United's Club lounge confirmed as the Priority Pass option in Terminal 2

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I’m not going to write anything about the opening of Terminal 2 at Heathrow yesterday – I’m sure that there will be enough in the general press.

Here is one titbit that you won’t see in your newspaper though.

The Priority Pass website now confirms – as one HfP reader had already been told in an email – that the official Priority Pass lounge in Terminal 2 is the United Club.

Priority Pass

(You can get a free Priority Pass via American Express Platinum.)

It is NOT listed on the Lounge Club website. Unless they are being slow in updating it, this is annoying for Amex Gold cardholders as they will not be able to use their free Lounge Club passes in Terminal 2. Lounge Club cards are accepted in the Servisair lounges in Terminal 1 and Terminal 3.

(EDIT: You can walk from Terminal 2 to Terminal 1 airside so you could theoretically use the Servisair lounge in T1 with your Lounge Club card. However, it is easily the worst lounge in any London airport and it does not justify the walk!)

There is good news and bad news here.

The good news is that, as I wrote in this post, the United lounges are meant to be impressive and substantially above anything that United offers in the USA.

The bad news is that the lounge is in the satellite terminal – 2B – near Gate 34. This means that if your flight departs from the main building you will have to make a diversion. I don’t know how long this will add to your journey or if security makes it difficult for you to shuffle between the terminals.

If you are under 21, there is more bad news. The Priority Pass website says that the United lounge imposes US drinking regulations and therefore you can’t have any alcohol.

I hope to make it across to T2 once Aer Lingus starts flying its short-haul services in July, at which point I will check out the various options.

Getting airport lounge access for free from a credit card

How to get FREE airport lounge access via UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, here are the three options to get FREE airport lounge access via a credit or charge card:

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

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 Plaza Premium, Delta and Eurostar lounges. Our American Express Platinum review is here. You can apply here.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for the first year. It comes with a Priority Pass card loaded with two free visits to any Priority Pass lounge – see the list here.

Additional lounge visits are charged at £20. You get two 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

A huge bonus, but only available to HSBC Premier clients Read our full review

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard gets you get a free LoungeKey card, allowing you access to the LoungeKey network. Guests are charged at £20 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.

Category

United Airlines and MileagePlus

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

Paul says:

5 Jun5 June 06:41

I participated in the Terminal 2 trials and had to visit (pass by the entrance) of the United lounge as part of my scenario. It is a very long walk. Unlike Terminal 5 there are no trains. You have to walk between T2A and T2B where the lounge is located. It takes about 10-15 minutes to walk.
Trickster says:

5 Jun5 June 07:30

It’s not listed on the airport angel app either (even after an update).
layz says:

5 Jun5 June 08:30

You forgot the BA angle. T2B had part of it used as a T1 satellite and as far as I know some T1 flights still depart from there.

If your BA flight is departing from that area of the terminal (or if you just happen to have a bit of free time) you could use your Priority Pass to visit this lounge.

The maps on the official Heathrow website should make this clear. Just like the old T2, both T1 and T2 are linked airside and share some of their gates.
- layz says:
  
  5 Jun5 June 08:43
  
  Can’t edit my post…. also there’s no such thing as 2C and won’t be for quite a few years yet (T5 also opened without a 5C). That phase is meant to happen after they demolish T1. The plan is to extend 2A into the space occupied by T1 and then build the 2C satellite. Once complete they’d be able to knock down T3 with its sprawling mass of piers, build 5D and have what HAL calls the ‘toast rack’ layout. The T5 train would then be extended under all these new satellites finally making them all reachable without transfer buses between the terminals.
  
  Not sure what would happen to T4 in these plans.
  
  If the 3rd runway is approved a new terminal building would be built alongside T5 and that area renamed Heathrow West.
  
  Unfortunately HAL have delayed the start of the next phase of development, presumably they want to wait until they know 100% there’s a future for Heathrow, the governments delaying tactics are not helping here.
  - Rob says:
    
    5 Jun5 June 10:11
    
    Apols, will correct that. I wasn’t entirely sure when I wrote it but forgot to double check.
Steve says:

5 Jun5 June 08:40

I took part in the trials too. Security is dealt with at T2A so shouldn’t be a problem. There is no T2C to worry about at the moment. The only issue is the long walk between T2A and T2B – you will have to allow plenty of time.

It’s bizarre that they enforce US rules on alcohol. Is it even legal for them to do this? To discriminate solely on the basis of age, to customers who can legally drink in the UK?
- layz says:
  
  5 Jun5 June 09:02
  
  I suspect the under 21 thing may be just a copy and paste of their US rules. Might not be enforced over here.
  
  More worrying it says there’s a charge for premium alcoholic beverages.
  
  The PP website also says six guests per cardholder allowed. I doubt any PP card allows that many guests but might make it useful as a paid option if you’re in a small group.
layz says:

5 Jun5 June 08:49

Also based on what I said earlier, if Lounge Club cards or Lounge Angel turn out not to be valid in the United Club you could always use the lounge in T1 if that’s important to you. Whether that’s practical depends on where your gate in T2 is and how much time you have.
- Rob says:
  
  5 Jun5 June 10:10
  
  You clearly have never been to the Servisair lounge in Terminal 1 (which is the only Lounge Club option) or you wouldn’t have written that 🙂
  
  I’m not sure its worth the physical effort required to walk up the stairs to get to it if you are departing from T1, let alone walking across from T2!
  - Oh! Matron! says:
    
    5 Jun5 June 10:15
    
    +1
    
    It’s SOOOOOOOOO bad it makes the toilets in a motorway service station look good.
    
    the No.1 Lounges are fantastic: Manchester / Stansted for the view especially!
A new Priority Pass lounge option for T1/T2B satellite departures? - FlyerTalk Forums says:

5 Jun5 June 09:00

[…] When I copied and pasted the above I didn't notice the following: Alcoholic drinks are available to those over 21 only and premium alcoholic drinks are subject to payment. My visits to United Clubs in the US have always been in the morning so I don't know what they define as premium. In some other lounges it has basically meant Champagne and spirits. As for the over 21 policy, that might be a mistake. They may have just copied their general rules that apply to the US lounges as US law doesn't trust new adults with scary things like alcohol. Anyone passing by want to comment on the alcohol selection? BTW I beat Raffles to the post by a few hours (and he didn't note the T1 connection), not often can I say that: https://headforpoints.com/2014/06…row-terminal-2 […]
Col A-B says:

5 Jun5 June 09:24

I’m just booking myself on Virgin Little Red for their inaugural on an EDI day trip which will allow me to sample this lounge & then the No1 Traveller lounge on my return (which I recently won a year’s entry to any of their lounges). Let’s just hope they stick to 10th September as their switching date!
- Rob says:
  
  5 Jun5 June 10:05
  
  I am doing a post on the No 1 Edinburgh lounge over the weekend or early next week.
danksy says:

5 Jun5 June 14:47

Re: T1 servisair… whilst the “fabric” of the lounge isn’t great, they were at least able to offer a hot bacon roll on Saturday morning. However after munching that i wondered back to the BA Lounge for a nicer environment and ambience!