Plaza Premium lounge reopens at London Heathrow Terminal 5

There is some good news for anyone travelling through Heathrow Terminal 5 in the next few weeks.

The Plaza Premium lounge, which is by far the best of the two independent lounges in the terminal, has just reopened. The website states opening hours of 6am to 5pm.

Our last review of Plaza Premium Heathrow Terminal 5 is here.

The only snag is that the lounge does not accept Priority Pass or Lounge Club cards. It does accept DragonPass.

It also accepts American Express Platinum charge cards. Whilst the Priority Pass that comes with Platinum will not get you in, you WILL get in by showing The Platinum Card itself. This is due to a separate global deal that Amex has with Plaza Premium.

If you don’t have any of these cards, you can also book a slot for cash 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.