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Plaza Premium opens Heathrow Terminal 3 arrivals lounge

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Hot on the heels of its Terminal 4 arrivals lounge which opened in April, Plaza Premium has unveiled its new Arrivals Lounge in the landside area of Heathrow Terminal 3.

This will be of particular interest to British Airways travellers in Terminal 3 and anyone using Virgin Atlantic who does not have access to their dedicated arrivals lounge.

Regular Head for Points readers will know that I rate Plaza Premium highly.  They invest a lot of money into their facilities, especially in design, and they have a genuinely high end feel.  The group also manages the outstanding Cathay Pacific business and first class lounges in Heathrow Terminal 3 reviewed here.

I have reviewed (click to read):

Heathrow Terminal 2 departure lounge

Heathrow Terminal 4 departure lounge

Heathrow Terminal 2 arrivals lounge

…. and liked them all.  The Terminal 2 arrivals lounge is pretty small – although it does have shower facilities – but the two departure lounges are very spacious.  I haven’t made it to the Terminal 4 Arrivals Lounge yet but it is on the list.

There is also a Terminal 5 departure lounge on the way for the end of 2017 which will hopefully be better than the Aspire lounge.  Construction is already underway.

The new Terminal 3 lounge – which I think is on the site of the old Delta arrivals lounge – has 11 shower rooms and a lounge and bar area.  The seating total is given as 28 which seems oddly low, given that the Terminal 4 arrivals lounge has 75 seats.

How to get in

The lounge is NOT available via Priority Pass (for Amex Platinum cardholders) or Lounge Club (for Amex Gold cardholders) websites.  You can get it in by showing your American Express Platinum card at the door, however.

You can also pre-book access for cash via their website here.

Getting airport lounge access for free from a credit card

How to get FREE airport lounge access via UK credit cards (April 2024)

Here are the four options to get FREE airport lounge access via a UK credit card.

The Platinum Card from American Express comes with two free Priority Pass cards, one for you and one for a supplementary cardholder. Each card admits two so a family of four gets in free. You get access to all 1,300 lounges in the Priority Pass network – search it here.

You also get access to Eurostar, Lufthansa and Delta Air Lines lounges.  Our American Express Platinum review is here. You can apply here.

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

If you have a small business, consider American Express Business Platinum instead.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for the first year. It comes with a Priority Pass card loaded with four free visits to any Priority Pass lounge – see the list here.

Additional lounge visits are charged at £24.  You get four more free visits for every year you keep the card.  

There is no annual fee for Amex Gold in Year 1 and you get a 20,000 points sign-up bonus.  Full details are in our American Express Preferred Rewards Gold review here.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard gets you get a free Priority Pass card, allowing you access to the Priority Pass network.  Guests are charged at £24 although it may be cheaper to pay £60 for a supplementary credit card for your partner.

The card has a fee of £195 and there are strict financial requirements to become a HSBC Premier customer.  Full details are in my HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard review.

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard

A huge bonus, but only available to HSBC Premier clients Read our full review

PS. You can find all of HfP’s UK airport lounge reviews – and we’ve been to most of them – indexed here.

Category

British Airways and Avios, Virgin Atlantic and Flying Club

Comments (14)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Lee says:
    23 Jul23 July 07:42

    Is this now open?

    Will try it in a couple of weeks perhaps instead of the AA lounge. Or might try both on arrival!

    • Rob says:
      23 Jul23 July 08:02

      Apparently so, although I’ve had no reader feedback yet.

      • Trev says:
        23 Jul23 July 09:38

        Also not showing in the booking list on the plaza premium site yet…

      • Rob says:
        23 Jul23 July 09:52

        Yes, that threw me too. I haven’t had a press release on it either which is odd as I get all the PP stuff. However, various other trade websites are saying it is open!

  • Trev says:
    23 Jul23 July 09:34

    Awesome! I’m flying VS to/from T3 later this year so will definitely visit if it’s accepting Priority Pass by then!

  • Andy says:
    23 Jul23 July 09:51

    This will be a welcome addition. I’m fed up with years of traveling F or being a Gold card holder with BA and never once being able to use the Arrivals lounge in either T5 or 3 because our flights always land after 2pm. Crikey even the AA lounge closes at that time.

    • Chris says:
      23 Jul23 July 13:40

      I’m flying from T3 on Wednesday-will update here then in the unlikely event that another HfP doesn’t do so before then.

  • Gary says:
    23 Jul23 July 13:53

    It it meant as an ‘Arrivals’ lounge for when you arrive at the airport to depart? Or as you arrive from an inbound flight? Or both? But then this line “It isn’t yet clear if a boarding pass is required for entry.” doesn’t appear wholly logical, unless Rob means the boarding card from the preceding inbound flight also? Either way, I imagine it could be confusing to some, which would explain the dearth of seating provided, as many could be oblivious to whats on offer.

    • Rob says:
      23 Jul23 July 14:15

      It is an Arrivals lounge for incoming passengers, hence all the showers.

      The boarding card requirement is to stop Heathrow staff treating it as their office canteen and after-work bar, which is what seemed to happen at T2!

      • Gary says:
        23 Jul23 July 14:28

        Which boarding card exactly? The preceding one that you arrived into T3 on? Or must you be transiting & have an onward boarding card? (which presumably makes no sense)

        As an aside, is there any merit in using this (or similar Oneworld) lounge if flying BA arriving into T3 but then transiting on to a T5 domestic connection? (have heard airside transfer flight connections can be a nightmare here, so am curious about the idea of going T3 landslide first, then HEX/Tube to T5 etc)

        • Alan says:
          23 Jul23 July 15:37

          Just the arriving one – that’s how most Arrivals lounges work. You’re providing proof that you were on an incoming flight.

  • Simon Schus says:
    23 Jul23 July 17:25

    I’ve used the Plaza Premium lounge in LHR T2 quite extensively over the past couple of years for a shower and breakfast. I’ve been quite happy with the product, and I even stopped by for a few drinks whilst waiting for people to arrive on flights before (though that seems to have been stopped now, which is disappointing).

    I’ve got a few overnight flights into LHR after long-haul Y soon, arriving into T5 – and then a couple of hours before an onward train from London Paddington. I might try out the Plaza Premium lounge in LHR T3 as an alternative to T2, assuming it gets decent reviews. I would also trying the Arrivals Lounge in LHR T4 too, but it is a bit more difficult to get towards (would only adopt that if overcrowding became an issue at the T2 and T3, and there were long waits for the showers).

  • Simon Schus says:
    23 Jul23 July 17:31

    Any idea if LHR T3 is smaller than the lounge in T2? From the pictures, it looks like it might be.

    Given the ratio of showers:seating in T3, I wonder if they’re hoping to sell more of the shower-only walk-in packages (£15) than the full lounge-access packages which includes breakfast and drinks (£25).

  • Alex W says:
    23 Jul23 July 20:34

    Which of the arrival lounges is closer to central bus station? T2 or T3?

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