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Exclusive: first review of the new Emirates lounge at London Heathrow Terminal 3

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This is our review of the Emirates lounge in London Heathrow Terminal 3.

This is part of our series of reviews of airport lounges across the UK.  You see all of the reviews here.

Head for Points was specially chosen as the first media outlet to review the refurbished Emirates lounge at Heathrow Terminal 3 on Saturday *.

* This is a complete lie.  We were passing through on holiday 🙂

The last time I reviewed the Emirates Heathrow Terminal 3 lounge, I described it as “looking like a 1980’s Holiday Inn”.  Has it improved?

As the lounge is still in the same place, my original criticism – that it is quite a walk from the shopping area and therefore not an easy place to leave and return to – is still valid.

Of course, my original key selling point – that you can board directly from the lounge and onto the top deck of an Emirates A380, with meeting any of those pesky economy passengers – is also still valid.

Everything is still in the same place, except for the model A380 which has moved from Gate 7 into the reception area downstairs.

Here is the new dining area:

Emirates 1

The style is more Arabian than before:

Emirates 2

The food is unchanged:

Molly Burgess

…. and even the circular food holders are unchanged:

Emirates 4

Champagne is Veuve:

Emirates 5

…. but more interesting is the wine selection.  When did you last see a bottle of white wine which sells at £60 per bottle in the shops freely available in a lounge?

Some key things have not changed:

There is still no dedicated First Class area

There is still no dedicated children or family area

There is still more than enough seating for everyone

The food offering is still substantially bigger and better than any British Airways Galleries Club or Galleries First lounge.  You won’t go hungry here.  It isn’t run to the same ‘restaurant quality’ level as the Qatar Airways Premium Lounge in Heathrow Terminal 4, but it remains well above average.

In conclusion …. this is very much ‘evolution and not revolution’ – but it was a very necessary ‘evolution’ given the previous condition.

Travelling from Heathrow Terminal 3? Here are your lounge options ….

Heathrow’s Terminal 3 has one of the highest concentration of premium lounges of any terminal in the world.

Our overview of the best airline lounges at Heathrow Terminal 3 is here, or you can read individual reviews of all the lounges here:


How to earn Emirates Skywards miles from UK credit cards

How to earn Emirates Skywards miles from UK credit cards (January 2024)

Emirates Skywards does not have a UK credit card.  However, you can earn Emirates Skywards miles by converting Membership Rewards points earned from selected UK American Express cards.

Cards earning Membership Rewards points include:

Membership Rewards points convert at 1:1 into Emirates Skywards miles which is an attractive rate.  The cards above all earn 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 spent on your card, which converts to 1 Emirates Skywards mile. The Gold card earns double points (2 per £1) on all flights you charge to it.

Comments (18)

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  • Tom says:

    Has the BA lounge at T3 also been given a refurb? I’ve heard rumours it has.

  • pauldb says:

    OT: another few Champions League games have gone up for redemption with EK miles. Only Arsenal home game vs Dinamo Zagreb probably not a great deal (45k hospitality) but their likely crunch game away at Olympiacos is only 7k (hospitality, + travel of course).

  • Frequentraveller says:

    Thank goodness the lounge is now open again. I had to endure the discomfort and embarrassment of the BA lounge in T3 at the end of September. Thanks Emirates- you’re not perfect but you’re a lot better than most!

    • Rob says:

      I am doing a T3 lounge tour on Tuesday, hoping to hit 4-5 in one session!

  • Emirates Heathrow T3 lounge revamp - FlyerTalk Forums says:

    […] https://headforpoints.com/2015/10…ow-terminal-3/ […]

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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