United First lounge in Heathrow Terminal 2 reviewed, with photos

This is my review of the United First lounge at London Heathrow Terminal 2.

This is part of our series of reviews of airport lounges across the UK.  You see all of the reviews here.

What is the new United First lounge at Heathrow like? Regular readers of Head for Points will know that we have been covering the lounge options in the new Terminal 2 at Heathrow recently.

Here is my review of United Club (the huge lounge in the 2B satellite terminal) which I found very impressive.  In the main terminal, I have also reviewed the Plaza Premium lounge and the Aer Lingus lounge.

Over in 2B, there is also the smaller ‘United First’ lounge.

This is substantially smaller and quieter than the adjacent United Club lounge.  At present it is presumably open to any Star Alliance passenger with a First Class flight – I am not sure if Star Gold status card holders can also get access?  (EDIT: No they can’t according to the comments).  It is possible that some reshuffling of the entry policy may happen when the Singapore Airlines lounge in 2B is also open.

A Head for Points reader was in United First last week and sent me a few pictures along with some comments.  It certainly looks a world away from the crowded, but still impressive, United Club lounge.

I quote:

There were several different areas in the lounge: tables to work at, chairs with power ports, nap couches, tables and sofas to eat at or a dining room area if you prefer, a separate TV room etc.

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Service was very polite. At one stage when there was obviously a UA flight about to board there were ~10 pax in the lounge and possibly a little short staffed. Once that flight left it was better.

Bathrooms were nice and big and kept clean.

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Decent buffet selection. I had a few little bits which were pleasant.

and

Nice selection of drinks: Grey Goose vodka, Ardberg and Macallan Scotch

I popped across to check out the J lounge which was relative chaos after the tranquillity of the F lounge. That said, the bar was nice, it was light and bright, but much more calm and quiet in the F lounge.

Overall excellent for United, pretty good for any lounge in Europe, although not a touch on Turkish, Cathay or Singapore’s home lounges.

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.