Access to Plaza Premium
The main lounge for walk-up customers in London Heathrow at Terminal 2 is Plaza Premium starting from £48 for two hours. Plaza Premium has moved in and out of various Lounge Pass services and no longer accept Priority Pass, but do take Dragon Pass.
I was flying in business class with Icelandair and was sorry not to experience the Aer Lingus Gold Circle lounge (which Icelandair uses) at Terminal 2, as it was closed at the time of flying.
Plaza Premium Reputation
I’ve used Plaza Premium at T2 a number of times and always found it perfectly acceptable. There are usually lots of seats, charging stations for your devices and there are decent showers, clean toilets and an additional nap zone if you want to pay extra for it.
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Plaza Premium: A Disappointment
This time, the lounge was crammed. If there was nobody wandering around in the shops and in departures generally (and there wasn’t), then they were all in the lounge enjoying free (certain) drinks and breakfast. The breakfast was fine. It was kind of hurled at the plate, but the poor chef/server was working the food station on his own. The fresh fruit salad lacked any variety, ripeness or flavour. Hotel standard from about 1978. Coffee and juice were both just about fine.
The real problem is one of hygiene. I was travelling as Covid restrictions lifted and every service industry underlines its credentials with the spectacle of hand sanitising stations, spotless worktops and shining cutlery. Not so here. Clearly, the staff are concentrating so hard on clearing used plates and glasses (well, some of them) that the countertops are getting a cursory wipe, if at all. The table in my booth was so sticky, my glass squelched as I lifted it. This is a longer term problem, not the cause of one missed going over.
I don’t know if this is a problem of staff shortages, or of the company trying to maximise its profit by cutting some corners, but it’s not good enough. Not for 27 quid.
Plaza Premium: see the video
Click on the link below to be brought to the whole video, where you can see conditions for yourself 🙂
