Most airport lounges are a quiet chair and a worse version of a sandwich. A few are genuinely worth building extra time into your morning for. At Heathrow, by our count, there are five — and which one you get comes down as much to your terminal as your ticket.
A word on geography first, because at Heathrow it decides everything. Terminal 3 is the cluster, with most of the lounges worth knowing. Terminal 5 belongs to British Airways alone. Terminal 4 is the dark horse. And the terminals are not joined airside — a lounge in another terminal is not yours to use, however good, so the right room is the one in the building you're flying from.
Terminal 3, where most of the good ones are
The Cathay Pacific First Lounge is the connoisseur's pick, and by most accounts the best room at the airport. It is small — thirty or so seats, which is the point — with à la carte Asian and Western dishes cooked to order and stone-clad showers stocked with Bamford. If you have access, by Cathay or oneworld status, use every minute of it.
The Qantas London Lounge is the all-rounder. A Neil Perry menu that people have favourites from, two levels, a proper cocktail bar upstairs and views over the airfield. It is good enough that when Cathay's lounge fills up, Qantas is where premium passengers get sent.
The Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse is the experience. One of the largest business-class lounges anywhere, with a spa doing complimentary treatments and haircuts, and a cocktail bar run by people who can actually make the drink. Virgin Upper Class or Flying Club Gold gets you in, through the dedicated Upper Class wing.
Terminal 5, British Airways alone
The BA Concorde Room is the flagship, and the one we'll be honest about. À la carte dining, sleep pods, a spa and its own First Wing security — and a room that increasingly divides opinion, showing its age against the best Gulf and Asian first lounges, with one or two of its facilities now quietly shuttered. Worth it if you're already flying British Airways First; not, in our view, worth routing for. First class or a Concorde Room card only.
Terminal 4, the dark horse
The Qatar Premium Lounge is the surprise. Terminal 4 carries Heathrow's least glamorous reputation, but Qatar's room is a serious one — and it corrects the assumption, which costs people every week, that Qatar flies from Terminal 3. It does not; it is in Terminal 4, and so is its lounge.
A lounge is worth arriving early for when it improves the trip, not merely shortens the wait. Most don't. These do.
One more is coming: from spring 2026, Air France returns to Terminal 4 with its own flagship for the first time in seventeen years — a spa, a proper dining room, and a sixth name worth watching. Tell us your airline and we'll tell you the terminal, the lounge, and whether it's worth the earlier alarm. Usually, for these five, it is.