My review of the SkyTeam (and Priority Pass) lounge in Heathrow Terminal 4

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This is my review of the SkyTeam lounge at London Heathrow Terminal 4.

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

I’m not sure how recently it happened, but the SkyTeam lounge in Heathrow’s Terminal 4 has appeared on the list of Priority Pass facilities.

This is fantastic news for American Express Platinum card holders, as they now have free unlimited access for themselves and up to three guests to a genuinely impressive lounge.

You can also buy one-off day passes via the Lounge Pass website.

When I was in Terminal 4 last Monday I popped in for a look. As you would expect from the flagship Heathrow lounge for the entire SkyTeam airline alliance, a serious amount of money has been spent.

It is probably the only Priority Pass lounge that lets you have free access to a cabana / dayroom, for instance. There is also a Clarins wellness area – although I did not go in – and a yoga room!

The first thing to note is that the lounge is very big. It appears that 95% of passengers do not realise that it is on two levels. You will see that my photos of the upstairs level are totally, completely deserted.

This is a generic shot of the downstairs area. The circular area in the centre is where they place the food. There was a fair bit about:

but it was 3pm in the afternoon. I doubt this is representative of what you get in the morning or evening peak

The bar is tucked around the corner and is well stocked, although I didn’t see any champagne:

There is a lot of (real) greenery behind the seating which is slightly surreal but not ineffective:

Upstairs is the place to go if you are conducing an illicit affair or are simply anti-social:

You can have a whole buffet to yourself:

Although, if you are having an illicit affair, you may prefer one of the four dayrooms. These do not appear to require booking, just turn up.

If you are feeling more energetic, there is the yoga room

All in all, this is an impressive facility. It wasn’t perfect – I struggled to get the computers in the lounge to function – but there is a good selection of magazines and newspapers, huge amounts of natural light, plenty of seating and more than enough to eat and drink.

If you were travelling First Class on SkyTeam you may be unimpressed with the lack of premium drinks. For a Priority Pass lounge, however, it is well worth a visit.

If you do not have a Priority Pass you can book entrance in advance for cash via the Lounge Pass website.

Unfortunately, the lounge is NOT a member of Lounge Club. This means that American Express Preferred Rewards Gold cardholders cannot use their two free lounge visits here. The only Lounge Club facilities at Heathrow are the Servisair lounges in Terminals 1 and 3 and the impressive Plaza Premium lounge in Terminal 2.

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.