On this page (6 sections)
Terminal 5 lounges at a glance
Heathrow Terminal 5 lounges total eight rooms: six British Airways lounges (the Concorde Room flagship, Galleries First, three Galleries Club rooms, and the BA Galleries Arrivals Lounge) plus two independent rooms (Plaza Premium and Club Aspire). T5 is British Airways' home terminal at Heathrow, so the lounge story is mostly a BA story, with access following a clear status ladder. The two independent rooms cover Priority Pass, DragonPass, Amex Platinum, and paid walk-up for everyone else. For the airlines, gates, and the T5A / T5B / T5C building layout, see the Terminal 5 guide and the Terminal 5 layout map; for the equivalent picture at the other three terminals, see the Heathrow lounges hub.
One change to flag at the top of the page. British Airways announced a multi-year lounge renovation programme in October 2025, scheduled to begin in 2026 and run staggered to manage capacity. The Concorde Room, Galleries First, and all three Galleries Club lounges at T5 are in scope, alongside the BA rooms at T3. BA has said the work will be sequenced so that the three Galleries Club rooms can absorb each other's load during any closures; closures at the Concorde Room and Galleries First will be more disruptive. The First Wing private check-in and security lobby is already done (renovation completed November 2025). At the time of writing, no specific T5 lounge has been announced as temporarily closed; verify against the BA site if your trip is in the next few weeks.
| Lounge | Location | Access | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Concorde Room | T5A upper floor | BA First, Gold Guest List, Concorde Room cardholders | 05:00 to 22:00 |
| Galleries First | T5A upper floor (adjacent to Concorde Room) | BA First, BA Gold, oneworld Emerald | 05:00 to 22:00 |
| Galleries Club North | T5A second floor, near security | BA Club Europe / World, BA Silver, oneworld Sapphire | 05:00 to 22:00 |
| Galleries Club South | T5A second floor, further south of North | BA Club Europe / World, BA Silver, oneworld Sapphire | 05:00 to 22:00 |
| Galleries Club T5B | T5B satellite, reached by transit train | BA Club Europe / World, BA Silver, oneworld Sapphire | 05:30 to 22:00 |
| BA Galleries Arrivals Lounge | T5A arrivals concourse, landside | BA First / Club World arrivals, BA Gold on long-haul | 05:00 to 13:00 |
| Plaza Premium Lounge T5 | T5A airside, underneath Galleries Club North | Walk-up, Priority Pass (walk-in only), DragonPass, Amex Platinum | 05:00 to 22:00 |
| Club Aspire Lounge T5 | T5A airside, left of Gate A18 | Walk-up, Priority Pass (pre-bookable), DragonPass | 05:00 to 22:00 |
T5C has no lounge of its own; passengers using C-gates either use the T5B Galleries Club or take the transit train back to T5A. Hours and access reflect the operator pages at the time of writing; walk-up and Priority Pass prices change with demand and lead time.
British Airways lounges at T5
British Airways operates six lounges at Terminal 5, more than any other airline at any Heathrow terminal. Five sit in the departures complex (one Concorde Room, one Galleries First, three Galleries Club) and one is the landside arrivals lounge. The access ladder is BA's status structure mapped onto floor plates: First / Concorde Room cardholders sit highest, oneworld Emerald and BA Gold sit one rung below, BA Silver and oneworld Sapphire sit on the largest rung at the bottom of the Galleries Club tier.
Concorde Room
British Airways' flagship lounge worldwide and the most exclusive room at any Heathrow terminal outside of the Windsor VIP. T5 only, not T3. Sits on the upper floor of the T5A complex adjacent to Galleries First. Open 05:00 to 22:00 daily. Access is restricted to BA First class passengers on a same-day BA departure, Gold Guest List cardholders, and Concorde Room cardholders (a separate paid lounge product from BA itself). Eligible passengers reach the Concorde Room either through the First Wing private security route or via the main Galleries security entrance and an upper-floor walk through Galleries First.
Inside: a full à la carte restaurant with a separate menu for First class passengers, private dining booths, a Concorde Bar with table service, a quiet nap area, shower rooms with Bamford amenities, and a Cabana service with private rest rooms bookable at the lounge reception. The Concorde Room is the only lounge at Heathrow with a sit-down à la carte restaurant for every guest at every meal; the Cathay First in T3 has a similar Dining Room but with smaller capacity and a tighter access list.
Galleries First
The second-tier BA lounge at T5, directly adjacent to the Concorde Room on the upper floor of T5A. Open the same 05:00 to 22:00 daily. Access for BA First passengers (so First class gets both lounges and usually moves between them), BA Gold members on any oneworld T5 departure, oneworld Emerald passengers travelling that day on a oneworld carrier from T5, and Concorde Room cardholders not flying First. Calmer than the Galleries Club rooms downstairs, smaller floor plate, with a hosted dining area, full bar, work tables, and showers.
