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THE ALVIATOR'S VERDICT
The Plaza Premium lounge Helsinki is a cookie-cutter Plaza Premium lounge with uninspiring seating and catering, though the lounge is tranquil, especially in the mornings. What I really appreciated was the hospitable lounge attendant who put a smile on my face (and I also like that showers are included with the access package for most credit cards) |
4.0
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In November 2025, I had a layover in Helsinki Airport on a premium economy itinerary. I hold an AmEx Platinum supplementary card, so was able to access the Plaza Premium lounge at Helsinki Airport. So I decided to review this lounge, given that I’ve already reviewed Finnair’s swanky non-Schengen business class lounge before (which, while I have no Oneworld frequent flyer status, I could’ve paid a palatable amount to access).
The Plaza Premium lounge itself isn’t very far off from most Plaza Premium lounges around the world – it’s very similarly decorated, and the breakfast spread available was as uninspiring as you’d expect from a European contract lounge. However, the friendly lounge attendant just made the experience so much more memorable. Additionally, I’m refreshed by the fact that I don’t have to pay extra for a shower here, unlike Plaza Premium lounges here in the UK.
Plaza Premium Lounge Helsinki Access and Opening Hours
The Plaza Premium lounge at Helsinki Airport is open from 6 AM until 12 AM on Monday-Saturday, and 10 AM until 12 AM on Sunday. This means that if you’re arriving in the morning bank (particularly from Asia), you may have to linger around in the terminal for a while before the lounge opens. The Helsinki Airport terminal is stunning (so much so that I’ll write a separate post about it), so that wasn’t a problem for me. You’ll also not be able to use the lounge before a Sunday morning flight.
The Plaza Premium lounge is open to the following passengers:
- AmEx Platinum cardholders (including supplementary cardholders)
- Priority Pass members
- LoungeKey and DragonPass members
- Eligible HSBC EveryMile cardholders (more details here)
- Alternatively, you can pay €53.10 (£46/HK$490) for two hours in the lounge, €89.10 (£77.35/HK$714) for five hours, or €170.10 (£147.67/HK$1,570) for ten hours – or €22 (£19/HK$203) for a shower. I wouldn’t recommend this
There are a few airlines that contract this lounge – I know for a fact that Turkish Airlines does. As a Japan Airlines premium economy passenger, you’ll be invited to use this lounge (if you’re in business class you can use the superior Finnair lounge).
You do need to be either departing on, or connecting from a non-Schengen flight in order to access this lounge. Now, I know that some people are able to go past immigration (holding a valid passport), and just tell the immigration officers they want to visit a lounge. This is hit-or-miss, and the Plaza Premium lounge isn’t worth the hassle, in my opinion.
Plaza Premium Lounge Helsinki Location
The Plaza Premium lounge at Helsinki Airport is located just before gate 40, near where security lets out. While the entrance itself is easy to miss, signage at the airport is generally very good (it’s right across a Fizza pizza vending machine…wow!).
Plaza Premium Lounge Helsinki Entrance
The lounge itself is located one level up, though on the same level as the concourse you’ll find four sleep pods. Even though these have Plaza Premium branding, they’re actually operated by an entirely different company altogether called GoSleep. This means that access to Plaza Premium doesn’t grant you access to use these sleep pods.
If you’re interested, these sleep pods cost €29.90 (£26/HK$276) for two hours’ use, €49.90 (£43.32/HK$460) for five hours’ use, or €89.90 (£78/HK$830) for ten hours’ use. Maybe if I’m desperate I’d appreciate a five-hour nap here (e.g. maybe after a sleepless economy flight, and if I’m getting off a shorthaul European flight to a full work day), though beyond this point I’ll just book a hotel.
Plaza Premium Lounge Helsinki Sleep Pods
The lounge entrance is just upstairs of these sleep pods.
Plaza Premium Lounge Helsinki Entrance
I was checked into the lounge, and also asked whether I had a time preference for when I wanted to shower.
Plaza Premium Lounge Helsinki Seating and Atmosphere
The Plaza Premium lounge in Helsinki spans 445 sq. m, and can fit around 140 guests. The area is one long rectangular room with floor-to-ceiling natural light (not visible at 6 AM in the morning, so you’ll have to trust me), though it’s partitioned into a few areas for privacy.
The area closest to the entrance featured some communal dining tables, in a restaurant-style fashion. There were individual rectangular tables with benches, and more communal tables as well.
