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Plaza Premium loses management of the Cathay Pacific lounge at Heathrow Terminal 3

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Plaza Premium confirmed to us this week that it is no longer managing the Cathay Pacific lounge in Heathrow Terminal 3.

We had heard rumours of this from readers in the last couple of weeks, along with more worrying reports about a deterioration in food quality and service.  I don’t know who has replaced Plaza Premium – Accor manages the nearby Qantas lounge so it could be them – or who initiated the move.

Cathay Pacific Business lounge Heathrow plants

The Cathay Pacific First Class lounge was, by far, the best option for a British Airways Executive Gold member flying out of Heathrow Terminal 3.  I reviewed it here.  You’d be a mug to use BA’s Galleries First lounge, which I reviewed here.  Let’s hope that the recent feedback reports are only a transitional blip.

Before anyone asks, if you have a British Airways Executive Club Silver card then I tend to recommend the Qantas lounge in Terminal 3, purely on grounds of scale.  The Cathay Pacific Business lounge is smaller but quieter.  Unless you are looking for a specific drink, item of food or magazine there is no logical reason to go near the American Airlines or British Airways lounges.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus card

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

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

The Platinum Card from American Express

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

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

Huge 30,000 points bonus until 12th May 2024 Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

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

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

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Comments (136)

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

  • BSI1978 says:
    6 Dec6 December 15:39

    Think I know the answer to this (but trying my luck anyhow) but can anyone confirm whether I’d be able to claim a full refund if BA change my flight time by 90 minutes? I don’t think that counts as ‘significant’ but I had actually been thinking we’d need to cancel in any event and would prefer to get as much back as possible (it was a reward booking). Cheers

    • Alan says:
      6 Dec6 December 15:50

      According to MSE its 2h for BA (https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/flight-changes/) but no harm in calling and trying to cancel IMO, its still a fairly big shift and have certainly heard of people successfully changing flights for smaller changes than that.

      • Lady London says:
        7 Dec7 December 02:08

        Iberia has done a 3 and a half hour shift that I’m currently dealing with them on.

        I’ll be very interested to see how it turns out for me. Basically they forced me to cancel because it made such a mess of the booking. And it was the 90,000, so this is going to be fun… Let’s just say I’ve marked the date in 8 weeks time in my calendar for external followup.

  • Simon says:
    6 Dec6 December 18:00

    A bit of effort but you can currenty book Plaza Premium Lounge in either LHR t3 t4 or t5 for dates this month for USD10
    You have to go via the expedia.com US site. Tickets are $40USD but coupon THANKYOU get $30 of a $40 spend. Need separate accounts/ emails / credit cards for multiple tickets.
    Spotted on hotukdeals.

  • Jimbob says:
    6 Dec6 December 19:14

    Rather O/T but managed to stack a Majestic Wines premium concierge offer, with a free bottle of Presecco and a £25 Amex credit, totalling 18 bottles of wine for just over £100.

    Probably not the best wine in the world, but good enough for the in laws over Christmas!

  • JPV says:
    6 Dec6 December 21:37

    OT: Do Iberia reward flights flown on BA and booked with a BAEC number earn tier points and avios with BA?

    • Shoestring says:
      6 Dec6 December 21:41

      Not reward flights.

      Let’s see if I pass the test lol

    • Lady London says:
      7 Dec7 December 19:18

      No. but in rare instances people have managed to get credit when the airline had an irrop on their original flight and they got put on another one instead.

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

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