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Plaza Premium opens a new lounge in Heathrow Terminal 4

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Just over a month ago, Plaza Premium opened a new lounge at Heathrow Terminal 4, replacing its existing offering. We covered it at the time but we didn’t have any photographs – until now.

Plaza Premium has taken over the old SkyTeam lounge, which has been empty since it closed during the pandemic.

At more than 1,600 square meters, the SkyTeam lounge was more than twice the size of the old Plaza Premium lounge so it appeared to be a big upgrade in capacity.

So I was surprised to see that the new Plaza Premium space is only 766 square meters – slightly smaller, in fact, than the previous lounge at 790 sq m, although it doesn’t feel that way.

Plaza Premium opens a new lounge in Heathrow Terminal 4

After asking the Plaza Premium team I was told that the new Plaza Premium lounge is only on the first level of the old SkyTeam space, with the second level “reserved for other development at a later stage.”

Whilst no details have so far been revealed, perhaps Plaza will bring its new lower-cost Plaza Premium Express or the upgraded Plaza Premium First lounge concept to Heathrow? Only time will tell.

Anyway, back to the new Plaza Premium lounge. As it’s the same size it doesn’t seem like it will solve issues of overcrowding reported at the old lounge, which is unfortunate. As one of the main contract lounges at Terminal 4 it welcomes a high volume of business class passengers from Air France, KLM and other airlines before it can start to accept Priority Pass members.

In total, the Plaza Premium Heathrow T4 has capacity for 147 guests.

Plaza Premium opens a new lounge in Heathrow Terminal 4

The lounge is opposite gates 10a and 10b. As you can see from the photos in this article, the space has had a total refurbishment with design inspiration taken from the London Underground in particular as you can see in the patterns of this banquette:

Plaza Premium opens a new lounge in Heathrow Terminal 4

The lounge also presents Plaza Premium’s 4th UK Spotlight Art exhibition, in partnership with London-based artist Lauren Baker.

“The Ascending Horizons exhibition invites travellers on a spiritual journey through an oeuvre of artwork inspired by nature, symbolism, the higher realms of consciousness, mysticism and an exploration of our connection to the universe. Baker is currently featured as part of the Venice Biennale, previously having exhibited at the V&A, Tate Britain and Tate Modern, she is respected for her contribution to public art both in the UK and worldwide.”

Plaza Premium opens a new lounge in Heathrow Terminal 4

Like other brands, Plaza Premium wants to reflect the local culture in its lounges and the Plaza Premium Heathrow T4 is the first to showcase the ‘Proudly Local’ theme in the UK. When it comes to food and drink, that means:

“Travellers can savour authentic British classics including ‘Victoria Sponge’, ‘Cottage Pie’, ‘Pimm’s’ and Gin & Tonic made with locally-distilled Bombay Sapphire and London Essence.”

Plaza Premium opens a new lounge in Heathrow Terminal 4

Don’t worry if none of that appeals to you though, because “An array of international cuisines and complimentary drinks are also available at the buffet station”.

Plaza Premium opens a new lounge in Heathrow Terminal 4

The lounge also features a multifaith prayer room, shower facilities (it’s unclear if these cost extra, although I would expect them to) and a quiet zone.

To be fair to Plaza, the lounge does look and feel larger than the old lounge because it is open plan rather than the odd shaped space it was using previously.

Plaza Premium opens a new lounge in Heathrow Terminal 4

Plaza Premium Heathrow T4 access

The new lounge is open now from 5am until 10pm daily and welcomes Priority Pass holders as well as walk-ins and online bookings. The old lounge has closed, whilst the Blush Lounge remains open (review here).

A 2-hour slot costs £47.52 on the Plaza Premium website, or you can get in for free with a paid-for Priority Pass, your Amex Platinum-issued free Priority Pass or one of the four lounge passes that come with the (free for a year) American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card. DragonPass is also accepted.

