Our Review of the Club Aspire Lounge at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5, London
We recently spent a long weekend in Zagreb, flying with British Airways from Heathrow Terminal 5. In advance of our departure, we decided that the £90 per person each way cost to upgrade from Euro Traveller to Club Europe simply wasn’t worth it given the two-hour flight time and very limited additional benefits.
Whilst British Airways has multiple lounges in Terminal 5, there are no other airline lounges. Therefore, for those who also do not currently have British Airways Executive Club tier status of Silver or above, the lounge options are limited to either the Club Aspire or Plaza Premium lounges.
We opted for Club Aspire as we each have Priority Passes through our American Express Gold cards, meaning that we can enter for free. For those without a Priority Pass, entrance costs start at £39.99 per person. Our ability to make use of this lounge for free was a big part of the reason why we decided that the £90 British Airways upgrade wasn’t worth it.
Entrance & Accessibility
The lounge is on the lower-level of the terminal building and is well-signposted after you pass through security on the upper-level. It is located right at the end of the building, next to the A gates.
I had read over the summer that during peak times and periods of travel chaos, the lounge had been extremely full and that in some instances Priority Pass customers were therefore not able to enter. This issue can be circumvented by pre-booking for an additional fee of £6 per person. Given that I had previously entered the lounge without an issue on other journeys and that we were flying in mid-October (albeit on a Friday afternoon), we decided to chance it without booking. Upon arriving at the lounge’s entrance desk however, we were informed that the lounge was in fact currently full, and that we would therefore need to join the queue by scanning a QR code. We were also told rather ominously that there was a ‘long wait’.
Registering for the queue was easy enough, but we were then in a slight dilemma as to whether to wait outside (it was unclear which percentage of the people sitting nearby were in the queue) or simply go elsewhere as there appeared no certainty that we would be able to enter at all. In fact, about 7-8 minutes later, the queue notification page on our app suddenly informed us that we could enter. Given that I had decided to walk to the book shop at the other end of the terminal building, I then rushed back so as not to miss the allocated entrance window.
The Lounge
First impressions of the entrance into the main area of the lounge are that it is quite narrow (with seats on one side) and as that it is an L-shape, there is a slight sense of parading along a runway as you enter for all to see. On the plus slide, if it is your first visit and you are unsure of the layout, you are at least funnelled in the one and only possible direction.
One thing to note is that the lounge opens at 5am. This is a real benefit, for as those who have had early departures from Terminal 5 will know, it is often frustrating that many things are not open at this time.
Seating Areas
The lounge has a range of different seating options. First up as you enter, is the series of seats in the entrance corridor. This area is frankly a bit dingy, has continual traffic of people entering and departing the lounge, and is also further from the food and drink stations. As you walk a little further in, there are some small sofas and booths, and then the main bar/restaurant area, which has café-style seating.
Towards the far-end of the lounge, the space narrows again and there are some taller workstations and some other small seats with tables. This area appears to be more geared towards those working and/or seeking a quieter place to sit. On each of my visits to the lounge, this area has had a large proportion of solo travellers, often with laptops out. Accessing this area is via a narrow corridor, which means entering/exiting at the same time as someone coming in the opposite direction can be tricky (particularly when you factor in luggage and food/drinks).
As there were only two of us, we actually found a seat with a table in the main (and widest) bar/restaurant area as soon as we entered. At the time, these were the only seats available in this section and so for larger groups, pre-booking and therefore having a reserved seat might well be a safer option.
Atmosphere & View
The panoramic views of the runway provided by the floor-to-ceiling windows together with the very high ceilings, help to provide a sense of space and airiness. In truth however, the entire lounge is somewhat small and cramped, even on those occasions when it isn’t that busy.
Whilst the furnishings and decoration appear to be in good and reasonably clean condition, the main area still nevertheless has something of a regional arts centre café-bar vibe about. This isn’t meant as a criticism per se, but rather to note that those hoping for a more stylish or exclusive vibe will likely be disappointed. Whilst it is no doubt quieter than the bars in the main departure area, it is by no means quiet so think more premium economy than business class. Again, it more than met our needs (in truth I predictably ceased to notice the noise after my first glass of wine), but it may be underwhelming and somewhat noisy for some.