For a BA Gold member without a Concorde Room card, Galleries First is the upgrade route at T5: better food, calmer atmosphere, and the same opening hours as the Concorde Room. It is also the natural overflow room for First class passengers when the Concorde Room is full.
Galleries Club North, South, and T5B
Three Galleries Club lounges share a single access list: BA Club Europe and Club World passengers on a same-day BA departure, BA Silver members on any oneworld T5 departure, oneworld Sapphire passengers travelling on a oneworld carrier from T5. The three rooms differ in size, location, and crowding.
Galleries Club North sits on the second floor of T5A, near the top of the main security escalator and the first BA lounge most passengers reach. Medium-sized footprint, hot and cold buffet, full bar, showers, work tables.
Galleries Club South sits further south on the same floor, the largest of the three Galleries Club rooms and the busiest by reputation. Same access, same offer, more seats. Reviews consistently flag Galleries South as the most likely to feel full at peak; this is the lounge that draws the BA-overcrowding criticism.
Galleries Club T5B sits in the airside T5B satellite building, reached from T5A by the underground transit train (3-minute journey). Refurbished in October 2023 to the same standard as the T5A rooms. Quieter than the T5A pair on most days because the transit-train ride filters out passengers who would otherwise stay in the main building; T5B-departing passengers naturally end up here. Often the right call for a passenger with a B-gate departure who values a calmer room, even at the cost of a few minutes' walk from the train station to the lounge.
BA Galleries Arrivals Lounge
The landside arrivals counterpart to the departures Galleries set, in the T5A arrivals concourse. Open 05:00 to 13:00 daily, built around the morning long-haul arrival wave. Access for arriving BA First and Club World passengers off a long-haul flight, BA Gold members arriving on any BA long-haul, and Concorde Room cardholders arriving on the same. Showers, hot breakfast with table service, pressing service for business attire, and a quiet area for sleep before onward travel. The reliable shower-and-breakfast option after a transatlantic overnight flight for BA premium passengers; the Virgin Atlantic Revivals lounge at T3 plays the same role for Virgin passengers.
Plaza Premium and Club Aspire
Two independent paid-or-membership lounges sit in T5A, both open to anyone with a ticket regardless of cabin class or status. Together they cover every meaningful non-BA access route: Priority Pass, DragonPass, LoungeKey, Amex Platinum, and paid walk-up. The choice between them comes down to one detail: pre-booking through Priority Pass.
Plaza Premium Lounge T5
The larger of the two independents at T5, opened in 2017 at around 465 square metres with seating for up to 200 guests. Sits airside underneath the Galleries Club North lounge in T5A, with floor-to-ceiling windows along one side and views over the apron and the runway. Open 05:00 to 22:00 daily. Walk-up rates run at around £47.50 for a two-hour pass and £75 for up to six hours, with a 10% discount when booked online through the Plaza Premium site (a recent year of pricing shows £42.77 for two hours and £67.50 for six on the pre-booked rate).
Access through Priority Pass, DragonPass, LoungeKey, and Amex Platinum / Centurion through the Amex lounge programme. The catch: Plaza Premium T5 is not pre-bookable through Priority Pass. Priority Pass holders walk in subject to capacity and are turned away when full. This is the practical reason to favour Club Aspire below for Priority Pass holders at peak times. Hot and cold buffet, full bar with self-pour spirits, work tables, showers, runway views.
Club Aspire Lounge T5
The smaller of the two independents at T5, located airside left of Gate A18 in the main departures concourse. Open 05:00 to 22:00 daily. Walk-up rates around £47.52 for a two-hour pass and £64.80 for up to five hours at the time of writing. Access through Priority Pass, DragonPass, walk-up paid, and direct pre-booking through Aspire's own site.
The differentiator that matters for Priority Pass holders: Club Aspire T5 is the only T5 lounge you can pre-book through the Priority Pass app. Pre-booking is strongly recommended at peak periods because Aspire fills hard and walk-in admission pauses when capacity is reached. Smaller floor plate than Plaza Premium, simpler food offer, similar bar, fewer showers. The honest framing: Aspire is the safer choice when you need guaranteed Priority Pass access on a peak weekday morning; Plaza Premium is the better room when both have space.
