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Plaza Premium lounge reopens at London Heathrow Terminal 5

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There is some good news for anyone travelling through Heathrow Terminal 5 in the next few weeks.

The Plaza Premium lounge, which is by far the best of the two independent lounges in the terminal, has just reopened. The website states opening hours of 6am to 5pm.

Our last review of Plaza Premium Heathrow Terminal 5 is here.

Plaza Premium lounge in London Heathrow Terminal 5 reopens

The only snag is that the lounge does not accept Priority Pass or Lounge Club cards. It does accept DragonPass.

It also accepts American Express Platinum charge cards. Whilst the Priority Pass that comes with Platinum will not get you in, you WILL get in by showing The Platinum Card itself. This is due to a separate global deal that Amex has with Plaza Premium.

If you don’t have any of these cards, you can also book a slot for cash via the Plaza Premium 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.

Comments (24)

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

  • Tony says:

    Suspect the Virgin flights to India are predominantly for cargo reasons with a handful of passengers at this stage.

    • DB2020 says:

      Given that India will only announce on 31st August about their plans to let international flights resume, it seems rather optimistic for flights to be announced.

      My mother has been stuck in India since the lock down. I am monitoring the situation closely as I might have to go there to see her and possibly fly her out to Singapore, she is frail and needs the help.

      Surprisingly, Singapore is considering a corridor with India, but I suspect it is for economic reasons.

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

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