Airlines that send their premium customers to the Plaza Premium lounge include:

  • Air Algeria
  • Air Astana
  • Air Bulgaria
  • Air France
  • Air Serbia
  • Biman Air
  • China Eastern
  • China Southern
  • KLM
  • Kenya Airways
  • Korean Air
  • Royal Air Maroc
  • Royal Brunei
  • RwandAir
  • Saudia Airlines
  • TAROM
  • TunisAir
  • WestJet

…. so Priority Pass customers are well down the list unfortunately.

Royal Air Maroc customers can also use the Qatar Airways Frequent Flyer lounge as RAM is a partner oneworld alliance airline.

Now that Plaza Premium has found a new home in the old SkyTeam lounge, the question is what will happen to the old space. Its smaller size might be more suitable for an airline hoping to pick up its own space – although realistically only Air France KLM would have the passenger volume to make it work – or we might see a competing contract lounge brand open such as No1 or Aspire.

We will, of course, try and get a full review of the space the next time we fly from Terminal 4 – stay tuned.

You can book the new Plaza Premium Terminal 4 lounge for cash on their website here.

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Getting airport lounge access for free from a credit card

How to get FREE airport lounge access via UK credit cards (April 2025)

Here are the five 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 1,500 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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee 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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 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 £290 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 good package, but only available to HSBC Premier clients Read our full review

Got a small business?

If you have a small business, consider American Express Business Platinum which has the same lounge benefits as the personal Platinum card:

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

You should also consider the Capital on Tap Pro Visa credit card which has a lower fee and, as well as a Priority Pass for airport lounge access, also comes with Radison Rewards VIP hotel status:

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits 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.

Category

Airport Lounge Reviews (UK)

Comments (33)

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

  • Jack J says:
    4 Oct4 October 06:30

    Maybe it’s time for Rhya to complete his lounge hop around LHR to include all contact lounges?

    For £45, I was shocked by how awful the Plaza Premium lounge in T5 was. Overcrowded, Dirty, Microwaved Bacon, Chargeable Premium Drinks, Indifferent staff. The Google reviews are so bad that it looks (unverified) like their own staff are putting in 5* ratings to try and salvage things.

    Fingers crossed T4 is better!

    • Rhys says:
      4 Oct4 October 08:55

      Don’t threaten me with a good time 😉

    • Gosia44 says:
      4 Oct4 October 10:07

      Plaza Premium at T5 is shockingly bad. Not worth entering even for free.

    • Danny says:
      4 Oct4 October 10:30

      Usually find the fake reviews for hotels and lounges are those that reel off the names of staff

    • Lady London says:
      4 Oct4 October 12:07

      This makes Plaza Premium T5 sound worse than the LHR T5 Aspire Lounge.

      Is that possible?

      • Andi F says:
        4 Oct4 October 12:20

        Plaza T5 was actually decent when it first opened. Started going a bit downhill for a while but still usually much better than Aspire. Unfortunately it hasn’t aged well and much of the furnishings have not worn well. By the time they started accepting PP, it was not great and the PP just brought the level down one more notch it seemed. Luckily 90% of my work travel now is in CE so I’m usually upstairs but I used the PP through Amex Plat a lot a couple of years ago.

      • Gosia44 says:
        4 Oct4 October 15:23

        Aspire marginally better. If you have limited number of free passes via Dragon, Priority or LoungeKey apps, best to save them for other airports.

  • can2 says:
    4 Oct4 October 06:36

    I’m still surprised to see sometimes that there is some negativity towards Plaza lounges. I always thought they are the best non-airline, non-Centurion lounge in London. Their veggie food is pretty good, and I’m not a fizz person. So I welcome this new lounge.

    • BBbetter says:
      4 Oct4 October 08:54

      See Jack’s comment above.
      Plaza lounges were good until they opened up to priority pass. They need to tie up with more airlines and reduce reliance on priority pass.

