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What is the food like in the Plaza Premium airport lounge in Heathrow Terminal 5?

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What is the food like in the Plaza Premium airport lounge in Heathrow Terminal 5?

Back in March I ran a full review of the new Plaza Premium lounge in Heathrow Terminal 5 – click here.

I like it.  It is small BUT it is very exclusive.  This is because you cannot get access with a Priority Pass or Lounge Club membership card.

The only realistic ways to get in – unless you have certain obscure Asian credit cards – are:

By showing an American Express Platinum charge card (Plaza Premium has a global deal with Amex, a guest is allowed for UK issued cards, foreign Platinum cards may vary)

By showing a DragonPass lounge club card, but these are rarely seen in the UK – Barclays is the main issuer 

By paying cash (on the Plaza Premium website here)

In March I was there during breakfast.  On Wednesday I popped in at 5pm – using my Amex Platinum card – to check out the evening food selection.  It was pretty decent.  Importantly there were fewer than 20 people in the lounge.

There were BBQ chicken wings and potatoes:

Plaza Premium Lounge Heathrow Terminal 5 food review

There was tortellini in mushroom sauce:

Plaza Premium Lounge Heathrow Terminal 5 food review

In the other pans:

Plaza Premium Lounge Heathrow Terminal 5 food review

….. were chicken tikka masala, beef stroganoff and steamed rice.  There was also a large selection of wraps and a salad bar.

Plaza Premium Lounge Heathrow Terminal 5 food review

If you wanted dessert, there were special cupcakes to celebrate Plaza Premium’s recent Skytrax awards.  Photo above.  If you want to see photos of the lounge itself, read my March review.


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.

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