EXCLUSIVE: New Terminal 5 Priority Pass landside lounge now open

There is new lounge available at Heathrow Terminal 5 for holders of a Priority Pass or LoungeKey card.

It is the club lounge of the Sofitel hotel, Club Millesime, which is now open to the public.

Full details are on the Priority Pass website – search for ‘Heathrow’ in the drop down box.

Here are the key points to note:

To enter the lounge, which is located on the ground floor of the hotel, you need to pick up an access card from the Guest Relations desk in the hotel lobby.  You cannot go straight in.

Whilst the lounge is open from 06.30 to 22.00, Priority Pass / LoungeKey access is only available between 07.00 and 21.30. 

You need to pay for any food orders from the a la carte menu, although the buffet food is free.

There is a limit of four guests per cardholder although that is unlikely to be a problem for 99.9% of people.

Shower facilities are available.

Children are welcome but anyone aged 2 or over counts as a ‘guest’ towards your allocation.

Smart casual dress is required.

There is no implication that you need to show a departing or arriving boarding pass – you certainly don’t need to show anything to access the Plaza Premium Arrivals Lounge in Terminal 2.  This means that the lounge may also make a good waiting spot if you are meeting someone.  I also assume that, if you were a guest at the hotel in a non-club room, you could use this to get five hours of lounge access which is the maximum allowed.

Annoyingly, I will be passing through Heathrow four times this week but none of the timings allow me to try the lounge out.  If anyone wants to visit and report back on the process and what they found, I’d be keen to hear.

How do you get access?

The current options are:

Priority Pass – you can buy one here for cash, or you can get two free Priority Pass cards, each of which allows one guest (so four people in total) by taking out an American Express Platinum charge card (review of American Express Platinum here).

LoungeKey – this is the MasterCard World Elite benefit scheme.  The new HSBC Premier World Elite MasterCard (£195 fee) comes with a LoungeKey card.

Lounge Club – sorry, Club Millesime is not part of Lounge Club which is bad news for American Express Gold charge card holders

Dragonpass – the lounge is not showing as part of Dragonpass either.  However, Dragonpass cardholders can use the Regus Business Centre in the arrivals area of Terminal 5

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How to get FREE airport lounge access via UK credit cards (April 2025)

Here are the five 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 1,500 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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee 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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 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 £290 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 good package, but only available to HSBC Premier clients Read our full review

Got a small business?

If you have a small business, consider American Express Business Platinum which has the same lounge benefits as the personal Platinum card:

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

You should also consider the Capital on Tap Pro Visa credit card which has a lower fee and, as well as a Priority Pass for airport lounge access, also comes with Radison Rewards VIP hotel status:

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits 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.