The First Wing and how it works
The First Wing is a Terminal 5-only feature that matters enough to warrant its own paragraph. It is a dedicated check-in lobby and security channel at the south end of T5A, reserved for British Airways First passengers, BA Gold and Gold Guest List members, oneworld Emerald passengers, and a single guest each. Eligible passengers check in at a private lobby, clear a private security lane with no queue at peak, and walk straight into the Galleries First and Concorde Room complex on the upper floor. The whole flow can take under five minutes from kerb to lounge.
The First Wing was renovated in November 2025 with new check-in desks, a larger lobby, and refreshed branding ahead of the broader BA lounge renovation programme. Fast Track security at the standard T5 security hall is a separate product available to a wider set of passengers (most BA premium-cabin tickets, BA Silver and Gold, oneworld Sapphire and Emerald, plus paid Fast Track buyers); the First Wing is the more selective route that combines private check-in with private security.
BA Gold members travelling with companions can take one guest through the First Wing security lane; additional party members use the standard Fast Track lane and meet inside the lounge. The First Wing is the most efficient kerb-to-lounge route at any Heathrow terminal and is a real reason to value the higher BA tiers if you fly T5 regularly.
Where the lounges sit across T5A, T5B and T5C
Terminal 5 is the only multi-building terminal at Heathrow with lounges in more than one building, so location matters more than at T2, T3 or T4. T5A is the main building and holds seven of the eight T5 lounges: the Concorde Room and Galleries First on the upper floor, Galleries Club North and South on the second floor, Plaza Premium underneath Galleries North, Club Aspire near Gate A18, and the BA Galleries Arrivals Lounge in the landside arrivals concourse. T5B is the first airside satellite and holds one lounge: the Galleries Club T5B refurbished in October 2023. T5C is the second airside satellite and has no lounge of its own.
The T5 transit train links the three buildings and runs every three to four minutes, with a journey time of around three minutes between stations. For a passenger departing from T5C, the two options are: walk to the T5B Galleries Club (the satellites are connected at the airside level) or ride the transit train back to T5A for the wider lounge choice, then ride out again to the gate. Allow 10 to 15 extra minutes for the round trip and start back toward the gate at least 30 minutes before boarding (the BA gate-close window is 35 minutes before scheduled departure). T5B departures benefit from the satellite Galleries Club lounge directly; for passengers without BA status, the only paid-entry options are back at T5A.
How access works at T5
Five access routes cover entry to the T5 lounges. Most passengers have exactly one route on a given trip; a few combine, for example a BA Gold member who also holds Priority Pass.
BA First or Concorde Room cardholder. BA First passengers on a same-day BA departure get the Concorde Room, Galleries First, and First Wing access. Concorde Room cardholders (a separate paid BA lounge product) get the same. Gold Guest List members (BA's invitation-only super-elite tier) get all three plus a separate fast-track on flight changes and the right to guest a friend into the Concorde Room.
BA Club Gold or oneworld Emerald. BA Gold members get Galleries First on any oneworld T5 departure, plus the First Wing for themselves and one guest. oneworld Emerald passengers travelling on any oneworld T5 carrier (BA, Iberia, Iberia Express, Royal Air Maroc if applicable) get the same. BA Gold flying long-haul also unlocks the BA Galleries Arrivals Lounge.
BA Club Silver, BA business cabin, or oneworld Sapphire. BA Club Europe and Club World passengers get any of the three Galleries Club lounges on a same-day BA departure. BA Silver members get the same on any oneworld T5 departure. oneworld Sapphire passengers on a oneworld T5 carrier get the same. The choice between Galleries Club North, South, and T5B is the standard one of location and crowding. Premium tickets bundle Fast Track security at the standard T5 hall.
Lounge membership. Priority Pass, DragonPass, and LoungeKey cover the two independent rooms only: Plaza Premium T5 (walk-in only, no Priority Pass pre-booking) and Club Aspire T5 (Priority Pass pre-bookable through the app). Amex Platinum and Centurion get the same two through the Amex lounge programme. None of the BA Galleries lounges is on Priority Pass or any other membership programme; status or a paid BA fare is the only route in.
Paid entry. Pay at the door or pre-book online at either Plaza Premium (around £47.50 for two hours, £75 for six) or Club Aspire (around £47.52 for two hours, £64.80 for five). Pre-booking through the operator's site is a few pounds cheaper than walk-up and is the safer call at peak. The BA Galleries lounges do not accept paid walk-up at any tier; the only paid lounge equivalent for a non-status passenger is one of the two independents. For travellers without lounge access, the Terminal 5 restaurants and bars page covers the airside food options; the lounges sit alongside business parking at T5 in the same broader business-traveller workflow. For the airport-wide picture see the Heathrow lounges hub; for sibling pages see Terminal 2 lounges, Terminal 3 lounges and Terminal 4 lounges.