Review: the Swissport lounge at London Heathrow Terminal 3

This is my review of the Swissport lounge in Heathrow Terminal 3.

I flew to Helsinki last week to test drive the new Airbus A350.  As Finnair fly from Heathrow Terminal 3, I had five lounge options:

• No 1 Lounge (via Priority Pass) – click here for my review
• Swissport (via Priority Pass)
• Cathay Pacific (the ‘official’ Finnair lounge) – click here for my review
• British Airways (a oneworld partner of Finnair) – lounge review here
• American Airlines (a oneworld partner of Finnair) – lounge review here

I decided to visit them all.

EDIT:  The Swissport lounge closed down in 2016 and was replaced by the new impressive Club Aspire lounge which is reviewed here

Yesterday I reviewed the No 1 Lounge lounge. After my visit I walked next door to the Swissport lounge.  You can access this with a Priority Pass (via Amex Platinum, or you can buy one) or Lounge Club card (via Amex Gold). You also pre-book access to the Swissport lounge for cash via their website.

This could actually have been a very short review – don’t go there.

Given the discerning nature of Head for Points readers, I will provide some additional photographic evidence of why you shouldn’t go there.  Remember that next door is No 1 Traveller with its cinema, games room, library, buffet, full bar and cooked to order bistro options ….

This is the main seating area (look, no guests!):

Here is a side area:

Here is food selection – crisps or cheese and crackers (as I wanted to test something from each lounge, I had my little pre-packed bit of cheese with my pre-packed crackers):

Here is what I assume someone once thought would pass for a funky seating area:

I didn’t get a picture of the bar.  To be fair, there is no shortage of alcohol – which is good, because you would want to pour yourself a stiff one if you’d paid to come here.  The alcohol is also self-pour, whilst No 1 Traveller insist on pouring for you.

I should also say that Aspire / Swissport / Servisair lounges usually come with a good range of reading material and this was no exception.  It was the only place I found an Economist, for example.  The rest of it is just dismal and depressing, frankly, and you would be better off in the main terminal.

If you have a Priority Pass card, head for No 1 Traveller.  End of discussion.

No 1 Traveller is not in Lounge Club.  If you have a Lounge Club card via Amex Gold with two free lounge visits loaded, please do not use them here unless they are about to expire.  There are far nicer lounges out there.

Next time, I begin my tour of the three oneworld lounges in Heathrow Terminal 3 …..

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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.

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

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.

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.

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