Food & Drink
Given that our flight was departing at 16:50, and that we would arrive a bit too late for dinner, food and drink was a key priority. Stemming from Covid, the tables had QR codes on them for table service, but when scanned it appears that this is no longer offered.
This was something that actually suited us as it meant a self-service buffet that allowed for faster food service and easy return visits. First impressions from a distance were of plenty of variety and there also appeared to be plenty of everything. The only slight difficulty was the lack of signs explaining what the food actually was. For the main dishes, the only note was next to the basmati rice, which seemed a strange way to do it! Fortunately, the person in front of us was vegetarian and once he had found a staff member to explain what everything was, then we were all clear.
We also opted for the vegetarian options, meaning a pasta bake (the other main option was a chicken curry) with side dishes of bulgur wheat salad & orzo with roasted pepper, together with some cheese and crackers for afterwards. There were also plenty of nice things to add to the dishes, including olives, crispy onions, olive oil, chilli sauce etc. In addition, there were a variety of different dessert options, but we restricted ourselves to a second visit to the cheese selection.
Although the food is self-service, there is a bar for alcoholic drinks. In addition to Birra Moretti on tap, there were a few different bottled lagers (Tiger and Kronenbourg), along with cans of Guinness.
On the wine front, there were two options each for red and white wine. The reds were a Merlot and a Tempranillo – we opted for the latter due to both personal preference and the bartender’s recommendation and were more than happy with it.
There were also a range of spirit options, although I think that Islay Whisky drinkers such as myself would have been disappointed. The selection appeared to be Bells and one other, which I couldn’t make out from behind the bar. Some premium drinks i.e. champagne and presumably some more expensive wine options and/or top-shelf spirit brands (out of sight if so) incur an additional charge. As there was no menu, and we were drinking wine, I didn’t investigate further!
At first, there were no wine glasses available, so we drank our first couple of glasses of wine from Birra Morreti glasses. Not an issue for us at all, but it might have been for some!
Of the non-alcoholic variety, there was a very good selection of teas, a coffee machine and a soft drink machine that also dispensed sparling water.
Service
The one thing that really did impress me was the barman (although unfortunately I didn’t get his name). In addition to being very polite and attentive, he was full of recommendations, remembered people’s drinks orders and enquired as to whether people were enjoying their wine selections etc. He even asked where we were flying to so as to advise which gates were normally used for that destination. It is always great when you see someone who is genuinely very good at their job!
Additional Points
The Club Aspire Lounge does not have any toilet facilities, which means that you need to exit the lounge in order to make use of the facilities in the main terminal building. Although these are very close (less than 30 seconds from the lounge entrance), it did mean that upon re-entering the lounge, I had to apologetically squeeze past those waiting to enter. A minor issue in the grand scheme of things, but slightly awkward for those (such as me) that would hate to be thought of as jumping the queue.
The lounge does however have visible screen for checking gate numbers and boarding status. Very handy for those with a tendency to lose track of time when relaxing in the lounge.
Overall Impression
The difficulty of initially entering the lounge (and the subsequent concern of finding a seat together) did erode the sense of relaxation that for us is the key benefit of a lounge visit. The future dilemma of whether to pay an additional booking fee per person for something that we have hitherto enjoyed as a free benefit is also something that I am not overjoyed by.
Once we did eventually enter the lounge however, we had a very pleasant stay. The lounge scored highly for cleanliness and the range of food and beverage options, as well as the quality of the bar staff.
Given the points mentioned regarding space, noise and general atmosphere, I am not sure whether I would deem it worth the £39.99 minimum that we would have paid per person had we not been Priority Pass holders. This would be particularly the case for a morning flight that would presumably entail less value being gained from several glasses of wine!
Please also check out our highlights of Zagreb, as well as our review of the Sheraton Zagreb Hotel and our review of the Primeclass airport lounge in Zagreb airport for the return trip.
The Considered Journey is a travel blog focused on travel reviews, travel tips and travel guides, all focused on travel inspiration with a view to helping you make the most of your trip and maximise your travel time.
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