Review: the new Plaza Premium Arrivals Lounge at London Heathrow Terminal 3

Links on Head for Points may pay us an affiliate commission. A list of partners is here.

This is my review of the new Plaza Premium Arrivals Lounge at London Heathrow Terminal 3.

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

The new Plaza Premium Arrivals Lounge at Heathrow T3 has been open for a little less than a month. As neither Rob nor I had any plans to fly into Terminal 3, we asked Plaza Premium if they would arrange a tour for us. This is my review of the Terminal 3 lounge – I also visited the fairly new arrivals lounge at Terminal 4 and that review will follow later this week.

Details of all of the Heathrow lounges run by Plaza Premium can be found on their website here.

Getting there

The Plaza Premium Arrivals Lounge at T3 is outside the terminal, opposite the bus stop.

To be honest it took me a while to find the lounge as there weren’t any signs inside the terminal. (I later learned that I should have followed the signs to the former Delta Arrivals Lounge which used to occupy this space as those signs had not been taken down yet).

The lounge is open from 5am until 2pm, the peak arrival times at T3.

I got there at 12pm and there was only one person in the lounge who left pretty soon after I arrived.

The lounge is quite small but with one sitting area, one ‘dining’ area and a separate small office it shouldn’t feel cramped.

Plaza Premium decided to keep the layout and some of the decorative features of the former Delta Arrivals lounge like the London themed wall decoration.

This is the main sitting area with a number of armchairs and a good selection of magazines and newspapers.

This is the office area with space and sockets for laptops.

There is further seating inside the drinks and snacks room. As the lounge closes at 2pm there is no hot food but a good selection of pastries, yoghurts and fruits.

Currently the lounge doesn’t have an alcohol license but they are in the process of getting one.

The coffee machine is at the other end of this room with more seats and a table.

There are 11 shower rooms in the lounge which is a good amount for this otherwise fairly small lounge.

How to get in

As Plaza Premium lounges are independent an airline ticket won’t get you in, unless your airline has made a special deal with the facility. On the other hand you don’t need an airline ticket to use the lounge, although at the Terminal 2 arrivals lounge they will reportedly now ask to see a boarding pass.

Paying cash, a shower costs £15, 1 hour lounge access £25 (the current opening offer is £20) and two hours cost £35. You can book yourself in via this page.

You CANNOT get in using Priority Pass (free with American Express Platinum or buy one here) or Lounge Club (two free passes when you get an American Express Gold).

However, American Express Platinum cardholders CAN get in by showing their Platinum card (NOT their Priority Pass card) at the desk.

Conclusion

The Plaza Premium arrivals lounge at Heathrow Terminal 3 is quite small but with 11 showers and a good breakfast selection it is a decent place to freshen up before heading to a meeting in the city.

If you want to pre-book the lounge for cash in advance, you can do so via the Plaza Premium website here.

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

Airport Lounge Reviews (UK)

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

Trev says:

15 Aug15 August 06:48

I’m confused, you say “As the lounge closes at 2pm there is no hot food but a good selection of pastries, yoghurts and fruits.”

But the website states “the lounge features a selection of chef prepared fresh food and wide range of beverage”

https://www.plaza-network.com/location_detail?airport=London%20Heathrow%20Airport&city=London&location=Plaza%20Premium%20Lounge%20%28Terminal%203%20Arrivals%29
- phatbear says:
  
  15 Aug15 August 07:03
  
  maybe the chef prepared the pastries?
- HAM76 says:
  
  26 Aug26 August 14:06
  
  They have a few small rolls, such as a fancy club sandwich. They are not on the buffet, though, but in the fridge on the lowest board wrapped in plastic foil. As hard to find as the lounge itself… The gentleman at the counter told me they have an average of 10 guests per day…
AndyR says:

15 Aug15 August 06:54

Looks a bit disappointing for a Plaza Premium, seems like they didn’t have the usual budget? The T4 one is far nicer.
- Rob says:
  
  15 Aug15 August 08:05
  
  Tend to agree, having only seen the photos.
  - Roger says:
    
    15 Aug15 August 12:41
    
    Received an email from PP advising T4 Arrivals lounge is now open.
    Used T2 Arrivals lounge at weekend around Dinner time and was served decent dinner.
    Saved me a trip to take-away after reaching home!
Paul says:

15 Aug15 August 07:50

I visited when it used to be the Air Canada arrivals lounge.

