinki, which I thought was going above and beyond the call of duty. I stuck with my original flight because I wanted to fly an A330 versus an A321, but it was a very gracious offer.
While walking between the business and first class sides of the lounge, I was never stopped and asked to prove that I was a first class passenger or had oneworld Emerald status.
CONCLUSION
I was really pleased with this lounge and strongly recommend it over the British Airways and American Airlines first class lounges also located in Terminal 3. The a la carte lunch was truly a treat and the environment quite tranquil to wait out what ended up being a long flight delay.
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great review and pics as always. Salmon looks wonderful, just what I would have ordered. Makes me wonder if we will ever see this type of food/service in lounges again. I do hope so.
Personally, it really pains me to see a few – not you – of the travel social media/blogging community traveling, sometime recklessly and for no apparent purpose other than maintain their sites and followers. I realize it is a business for some, but we will never get through this unless people reduce their activity. Just my opinion.
Glad you are staying mostly in the LA area and only traveling when necessary. Hope your family, especially the newest addition, are all doing well.
Perhaps you should direct your ire at the people traveling for fun and not at the “dozens” of travel bloggers trying to earn their living. I’m sure there a lot of the former.
Mike has good intentions. I think we all desire to take the steps necessary to contain/defeat this virus so we can return to some semblance of normality.
The majority of these bloggers have other jobs, so it isn’t like they will be starving any time soon.
Wow. Why have I been using the Qantas lounge there? Great post, Matthew. Next time…one day.
I love the Cathay Biz lounge there. Always felt like a secret as it was mostly empty for flights back to the USA (AA staff direct you to the other lounges). Made to order dumplings, great views, Moët.
Sadly don’t know if I’ll ever visit again after aa moved to terminal 5. Unless Cathay moves there too. And business travel ever starts….
Great review Matthew, thank you. Looks like I might have just missed you since I passed through Feb 15 from HEL to ORD.
Agree that this is a great lounge overall and probably the best in LHR. Also sad that, like Mick, I doubt I will ever get the chance to revisit given the terminal shuffle but never say die!
I’m curious that everyone seems to swear by the scarcity of people during their visits. In my, albeit limited, experience, the lounge was rather full. I wouldn’t say overly crowded in that you could still find a seat, but definitely a “perverse equilibrium” where the next guest might consider just going over to the business side. This was usually in mid-morning during the AA bank of US flights.
To be clear I’ve never got to see the first class lounge as a lowly aa platinum flying biz class :). So maybe the first is more exclusive?
I was there from about 2-8pm.
Sorry. That didn’t make much sense… there are multiple biz lounges but only one first class so the first gets filled by those who qualify for entry whilst the biz traffic gets spread across Cathay, qantas and American?
BA and AA also have (had) first class lounges just a few paces away.
Had the good fortune to be in this lounge a couple of years ago. I thought I belonged in the Business lounge by getting in solely with AA Platinum status (flying AA Economy!) but the lounge dragon, perhaps by mistake, directed me to the First lounge. Wow! I wished I had gotten to the airport early just to spend more time there. Great review of it.
That was a nice treat! I bet you didn’t even want to walk to the restroom! 😉
You have to admit, love or hate Heathrow itself as an airport, it has arguably one of the better collections of outstation lounges in the world (arguably even better than the lounges of the main local airline, BA).
oneworld gets you great lounges with Cathay Pacific, Qantas, and even AA.
With Star Alliance you get nice lounges with Singapore United, and Air Canada, and even Lufthansa’s lounge is decent.
Even Skyteam has a decent lounge, while people on Delta get access to the Virgin Atlantic lounge.
All in all, one of the better collection of lounges you’ll find at any airport.
The views and the intamacy of this lounge make it so unique. I love it so much.
Is it better than the Pier? I don’t actually know, and I’m not sure it really matters. They’re both fantastic. I sure hope CX continues to see value in this lounge once the pandemic has subsided.
Thanks for a great review! Very much looking forward to visiting the First Class lounge next month, restrictions permitting.