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 11:00pm 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 £35 (~$46), 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?