I had completely forgotten that American Express operates a Centurion Lounge at London Heathrow. Since this trip was just my wife Sharon and me, we finally had a reason to check it out before our flight home.
The last time we flew through Heathrow Terminal 3, we were traveling with friends. Bringing them into the Centurion Lounge would have meant paying guest fees, so I never seriously considered visiting. Instead, we went to the No1 Lounge, which we could access through Priority Pass.
This time, it was just Sharon and me. Sharon is an additional Platinum Card Member on my American Express Platinum Card, for which we pay a $195 annual fee. That gives her Centurion Lounge access rather than requiring her to enter as my paid guest.
Since we both had access, we decided to stop in before boarding our Virgin Atlantic flight to Orlando.
Finding The Centurion Lounge At Heathrow
The Centurion Lounge opened in October 2021 and is located after security in Terminal 3, on Level 2 in Area A.
According to the American Express lounge listing, you should follow the signs on Level 1 for Flight Connection Area A and take the elevator from the main shopping and dining area.
That sounds relatively simple, but Terminal 3 can feel like a maze. The entrance is toward the back of the shopping concourse, and the route wasn’t immediately obvious to us. We eventually found the entrance.
The lounge is currently open daily from 5:30 a.m. until 9 p.m. and is available only to passengers departing from Terminal 3.
There Was A Wait To Get Inside
When we reached the lounge, several employees were stationed near the entrance. They weren’t there merely to greet people. Their first job was to confirm that everyone was eligible to enter, and their second was to explain that the lounge was full.
They took my phone number and said we would receive a text when space became available.
Our wait was about 20 minutes, which gave us time to finish some last-minute shopping. I picked up a few chocolate oranges while Sharon stocked up on Ribena.
One benefit of flying directly home from the United Kingdom is that we didn’t need to go through another airport security checkpoint after leaving Heathrow. That meant we didn’t have to worry about the liquids in our carry-on bags after shopping.
We received the text while we were still wandering through the shops and headed back to the lounge.
We Didn’t Have Much Time Inside
By the time we were admitted, we had less than an hour before we needed to start heading toward our gate. We had also eaten breakfast at the hotel and weren’t particularly hungry at 11 a.m.
Many of the detailed reviews of this lounge were published when it opened in 2021. Since that was several years ago, I thought it was more useful to focus on how the lounge felt during our visit rather than repeat another room-by-room description.
The lounge has several rooms and seating arrangements rather than a single large open area. It also offers a buffet, a full bar, showers, workspaces and Wi-Fi. We found seats near the bar and relaxed there until it was time to leave.
My overall impression was that it is a very nice Centurion Lounge. The design was attractive, the space felt polished, and the bar looked like a comfortable place to spend some time before a flight.
At the same time, nothing about it particularly stood out as memorable.
A Very Good Lounge, But Not An Exceptional One
That may say more about how much the airport lounge landscape has changed than it does about this particular lounge.
When the Heathrow location opened in 2021, it may have felt more distinctive. Since then, several impressive lounges have opened or been renovated, including some we’ve visited in the United States.
Features that once made a Centurion Lounge feel far ahead of the typical airport lounge have become more common. Better food, attractive bars, multiple seating areas and thoughtful design are no longer exclusive to American Express.
As a result, the Heathrow Centurion Lounge felt like it was toward the top of the pack, but not head and shoulders above the other good lounges we’ve visited.
That isn’t meant as a criticism. It was comfortable and well-designed, and it seemed like a place where I could easily spend a few hours before a flight. It just didn’t leave the same impression as some other locations.
Of course, our short visit probably played a role. We weren’t hungry, we didn’t have time to explore every room, and we were already thinking about when we needed to leave for the gate.
Current Centurion Lounge Access Rules
American Express Platinum Card Members may generally enter a Centurion Lounge within three hours of their departing flight. That restriction applies when the airport is the starting point of the trip.
Under the updated rules, passengers making a connection must arrive within 5 hours of their connecting flight. Guests accompanying a cardholder must also be traveling on the same flight.
As always, access is subject to available space. Our 20-minute wait showed that having an eligible card doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be able to walk straight inside.
Would We Visit Again?
Yes, assuming there wasn’t an excessive wait.
The Heathrow Centurion Lounge is attractive, comfortable and a solid option for passengers departing from Terminal 3. However, it isn’t a lounge that would make me arrive at the airport several hours early. There are very few lounges in the world that would, so that isn’t a criticism of this location.
Terminal 3 also has several competing lounges, including options available through Priority Pass. Because of that, I still wouldn’t pay Centurion Lounge guest fees for additional people when other choices were available.
For Sharon and me, the calculation is different because I have the primary Platinum Card and she has an additional Platinum Card with its own lounge access. In that situation, the lounge was worth visiting and gave us a pleasant place to spend the final part of our time at Heathrow.
It’s a very good airport lounge. Just don’t feel that missing out on a visit will ruin your trip.
Want to comment on this post? Great! Read this first to help ensure it gets approved.
Want to sponsor a post, write something for Your Mileage May Vary, or put ads on our site? Click here for more info.
Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love it if you decided to hang around and sign up to get emailed notifications of when we post.
Whether you’ve read our articles before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!
This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
