Review: the Air Canada Maple Leaf lounge at London Heathrow Terminal 2

This is our review of the Air Canada Maple Leaf lounge in 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.

Whilst I am away, I am running a couple of pieces submitted by readers.  These allow me to cover experiences which I am unlikely to be having myself in the medium term.

I have personally reviewed all of the airline lounge at Heathrow Terminal 2 – with one exception!  Here is my coverage of the Plaza Premium lounge, United Club and United First (in the B satellite), Aer Lingus, Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines (B satellite).

I was missing a review of the Air Canada lounge at Heathrow!  Reader Peter sent me a couple of photographs which, for completeness, I thought I would run today.

The official webpage for the lounge is on the Air Canada site here.

This article on how Air Canada’s Maple Leaf Club airport lounge pass scheme works is worth a read if you want to buy access for cash.

He was generally positive about the lounge, which he found surprisingly large (it is J-shaped).  There are three separate seating areas, including the raised space you can see above which gives good views of the apron.

Peter caught the end of the breakfast service (sausages, scrambled egg, waffles) and the start of lunch, and was generally impressed.  You can see the bar in the picture above.

In general, reports on this lounge have been patchy so I’m pleased Peter liked it.  My personal recommendations, however, are United Club if you are in the satellite terminal – which has the longest bar in Heathrow, as I reviewed here – and Plaza Premium in the main terminal.  You will need a Priority Pass (buy outright or free with Amex Platinum) or Lounge Club (2 free visits with Amex Gold) card to enter Plaza Premium, or pay cash on the door.

Note that, unfortunately, the United Club lounge withdrew from Priority Pass last year.

You can learn more about the Heathrow Maple Leaf lounge in the lounges section Air Canada website here.

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.