A walk through the tunnel to T2 would get you a much more premium and less ‘plastic’ feel at the Plaza Premium arrivals lounge there – the shower rooms much more upmarket and the hot breakfast and coffees or pots of tea brought to your table by th staff.
- Polly says:
  
  15 Aug15 August 09:28
  
  I would def feel cheated if l walked into that plastic looking lounge. Far better to get to the T 2 one, Paul, as you say. Good idea. It’s a much classier styled one, albeit small, but very cosy and welcoming on a cold winters morning one time when we used it. fabulous hot cooked breakfast. Yes, and really nice table service.
Leo says:

15 Aug15 August 08:09

Looks like they just shoved a few armchairs in the Delta Lounge and stuck up a new sign at reception. Very down market for Plaza Premium.
Nick Burch says:

15 Aug15 August 09:19

Did you try eating any of the pastries? When I went, there was a decent selection, but almost all of them were inedible! Either stale or cold or both…

No hot foot at 9am when I visited last week either, and the coffee wasn’t very nice 🙁
Nick M says:

15 Aug15 August 10:45

Sorry to jump the gun, but will be staying at the Premier Inn T4 tomorrow… will we be able to access the arrivals lounge without a boarding pass? (I have personal Plat Amex and the associated PP). And secondly, is it worthwhile? – We will need to get something to eat, and looks like we have a choice of the hotel restaurant, Costa or Cafe Nero?
- Michael says:
  
  15 Aug15 August 12:12
  
  I’ve had no problem doing that a couple of times. Breakfast selection is decent (no pork products though) and the all day menu features a decent range including fish and chips and chicken tikka masala. Lovely lounge with classy feel and good food. One of the best PP lounges in the world for sure. @Rob I have a range of photos from the T4 lounge and food snaps from breakfast and dinner if you’re interested in them 🙂
  - Michael says:
    
    15 Aug15 August 15:36
    
    Sounds like it depends on how busy it is, I’ve used T4 twice in the past couple of weeks (last on Friday night) and no request for BP.
- AndyR says:
  
  15 Aug15 August 13:18
  
  I was in the T4 last week and they asked to see our boarding passes.
- The_real_a says:
  
  15 Aug15 August 13:46
  
  No, they need a same day boarding pass and have started checking. However I have often used the T2 lounge BEFORE my flight (T5) if I arrive early as i prefer it to galleries.
- Nick M says:
  
  15 Aug15 August 14:46
  
  Thanks guys
Anna says:

15 Aug15 August 10:57

OT, I used my 2 gold Amex lounge passes at the Escape lounge at MAN T3 on Thursday afternoon. It wasn’t heaving but unless you got allocated a seat away from the windows it was blisteringly hot! Food choices were a bit more varied than BA (the cakes were very good), but not that impressive. The hot pies were all chicken and mushroom – my OH can’t abide mushrooms so was bitterly disappointed as he is very partial to pies! The wines were very much below par compared to BA offerings with one Tempranillo which didn’t originate from any noteworthy Spanish wine house, and. Sangiovese which I always find unpleasantly tart. I don’t think I’d use this lounge if I also had access to the BA lounge.
YL says:

15 Aug15 August 12:05

I visited about 2 weeks ago around 9 am. I personally would not say the breakfast selection was great to be honest. I think is ok but not great.

Maybe it has improved in the last 2 weeks, but when I was there there were approx. 3 croissants and 2 pain au chocolates. A plate with some cheese and ham, many biscuits and many cornflakes boxes.
I did not try any pastries there, because they did not look that good.