Review: United Arrivals Lounge London (LHR)

The strong tailwind on our Denver – London flight gave us a few extra minutes to review the United Arrivals Lounge in LHR Terminal 2, a respectable amenity for business class passengers.

United Arrivals Lounge London Review (LHR)

There was real fear this lounge would never reopen after the pandemic, but thankfully it is back and virtually unchanged from the way it has been since it first opened over a decade ago.

Location + Hours + Access

The arrivals lounge at London Heathrow, located immediately after immigration and customs, is a shared space with shower suites, breakfast items and more. It is open daily from 6:00 am to 2:00 pm.

This lounge is exclusively available for arriving United Polaris business class travelers and Air Canada Signature Suite passengers. Guests are not permitted. Star Gold members and business class passengers arriving on airlines other than Air Canada or United are also not permitted.

As you exit the baggage claim area of T2 into the Queen’s Terminal, turn left and you’ll quickly find the lounge:

It’s rather old school…there are flight manifests printed on a dot matrix printer and an agent will verify you are eligible by cross-referencing your boarding psst with the printed list.

Seating

The lounge is small and just one large room with tables and chairs of various sizes with a buffet in the rear.

Food + Drink

The lounge offers both an a la carte menu (though that cuts off around noon) and a buffet. The buffet included:

• whole fruit
• croissants
• stuffed croissants (with spinach, corn, sundried tomato)
• Vol-au-vent (with eggs, feta, bacon)
• cherry crowns
• breakfast poke bowls (watermelon, tofu, adamame, mixed grains, soy ginger dressing)
• berry smoothie bowls (smoothie, sliced banana, kiwi, apricot, granola, almond butter, pomegranates)
• fruit bowl
• breakfast parfait (chia, cocoa, berries, toasted almond flakes)
• bircher museli
• sunshine smoothie (blend of passion fruit, mango)
• green smoothie (spinach, cucumber, pineapple)

Beverage selections included an espresso machine, tea, water, and canned soft drinks.

We arrived after the a la carte service had concluded and weren’t all that hungry anyway.

Showers + Restrooms

For my family, the most valuable perk of this lounge was the showers…very refreshing after a long flight. Lounge attendnants will escort you to a shower suite and unlock the door (somtimes there is quite a waitlist, but we had the lounge to ourselves).

Service

The lounge staff was very polite and friendly, excellent with my kids, and a delight to interact with.

CONCLUSION

My strong recommendation if you fly from the USA to London on United or Air Canada in business class is to skip breakfast in order to maximize your sleep onboard and then use this lounge upon arrival to freshen up or get a bite to eat.

My original United Arrivals Lounge London review, published on April 16, 2019, is below.

After my flight from Los Angeles to London Heathrow, I checked out United’s Arrivals Lounge in Terminal 2 for a shower and breakfast.

I last reviewed this lounge back in 2014 and it really hasn’t changed. Upon entry, a lounge agent not only scanned my boarding pass but spent about a minute rustling through printed dot matrix passenger manifests to find me and highlight my name. Not sure what that was about other than a rudimentary way to monitor on which flight passengers tend to make better use of the lounge.

You’ll find the lounge just outside baggage claim on the arrivals level of Terminal 2.

There’s still seating for about 30-40 people.

Power ports are plentiful and a converter is not needed.

A buffet offers mostly cold breakfast items including pastries and baked good, fruit, yogurt, and smoothies.

An a-la-carte menu offers a number of additional cold and hot items including a breakfast panini, omelet, and oatmeal (porridge).

I ordered French Toast, served with cream cheese and berries. It was very tasty and served as a nice second round of breakfast from my cheese omelet on the plane.

Coffee is not great in the lounge…the Plaza Premium Lounge a few hundred feet away offers much better coffee.

After breakfast, I took a shower. The shower room is small, but includes ensuite facilities and Cowshed amenities (I’d imagine those will probably be replaced with the new Sunday Riley amenities once supplies are exhausted). While being escorted to the shower, I was asked if there were any garments that needed to be pressed.

Newspapers and magazines are also available. Wi-Fi is adequate.

Access + Hours

If you’re terminating in London and flying in United business class (Polaris), you have access. The lounge is open daily from 5:00 AM to 2:00 PM. Air Canada and South African Airways business class passengers also have access, but not travelers on other Star Alliance member carriers or Star Gold members traveling in economy class, even on the three eligible airlines.

CONCLUSION

I appreciate the availability of this lounge to freshen up after my flight. It’s worth skipping breakfast onboard and eating here if you have the time.