My British Airways flight to Dublin was departing at 8:20AM, though I decided to get to Terminal 5 plenty early so that I’d have time to review a new lounge. We’ve reviewed the British Airways business class lounge, British Airways first class lounge, and British Airways Concorde Room, so this time around I figured I’d review the Priority Pass option in the terminal, which is the Aspire Lounge Heathrow Terminal 5. The number of Priority Pass members has increased greatly the past couple of years, since now there are quite a few credit cards with lounge access, so it’s easier than ever to gain entry.
The lounge is open daily from 5AM until 10:30PM, so it’s open just about anytime you’d want to use it.
As a reminder, the following are some of the popular premium US credit cards that come with Priority Pass™ memberships (along with their respective guesting privileges):
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
Chase Sapphire Reserve®
American Express Platinum Card®
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card
The Aspire Lounge Terminal 5 is located to the left of gate A18. Once you clear security you’ll want to turn right and walk to the far end of the terminal.
London Heathrow Terminal 5
London Heathrow Terminal 5
This involved walking past the escalator leading up to British Airways’ South Lounges.
London Heathrow Terminal 5 lounges
At the end of that hall you’ll want to hang a left, and then you’ll be dropped right at the entrance to the lounge.
London Heathrow Terminal 5
Aspire Lounge Heathrow Terminal 5 exterior
There I presented my Priority Pass card and boarding pass, and was welcomed in and told that no boarding calls would be made in the lounge. I managed to get to the lounge only shortly after it opened, so it was still quiet.
Inside the entrance was a narrow hallway with a few booths along the wall. Along the other wall was the spa and showers, which I’ll talk more about in a bit.
Aspire Lounge Heathrow Terminal 5 seating
Aspire Lounge Heathrow Terminal 5 seating
At the end of that hall was a bunch more seating, consisting of two types of seats facing one another around small coffee tables.
Aspire Lounge Heathrow Terminal 5 seating
Aspire Lounge Heathrow Terminal 5 seating
Then at the end of that area was the largest part of the lounge, which featured a long booth along the wall, a couple of circular booths, and then quite a few chairs.
Aspire Lounge Heathrow seating
Aspire Lounge Heathrow seating
Aspire Lounge Heathrow seating
The circular booths were all marked as reserved — I’m not sure who they’d be reserved for?
Aspire Lounge Heathrow seating
Then at the end of that room were some communal tables.
Aspire Lounge Heathrow seating
It looked to me like the lounge continued past that, though there was a rope indicating that people shouldn’t pass that point. So I’m not sure if they only open that part of the lounge during certain hours of the day, or what? Towards the end of my visit the lounge was packed, but the rope was still up.
Aspire Lounge Heathrow seating
The entire lounge had views down towards the gate area, and of planes in the distance.
Aspire Lounge Heathrow view
The bar was sort of the centerpiece of the lounge, and I believe most of the alcoholic drinks were for purchase.
Aspire Lounge Heathrow bar
Aspire Lounge Heathrow bar
Past the bar was the buffet.
Aspire Lounge Heathrow breakfast buffet
To drink there was juice, a soda fountain, and two Nescafe coffee machines.
Aspire Lounge Heathrow coffee machines
Aspire Lounge Heathrow soda machine
Aspire Lounge Heathrow drinks
Then in terms of food there was scrambled eggs, sausage, baked beans, croissants, ham, etc. As someone who despises English breakfast (which I realize is 100% my problem when I’m at a lounge in London), this wasn’t at all appealing to me.
Aspire Lounge Heathrow breakfast buffet
Then there were a couple of types of yogurt, cold cuts, cheese, a fruit salad, and cereal.
Aspire Lounge Heathrow breakfast buffet
Aspire Lounge Heathrow breakfast buffet
There was also a station next to that with some fresh fruit, chips (or crisps, if you prefer), and nuts.
Aspire Lounge Heathrow fresh fruit
Aspire Lounge Heathrow snacks
Aspire Lounge Heathrow snacks
On each table was a menu with the food and drink selection available for purchase:
There was also a menu for the Bliss Spa (though it’s only open from 9AM until 5PM daily, so wasn’t open during my visit):
I thought it was pretty funny that the pamphlet had an area encouraging people to eat as little as possible before the flight to fight jet lag. That’s convenient. 😉
Here are the pictures I was able to snap of the outside of the Bliss Spa:
Aspire Lounge Heathrow Bliss Spa
Aspire Lounge Heathrow Bliss Spa
The lounge also has showers, and the cost is 20GBP per 30 minutes of shower use. That’s not exactly a bargain…
Aspire Lounge Heathrow showers
Aspire Lounge Heathrow Bliss Spa
Ridiculously the lounge doesn’t have any toilets, so if you need to use the loo you’ll have to go into the terminal.
I couldn’t get the lounge’s Wi-Fi to work, though fortunately Heathrow has free and fast Wi-Fi, so I had no trouble getting work done from the lounge.
While the lounge was pretty empty for the first hour I was there, after that it filled up, to the point that almost all seats were taken.
Aspire Lounge Heathrow bottom line
I’ve never been terribly impressed by British Airways’ Heathrow lounges, though they are significantly nicer than this lounge. If you don’t otherwise have lounge access then the Aspire Lounge is a good option. However, it otherwise can’t really compete with the British Airways lounges — the Aspire Lounge has no bathrooms, no free showers, a fairly limited food & drink selection, and gets really crowded.
If you’ve visited the Aspire Lounge T5, what was your experience like?
The following links will direct you to the rates and fees for mentioned American Express Cards. These include: The Business Platinum® Card from American Express (Rates & Fees), and American Express Platinum Card® (Rates & Fees).
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