Time for a lounge review of the refurbished American Airlines Arrivals Lounge at London Heathrow Airport. At the time of writing the refurbished lounge has been operating for around two weeks – so let’s look inside this facility.
Location
The lounge is in Terminal 3, on the upper levels in the arrivals area of Heathrow T3. Follow the signs.
If you’ve found this sign, you’re in the right place.
Access
The lounge is open from 05:00 to 15:30 daily.
Access is limited to the American Airlines Arrivals lounge to arriving passengers, for the following users:
- American Airlines/British Airways/Cathay Pacific/Qantas First Class Passengers
- American Airlines/Cathay Pacific Business/Qantas Class Passengers
- British Airways Long Haul (Club World)
- British Airways Premier Customers
- American Airline Executive Platinum Members
- Oneworld Emerald Members arriving on long haul flights
Check the AA site to make sure you can use the lounge… or not.
Impressions
The lounge is a nice bright environment, with some simple touches to make it a welcoming spot after a long transatlantic flight. Whilst not the largest lounge in the world, it is a reasonable space to prepare before you go off onto your next destination after a flight
Seating and eating area
More seating
Lounge style seating.
There’s also bar seating for those who prefer it. For those who need to charge up and connect when they arrive, WiFi is provided by BT OpenZone, whilst UK, US and USB power outlets are provided.
A business zone and conference room are also provided.
Business Zone
Conference room
Shower and Wash facilities
Probably the most important thing in an arrivals lounge is a place to freshen up after a long flight. The American Airlines Arrival Lounge has 22 shower and wash facilities – with the facility completely gutted and rebuilt from its last incarnation.
To the showers and wash-rooms
Shower and toilet.
Sink
Toiletries are CO Bigelow – and had a reasonable smell to them.
Amenities
Hand Towels.
There are also facilities for your clothes to be ironed whilst you’re showering too for those who need their clothes freshened up as well as their bodies.
Food and Drink
For those who slept all the way, or need a quick pick-me-up before they head out into the wilds of London, there are lots of food and drink options.
Alcoholic Specials – for those who need a mimosa (Bucks Fizz) or a Bloody Mary straight off a flight. Also plenty of orange juice and Moet bubbles.
Catering is offered both as a help-your-self menu, and á la carte. Let’s look at the help-your-self options first.
There were plenty of cold items
More traditional breakfast items – cereals, toast, fruit and such:
Little details
For those who prefer hot items, there’s a choice of breakfast or brunch depending on what flight you arrive on.
Brunch menu
Hot items
Chicken and Summer vegetable ficasse
Mushrooms
Scrambled Eggs
There’s also a section of sweet items for those who need a little sugar after a long haul flight. Tea and coffee machines are nearby too for those who need that caffeine shot.
Sweet items and coffee machine.
I was offered an item off the á la carte menu.
Of course, there was only one thing I could go for: Eggs Benedict. Oh come on, what did you expect?
The Eggs Benedict was very nice – egg nicely poached, ham the right level of saltiness, muffin cooked well and the hollandaise sauce topping it off nicely.
Catering for the hot and cold items are done by Rhubarb, and is presented to a good standard (Well, there were no complaints from any of the group I was with after pounding the ramps and towers of Heathrow Airport!).
Overall
I’ve tried a few arrival facilities. Some feel like a rushed effort to get you out as fast as possible. Others are welcoming. American Airlines Arrival Lounge at Heathrow Terminal 3 falls into the welcoming side, with some useful facilities for those coming off a long haul flight.
Certainly a stop to make if you’ve got the time before you need to depart Heathrow Airport.
Disclosure: American Airlines kindly guested Economy Class and Beyond to the Arrivals Lounge as part of AAviation Day 2016. The options and pictures are the authors own.
Welcome to Economy Class and Beyond – Your no-nonsense guide to network news, honest reviews, with in-depth coverage, unique research as well as the humour and madness as I only know how to deliver.
Follow me on Twitter at @EconomyBeyond for the latest updates! You can also follow me on Instagram too!
Also remember that as well as being part of BoardingArea, we’re also part of BoardingArea.eu, delivering frequent flyer news, miles and points to European readers.
“Musrooms”…..you got that right!
You can tell I was editing this during the closing ceremony last night….