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American Airlines reopens its Heathrow Terminal 3 First lounge

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American Airlines has announced that its dedicated First Class lounge at Heathrow Terminal 3 has reopened.

It is the last airline lounge to reopen in the terminal. It was still closed last December when I flew with American Airlines to New York (review here) to see the new joint BA and AA lounges at JFK.

The First Class lounge is a separate area to the Admirals Club lounge at Heathrow, which I reviewed here. The last time Rob visited, in 2015, he compared the decor to an old people’s home (photo below ….)

American Airlines First Class lounge Heathrow

Fortunately, AA has said the lounge has undergone a ‘cosmetic refresh’ whilst it has been closed, although no new photos have been provided:

“The revamped space saw the install of a new fully fire-rated professional kitchen, providing American’s chefs with the capacity to produce an extensive buffet offering and a premium á la carte menu. The reopening also sees the return of American’s Champagne station, alongside top-of-the-range bean to cup coffee machines and an extensive wine and spirits list.”

The plans for a long-awaited full refurbishment and rebranding to a superior ‘Flagship First’ lounge – first mooted in 2018 astonishingly – still appear to be on hold.

The lounge offers space for 120 guests with access open to anyone with oneworld Emerald status (ie. BA Gold) on a same-day oneworld flight or anyone in Flagship First or oneworld First. Unlike The Concorde Room in Terminal 5, you do not need to be flying in First Class.

The lounge is open from 5:30am until 7pm, seven days a week.

You can learn how to earn American Airlines AAdvantage miles from UK credit cards in this article.


How to earn American Airlines miles from UK credit cards

How to earn American Airlines miles from UK credit cards (April 2024)

American Airlines no longer has its own UK credit card.

There is, however, still a way to earn American Airlines miles from a UK credit card

The route is via Marriott Bonvoy. Marriott Bonvoy hotel loyalty points convert to American Airlines miles at the rate of 3:1.

The best way to earn Marriott Bonvoy points is via the official Marriott Bonvoy American Express card. It comes with 20,000 points for signing up and 2 points for every £1 you spend. At 2 Bonvoy points per £1, you are earning (at 3:1) 0.66 American Airlines miles per £1 spent on the card.

You can apply here.

Marriott Bonvoy American Express

20,000 points sign-up bonus and 15 elite night credits each year Read our full review

Comments (24)

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

  • Atlantico says:

    Did the lounge open already, great news! Have some IB flights out of terminal 3. However it looks like IB will move again to T5? Anyone knows more about it?

    • Nick says:

      Madrid flights on both BA and IB will relocate to T5 from the start of the summer schedule.

      • Atlantico says:

        My flight in May is still T3 operated by Iberia
        So means it will be T5 from end of March?

        • Rhys says:

          Whatever your booking says is the correct information.

          There are plans for Iberia to move back into T5 but those plans may change depending on staffing levels and other factors.

  • SammyJ says:

    Is there a pick’n’mix wall in the AA First lounge too or only the regular? For all it gets slated I really like the Admiral’s club – nice and bright, loads of space, and less stuffy than the others, which are of course much nicer in other ways. Except BA Galleries T3, which has no redeeming features at all. Love a T3 flight and the bag of sweets that ultimately follows us around for the whole trip!

  • Panda Mick says:

    I was going to write something something witty and sarky, but just couldn’t do it.

    That place looks sad. It reminds me of the old (can’t remember the company that ran it) lounge in T1

    • yorkieflyer says:

      Ah the old Servisair lounge, my garden shed had a better ambiance

    • Lady London says:

      A truly awful lounge.
      Though of course then I hadn’t visited the one and only lounge in Stansted.

    • PH says:

      you know you’re in trouble when “fully fire-rated” is included as a selling point in the press release

      • JDB says:

        Actually, fully fire-rated makes a huge difference because it means they can produce freshly prepared food. Most lounge food is frozen/chilled and then served cold or heated in a microwave as they are not fire-rated which is why so many lounges produce pretty awful food.

        • PH says:

          Learn something every day! I might have worded it “restaurant grade” or similar

  • Chrisasaurus says:

    OneWorld Emerald meaning any equivalent AA status too?

  • lumma says:

    My IHG bonus is 90%

  • Vit says:

    A newbie question please as last time I bought point using my mbna.

    Would using IHG (creation) card incur any fx fees through points dot com website?

    • drdan says:

      Oh yes… Use the MBNA/Halifax Clarity or any other 0% FX cards.

    • Rob says:

      It incurs FX fees whenever used outside the UK! You get double points though.

  • Pablo says:

    Hilton offer spend £200 get £50 back appeared on my BA Amex. Check your cards.

  • Robert says:

    OT what’s the best way to book flights in Q Suite for December? Had originally wanted to use 2-4-1 voucher but these have all been snapped up for this years Christmas period! Trying to remember the trick of knowing which aircraft are fitted with it, currently a 777 and an A380 going out of LHR, thanks in advance

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

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