American Airlines reopens its arrivals lounge in Heathrow Terminal 3

The American Airlines arrivals lounge at Heathrow reopened on Tuesday.

This is good news for anyone flying in from the US on an AA service. British Airways and Cathay Pacific passengers will also be able to use the lounge when long-haul services into Terminal 3 resume.

This is one of the very few lounges at Heathrow that I have never been in, so I can’t tell you anything interesting about it. According to the AA website, facilities include showers, valet ironing (!), a business centre, a bar, a buffet and a la carte dining.

The opening hours are 6.30am to 2pm. You will find the lounge on Level 2 once you exit the customs area, which involves taking the lift or stairs up.

To use the lounge, you need to have flown into Heathrow on American in First or Business Class or have British Airways Gold status or equivalent. BA Silver cardholders do not get access if they are not flying in First or Business.

Equivalent rules will apply to British Airways and Cathay Pacific passengers when they resume long-haul flights to 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.