      • TGLoyalty says:
        4 Oct4 October 10:02

        Plaza Premium T5 badly needs gutting and re doing. You can tell it was put together on the cheap in record time.

        • Rhys says:
          4 Oct4 October 10:22

          More than that, it needs to be bigger. But where do you go?

          • TGLoyalty says:
            4 Oct4 October 12:02

            Perhaps it could be bigger and therefore cater for more visitors but that’s secondary to the fact it’s absolutely shite.

          • sigma421 says:
            4 Oct4 October 14:37

            IIRC the size (or lack of it) was the rationale for not accepting PP prior to Plaza Premium and Collinson’s falling out/making up. The rest of the LHR lounges took PP but not T5 (although Amex Plat was accepted). Used the lounge a lot in 2018/19 and quite liked it, would even have suggested it as an alternative to Galleries Club when it was busy. Wouldn’t do that now.

          • Rob says:
            4 Oct4 October 15:35

            Totally agree – it was preferable to Galleries Club at one point.

    • Can2 says:
      4 Oct4 October 18:30

      I still think begging to change the assumptions, like don’t let Priority Pass people in, doesn’t make much sense any longer. “Given the circumstances” there are not many options, and amongst them, Plaza rarely disappointed me.
      In T5, granted, it’s been ages for me since I’ve been to Plaza, if I’m in T5, I’m in Galleries.

      • TGLoyalty says:
        5 Oct5 October 01:53

        Just to clarify this isn’t a general plaza view this is specifically for T5. The lounges has slipped massively since it opened.

  • Pointstoo says:
    4 Oct4 October 06:51

    Apparently ,there is a discount of 25% Plaza Premium longes for Smart Traveller members who register via club Avolta which is the new name for Red By Dufry.

  • Stuart says:
    4 Oct4 October 07:24

    As a frequent visitor when it was the SkyTeam lounge and felt is was fine for a shower and relax for a short while before flying, now the “design inspiration taken from the London Underground” is not appealing at all – no doubt they paid people a lot of money to come up with this rubbish.

  • Peter says:
    4 Oct4 October 09:52

    This new lounge seems to have a policy of not admitting Priority Pass holders and instead sending them to the Blush lounge.

    I’ve tried to enter three times with priority pass now, people in front of me in the queue were admitted by paying for entry and lounge did not look at capacity. I think it is a policy the lounge has implemented. You also cannot reserve it via the free reservations on Amex Platinum unlike most other UK PP lounges.

  • vlcnc says:
    4 Oct4 October 10:32

    We used the old one a lot flying with ITA – it was very run down and dirty. The food offering was also very low quality and poor – longlife juices in particluar… urgh, although I was always a fan of the turkey bacon they had which was deliciously smokey. Plaza Premium lounges seem to be very inconsistent in quality around the world, I know people say the one in Rome is apparently fantastic, but my personal experiences here in the UK at Heathrow and Gatwick have generally been quite poor.

  • jjoohhnn says:
    4 Oct4 October 11:26

    Perhaps Plaza Premium had discussions with AirFranceKLM about whether they are staying in T4 for the long term or going to co-locate into T3 with Virgin/Delta and that has affected the amount of space they are provisioning..

    • Nick says:
      4 Oct4 October 11:44

      AFKL would prefer to be back with DL but it’s ultimately not their choice, HAL made them move back to T4 and will keep them there as long as they like.

      I see @Rhys is back to measuring lounges in electricity meters again, rather than the standard international measure of metres… thought he’d learnt that lesson!

  • Doomonger says:
    4 Oct4 October 17:13

    Slow news day, what a dull article, with an accompanying pictures of a lounge with some tables and chairs

    • BB says:
      4 Oct4 October 17:53

      Are you new here? Sort of like complaining about all the business-related articles in the FT.

      • Doommonger says:
        4 Oct4 October 20:16

        I think you’ll find I’ve been boring and amusing in equal measure on here since 2016, how about you little fish.

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

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