Plaza Premium lounge NOW OPEN in Heathrow Terminal 5

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Word has it, although I haven’t seen any photographs yet, that the Plaza Premium lounge opened in Heathrow Terminal 5 yesterday afternoon.

This was odd timing, given that every travel journalist in London was down at Excel for World Travel Market, where Plaza Premium wasn’t even exhibiting.

I hope to get a few photos for tomorrow. If you are there today, please send a couple of pics to rob at headforpoints.com.

It isn’t clear if it is accepting Priority Pass and Lounge Club already. Some other Plaza Premium lounges at Heathrow have seen short delays before they were accepted. However, you will definitely get in by showing an American Express Platinum charge card due to the global deal they have with Plaza Premium.

This is what the website has to say:

“In an ideal location overlooking the runway, Plaza Premium Lounge Terminal 5 Departures is the perfect setting for both business and leisure passengers.

The luxurious space is open to all travellers and features an abundance of comfortable seating away from the hustle and bustle of Terminal 5. The lounge boasts freshly prepared seasonal food, a fully serviced bar with a wide variety of drinks, unlimited high speed Wi-fi, shower facilities to refresh and reinvigorate before flying and international newspapers and magazines. Experience a new way to travel at Plaza Premium Lounge, Terminal 5 Departures.

Level 2, Terminal 5 Departures, London Heathrow Airport (Next to Gate A7)

Opening Hours
05:00 – 22:00 daily”

Full details are on 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

General

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

Jon says:

7 Nov7 November 14:59

They are not accepting Priority Pass, just tried this afternoon.
- Rob says:
  
  7 Nov7 November 15:21
  
  Boo! Looks like it is Amex Plat only then.
  - Alan says:
    
    7 Nov7 November 17:55
    
    At least a rare extra benefit for Plat! May check it out later this month en route to gate (gotta make use of First Wing entry initially!)
Keith says:

7 Nov7 November 21:34

OT as no bits. Any trick to adding Nectar card (comes up with error) as Membership Awards partner to get rid of points I can’t transfer anywhere?
- the real harry1 says:
  
  7 Nov7 November 21:46
  
  no trick needed – if you don’t fancy doing it online, phone them & they’ll add it for you
  - Keith says:
    
    7 Nov7 November 21:49
    
    Thanks it won;t accept my nectar number though for some reason. Shows error like SPG (which needs zero’s)
    - Keith says:
      
      7 Nov7 November 21:52
      
      Ah you don’t need spaces and don’t need the 9826300 it has accepted it now
    - Liz says:
      
      7 Nov7 November 23:01
      
      If you’ve had a previous Amex card linked to your Nectar card CS needs to remove the link from the old card first then they can add it to your new card.
Michael says:

13 Nov13 November 17:14

Entered today and told it’s never going to accept priority pass just Amex platinum. Very quiet with a good bar.
- Alan says:
  
  13 Nov13 November 17:15
  
  Interesting! Certainly a way of keep a cap on demand. Look forward to trying it out next month 🙂
- Rob says:
  
  13 Nov13 November 17:54
  
  Plaza Premium has a history of not taking PP on Day 1 but finally coming round. However …. £40 cash on the door is 3x what PP would pay so there could be a strategy to get 30 cash guests over 90 PP guests ….
  
  I am meeting Mrs Song, the founders wife, on Wed so I can ask 🙂
  - the real harry1 says:
    
    13 Nov13 November 18:03
    
    you reckon Amex is paying much more than £15?
    - Rob says:
      
      13 Nov13 November 21:38
      
      I get a feeling the Amex deal will be a flat fee which covers cross-promotion etc. Why bother otherwise, given that Amex Plat has a Priority Pass and Amex is already paying Priority Pass less than £15?
Mark Donoghue says:

16 Nov16 November 15:04

Yes, great lounge, very friendly service, great food and bar, nice little workstations designed like a business class cubicle with desk, light, USB and power sockets. Got in with Amex Platinum (no sign of Priority Pass access yet); much needed in a terminal where the only alternative, if you’re not a One World Elite cardholder, is the cramped overcrowded corridor otherwise known as the Aspire Lounge 🙂
@mkcol says:

19 Nov19 November 12:51

Trying to book my mum into the Plaza Premium T5 lounge (she has no status, PP or Lounge Club type cards & is going traveller to Oslo) but cannot for the life of me see this lounge on their own website to book, can only see their other LHR lounges :-/
- Rob says:
  
  19 Nov19 November 12:54
  
  Showers are not open yet and I get a feeling they are keeping it low key for a while. Official media launch is not for another 2-3 weeks.
- John Lynch says:
  
  22 Nov22 November 21:33
  
  Book her into the Aspire Lounge, they are open and much more on the ball.
Graham Walsh says:

19 Nov19 November 19:01

Sitting in the new lounge now. Empty. About 10 people in here. They swiped my Amex and the receipt mentions 3 hours use.
John Lynch says:

22 Nov22 November 21:31

Amazing how it can be classed as open. I arrived to discover that the advertised showers were not available because they were still “under construction”. I asked for the manager, apparently there was no manager, nor was there any supervisor available. I won’t be using them again.