Mrs. PTI and I traveled to London over Thanksgiving to meet up with family who was living abroad in the United Kingdom. Our itinerary included going to Bath, England (site of my previous review of the Royal Crescent and British Airways) for a day before spending the rest of the trip in London. We had arrived early on a great Polaris flight – that I did not review due to the fact it was a pretty typical flight and I’ve reviewed Polaris twice before – and we have lots of aggregated United Polaris reviews. Our schedule worked out that we had plenty of time before our scheduled train on the Great Western Railway, and thus could easily work in a stop at the Arrivals Lounge. Candidly I didn’t even know the Terminal 2 United Arrivals Lounge existed, although it had been some time since I flew United business class to/from London Heathrow. What happened next is something so simple that became amazing by virtue of coming after an overnight flight. Read on for my Heathrow Terminal 2 United Arrivals Lounge review and see how the magic happened.
Details
Name of Lounge: Terminal 2 Arrivals Lounge
Location: London Heathrow Terminal 2
Time/Length of Visit: 7:30 AM – 9:00 AM
Date of Visit: November 26, 2019
Seating – 2/3
The lounge was quite small – the seating area, pictured, shows you just how small it is. However, it never had more than half a dozen people in it, counting us. I attribute this to a few things. First, they bounce the door HARD. You have to fly in on a business class product and arrive before noon. No status, no specials. Second, people generally don’t have a reason to linger. They’re in and out after a shower and maybe a meal. Finally, most people don’t have a reason to show up. Put all that together, and I think you get less crowding. Or maybe I just got lucky. Anyway, the seating was fine – it wasn’t anything special, but there were both tables and lounging areas.
Drink – 2/3
Drinks were straightforward, with a variety of coffee, water, juice, and sodas available. I think there may have been some breakfast hard stuff, but you either have to be A) a functioning alcohol, B) on vacation or C) freaking awesome to be drinking after a flight. I was none of these things, so can only speak to the coffee, juice, water, and soda, which did the trick.
Food – 2/3
Food gets a 2+/3 for me on this one. There was a decent menu of different protein bowls available. I went with the salmon bowl, which had avocado, poached egg, salmon, and bread, hitting all the necessary macros for a power breakfast. I really appreciated being able to get a clean, high-protein meal after a flight.
Cleanliness – 3/3
The lounge – including the bathrooms – was very clean and well maintained.
Bathrooms – 2/3
This is, of course, the main event, and where the magical journey occurred. NOTHING beats a shower after a redeye flight. Ideally it’s as nice a shower as possible. While the arrivals lounge didn’t have a particularly special bathroom, it was clean and warm, and had a good, solid rain shower. I wish the rooms were a little bigger, but there were plenty of them with no wait.
Wifi – NR
I think I signed onto the WiFi, but didn’t have a chance to speed test it.
Views – 1/3
Unfortunately the arrivals lounge, by virtue of its location, is windowless. However, as noted, it’s not a place to linger.
Heathrow Terminal 2 United Arrivals Lounge Review Bottom Line – 2.5/3
To me, this is a lounge where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. An arrivals lounge has two jobs to achieve: get you a nice shower, and maybe some decent food and coffee, and do it as quickly as desired. The Arrivals Lounge accomplished this mission. I left Heathrow Airport feeling clean, fed, caffeinated, and ready to lose my passport. Because that’s exactly what happened next.
All photos are the author’s.