Plaza Express: Gatwick North Terminal - Review
- Sam
- 32 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Opening in 2024, the Plaza Express is the latest lounge to open in Gatwick's North Terminal, so surely it's worthy of a review?
The Plaza Express is the "casual" brand of the Plaza Premium group, aimed more at cost-conscious leisure travellers. I visited in September 2025, with the terminal still in full swing from the tail end of people's summer holidays, and with prices starting from £18 for an adult, is it worth your money? Because you're not getting in here with a lounge card.
Where is the Plaza Express?
The Plaza Express can be found with the rest of the lounges in Gatwick's North Terminal. After passing through security, go through duty free, take a left, and you'll see the signposts for all of the lounges towards gates 45-55 and 101-103.
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How can I enter the Plaza Express?
The opening hours are 04:00 - 16:00.
Entry cannot be obtained with a Priority Pass, or Dragonpass. To get in you must either pay, or have a business class ticket with an airline that uses this lounge. Currently the only airline that lists the Plaza Express is Royal Air Maroc, but as you'll see, they aren't the only ones.
The current pricing is as follows:
Adult | Children (Ages 2-11) | |
1.5 hours | £18 | £15 |
2 hours | £25 | £15 |
3 hours | £36 | £25.20 |
Children under 2 are free of charge.
The price to duration ratio is based on the time of departure for your flight, not the length of time you stay in the lounge. So if you arrive at 8am for a 10am departure, you will be charged for two hours, even though you will only be spending 1 1/4 hour inside the lounge.
So, how is the Plaza Express?
This is a comparatively small lounge, nonetheless, there was ample seating at the time I arrived, roughly 10am.
WiFi is available throughout the lounge free of charge.
I think the décor overall is quite nice, although it does look like they've furnished it at the local Ikea. The pool table is a nice addition (as seen at the top), bringing the casual vibe that they so desire. It would just have been nice if it didn't have a big tear in the cloth.
Breakfast service was still in full swing at 10am. Unlike most other lounges of this calibre, the hot food is served to you, but not in an a'la carte way where you order to the table. Instead it is served to you canteen style. My guess is that it's to make sure you're not taking too much.
The breakfast on offer is exactly the same that you would find in the more expensive Plaza Premium next door, but that's not to say it was good (I had a poor experience in that lounge after visiting the Plaza Express). The eggs looked like they had been made the previous day, the streaky bacon was soft, and the hash browns were anaemic.
During the rest of the day, the Plaza Express offers "self-service delights and customize your meal at the pizza corner or burger bar. Savour in a jacket potato and enjoy unlimited beer before embarking of your travel adventure." Mmmmm, nothing says start your holiday like a jacket potato... I know they're trending, but these aren't going to be of the calibre of Spudman.
Drinks, including complimentary alcohol, can be found in the same area as the rest of the food. Beer on offer was Carlsberg, and the wine on offer would retail for around £6 a bottle in your local Tesco. "Premium drinks" can be found at the bar by the pool table for an additional supplement.
Interestingly, the "nice" part of the lounge was roped off for Qatar Airways passengers. My understanding is the Qatar Airways business class passengers have access to the Plaza Premium lounge next door, but they seem to redirect you here during the busy summer schedules to allow for more paying guests in the Plaza Premium lounge.
Final thoughts
My take is going to be counter to their 4.6 rating on Google.
Would I be paying to get in here? No.
Take the pricing as an example, for £18 you can access this lounge 90 minutes before your flight, so that means you get 90 minutes of time in here? No. You're only getting 45 minutes of that 90 minutes you've paid for as you're going to have to leave before your gate closes.
Think you can get £18 of value in Carlsberg and jacket potatoes in 45 minutes? Then be my guest.
The only way I see that you'd get enough value back is if you had two under 2's in your care (as they enter free of charge), you'll have a safe place for them to roam for an hour or so whilst you fill yourself with sub-standard food in preparation for parenting armageddon once you board the flight.
If I am without my Priority Pass (read our Priority Pass review here) and therefore not in a different lounge, you'll find me in Spoons.
Sam
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