We stopped at the Plaza Premium Lounge in London Heathrow T2 and enjoyed a nice brunch prior to our flight.
Plaza Premium Lounge London Heathrow T2 Review
This lounge has been an on-again, off-again part of the Priority Pass network for years. These days, Priority Pass membership is once again accepted for admittance, which is the basis upon which we entered.
As you enter the terminal after clearing security, you’ll find this lounge before you even reach the airline transfer counters. It is open daily from 5:00 am to 9:30 pm and you can also a buy two-hour pass (40GBP) or six-hour pass (68GBP) online or at the door.
Lounge guests can use showers but shower-only access (30 minutes) is available for 25GBP. Finally, private resting rooms are available at the following rates:
- Single – 3 hours – 66GBP
- Single – 6 hours – 110GBP
- Double – 6 hours – 165GBP
With Priority Pass accepted, the lounge gets quite crowded. Indeed, I don’t have many pictures this visit because nearly every table and chair was occupied.
There’s a little cordoned off area for Icelandair “Saga” (business) class passengers, but the rest of the lounge is a free-for-all.
We arrived just as the transition was being made from breakfast to lunch at about 11:00 am. I went for the last of the breakfast while the rest of the family had lunch (Indian food, salad, soup, pasta). Quite candidly, my kids went for the Biscoff cookies, which were well stocked at the buffet…
As you can see in my older review below, this lounge used to have a fancy coffee machine and barista at the bar, but that has been removed. Good thing I had enjoyed some excellent coffee in London earlier in the morning…the new automatic machines and the beans placed in them leave a lot to be desired.
The restrooms were so crowded I have no pictures.
CONCLUSION
I was thankful for this lounge in that it gave my family a place to wait before our JetBlue flight to New York. The food was also satisfactory. But be warned that this lounge gets very crowded, the downside of accepting Priority Pass. It’s rare that I fly through Terminal 2 on a non-Star Alliance carrier (there are four Star Alliance lounges in T2), but I do appreciate this lounge when I do.
My original review, published on July 6, 2018, is below.
While Star Alliance has a quartet of nice lounges in The Queen’s Terminal (T2) at London Heathrow, if you don’t have status and are flying in economy class, the Plaza Premium Lounge is a fine place to wait for your flight.
This Priority Pass Lounge is located just up the escalators, to the right, after making the long trek from the security checkpoints to the terminal departures area. It’s open daily from 5:00am to 9:30pm and there is technically a three-hour time limit per visit. If you don’t have a Priority Pass card, you can purchase access for £40 (~$50), which grants you two hours in the lounge.
I like the way it is decorated. The lighting is perfect and the four-sided couch makes a great lounge centerpiece as you enter.
I visited the lounge around 10am. You can see it was not very crowded.
The lounge also has a nice buffet with a number of fresh food including several hot dishes.
The dining area was the most crowded part of the lounge.
At the bar, alcohol is complimentary and the bartender doubles as a barista. Freshly-made coffee drinks are available…I had a cappuccino. There was also chips and salsa along with other light snacks.
The bathroom was well-maintained. Showers are nearby and cost £15 to use when I was there. Recently, the lounge stopped charging extra for the showers.
If needed, a couple desks with computers:
Within the lounge is also a sleeping area and a spa with massage available. Both cost extra.
CONCLUSION
Note this is a departure lounge. But if you are arriving into Terminal 2, there is also a Plaza Premium Lounge in the arrivals area with a similar set-up, though a bit smaller.
I liked this lounge quite a bit, though I prefer the United, Air Canada, and Singapore lounges (all located in the same terminal). This is better than the Lufthansa and Aer Lingus lounges.
I’m flying UA for the first time in about 30 years, I am a AS 75K and a AA LT plt and thought about asking to do a challenge on UA – thinking I can at least get Gold status through 2019 without changing my travel habits too much (UA to IAD for work instead of my usual AS antpath to DC). Would I get lounge access during the challenge?
Visited the British Airways First lounge during my trip to London a few months ago. As someone who generally uses regular lounges, the upgrade in class and service was amazing.
By the way, is a story coming on the crazy AA landing at Heathrow from LAX earlier this week? It received a good amount of mainstream coverage.
When my girlfriend had a two hour layover in LHR T2, I arranged for access to this lounge through LoungeBuddy. She had never been to an airport lounge. Upon entry and after her first long-haul flight (LAX-LHR), she made a b-line for the spa and spend the entire time there. Zero consumption of food or drink nor the general seating area. Oh well.