Review: the Plaza Premium Arrivals Lounge at London Heathrow Terminal 4

This is my review of the Plaza Premium Arrivals 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.

After checking out the new Plaza Premium Arrivals lounge at Terminal 3, which I reviewed here, my little Heathrow excursion took me across to Terminal 4 and another fairly new Plaza Premium Arrivals Lounge.

Unlike the small Terminal 3 lounge which seems to focus on showers and a quick breakfast, the Plaza Premium Arrivals Lounge at Terminal 4, with its restaurant Flight Club, is the kind of lounge you could happily spend a couple of hours in.

Don’t confuse this lounge with the Plaza Premium Departures Lounge in Heathrow Terminal 4, which is airside.  Our review of that lounge is here.

The Plaza Premium website featuring all of the London lounges is here.

The lounge is located on the mezzanine level of the arrivals hall.  The opening hours are 5am to 10pm.

As you walk in you find the reception area in front of you, the shower rooms and toilets to the left and the restaurant Flight Club to the right.

There are 25 shower rooms in the Plaza Premium Arrivals Lounge at T4 which is an impressive number.  It’s unlikely you would ever need to wait for long, if at all.

The design is classy with marble and wooden elements.

As I was in the lounge around lunchtime I missed the breakfast buffet, but you would find this in a separate room between reception and the restaurant from 5am until 11am.

The restaurant / bar area can accommodate 75 people.  There is an a la carte menu from 11am until 10pm.

There are various table and seats arrangements including a long table with sockets next to the bar.

There were two bartenders serving the bar and taking food orders.

I was told that the menu in any Plaza Premium lounge is always inspired by where the flights coming into the terminal are from – although given the mix of flights through Terminal 4 it gives them a lot of leeway.  Apparently though you will always find the signature Plaza Premium dish of Chicken Tikka Masala on any menu – which I highly recommend (see my lunch below).

At the far end of the restaurant is a meeting room that can be booked in advance and which includes catering.  This is an interesting option if you need a venue at Heathrow for a small group, and is substantially more attractive than the Regus Business Centre in the arrivals area of Terminal 5.  I doubt the Regus catering is as good either.

Hiring the meeting space for half a day costs £30 per person, with a full day at £50. That includes a three course meal for up to 10 people or salads and sandwiches for groups over 10.

How to get in

The lounge has recently joining Priority Pass, Lounge Club (the Amex Gold programme) and MasterCard World Elite’s LoungeKey.  These cards will get you in for three hours. That includes use of the shower facilities, unlimited drinks and a three course meal in the restaurant.

American Express Platinum and Centurion cardholders, business or personal, can also get access by showing their card.  This is worth knowing in case you forget the Priority Pass card which comes free with these cards.

If you are paying cash (pre-book here) the fee is £15 if you only want to use only the shower facilities.  There is currently an offer where you get lounge access for one hour including a three course meal and unlimited drinks for £20 instead of £25.  The two hour price is £35.

Note that, especially at peak times, you may be asked to show your boarding pass when entering the lounge.

Conclusion

The Plaza Premium Arrivals Lounge at T4 is a great facility with an ample number of shower rooms and a very impressive food menu.  I don’t think there is any other country which has such high quality third party airport lounges as those in the UK, with Plaza Premium, No 1 Lounges and Aspire now competing to offer the most attractive spaces.

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