Plaza Premium Lounge Helsinki Restaurant-Style Seating
This area also looked out towards the arrivals corridor, where you’d be able to see arriving passengers walk by (granted, not the most private setting).
Plaza Premium Lounge Helsinki Seating
Slightly further behind this were around 12 work cubicles. These had a little table, and reminded me of the Solo chairs I saw in the Cathay Pacific lounges the day prior (albeit being less well-padded).
Plaza Premium Lounge Helsinki Work Pods
Then in the far back corner of the lounge were the signature Plaza Premium armchairs. Power ports were abundant here, which I appreciated.
Plaza Premium Lounge Helsinki Armchairs and Relax Area
In one corner of the lounge was another variety of seating, featuring more “coffee shop” style seating with round tables.
Plaza Premium Lounge Helsinki Relax Area
There were also a couple of massage chairs. I didn’t actually check out whether these chairs cost any extra, as I wasn’t looking to use them.
Plaza Premium Lounge Helsinki Massage Chairs
While the lounge did fill up over the course of the morning, I never found it to be jam-packed, and the atmosphere was always pleasant. That being said, I was there in the non-Schengen area during the morning, so imagine the lounge could fill up a lot more over the evening (where there are many more non-Schengen flights departing).
The lounge shared the same WiFi as the terminal, which I didn’t find to be especially fast.
Plaza Premium Lounge Helsinki Food and Beverages
The Plaza Premium lounge at Helsinki Airport features an open kitchen, which was located in a corner by the main entrance.
Plaza Premium Lounge Helsinki Food Spread
The breakfast spread was uninspiring, though decently executed. Scrambled eggs, hash browns, and chicken sausages were on offer, as well as traditional Finnish Karelian pie (rice pie), served with chopped egg. There was also a salad bar, which also featured some cold breakfast options.
Plaza Premium Lounge Helsinki Food Spread
In another corner, there were more coffee-shop style cakes, as well as cornflakes.
Plaza Premium Lounge Helsinki Breakfast and Cakes
Near the restaurant-style seating area was a coffee machine, as well as a soda machine and flavoured water.
Plaza Premium Lounge Helsinki Coffee and Soft Drinks
However, I didn’t realise until writing this review that there was also a barista c0ffee-style Lavazza machine. I wonder if there was coffee available here, which would’ve tasted much better than the machine coffee that I made myself? I can’t find coffee on the chargeable drinks menu, so can only imagine that it was free for lounge guests.
Plaza Premium Lounge Helsinki Coffee Machine
There was also a small selection of complimentary drinks on offer, though this was uninspiring –these just included one white and red wine, a beer, the soda machine, a tropical and cranberry juice, as well as some infused water. Cocktails cost €8 (£6.94/HK$74) apiece, and there was a longer list of premium beverages on offer.
Plaza Premium Lounge Helsinki Cocktails and Paid Beverages
I found the food available to be roughly on par with what I’d experienced at other European Plaza Premium lounges – I’ve generally had better experiences at Asian Plaza Premium lounges, such as the Plaza Premium lounge Kuala Lumpur. However, I found the food spread to be well-executed.
Plaza Premium Lounge Helsinki Showers
The Plaza Premium lounge features two shower suites, and I was able to get one at the time of requesting, a few minutes after I entered the lounge. This was free to use as an AmEx Platinum cardholder, and I believe it would’ve been free if accessing via Priority Pass as well.
The shower room itself was well-appointed and had good water pressure. Shampoo and conditioner were from Lumene, whereas body wash was wall-mounted and unbranded.
Plaza Premium Lounge Helsinki Showers
I was very grateful to have a shower after my 14h 15m flight.
Plaza Premium Lounge Helsinki Playroom
While not relevant to me, apparently this Plaza Premium lounge playroom is “the first in-lounge playroom set”. I assume this is for a Plaza Premium lounge, since I’ve definitely seen a playroom in an airport lounge before.
Plaza Premium Lounge Helsinki Playroom
Plaza Premium Lounge Helsinki Service: Shoutout to Praise!
In a review of an otherwise not-too-remarkable Plaza Premium lounge, I’d love to give Praise a shoutout, who was the lounge attendant on the morning I visited. Praise greeted everyone with a smile, and made the lounge visit personable for everyone. For example, when checking in she asked for my time preference for a shower room, and when she unlocked the shower room door for me she said “enjoy your 30 minutes of complimentary shower time”.
When I was just working in the lounge and she was refilling something, she encouraged me to grab a bite to eat. Then when I left, she said “ah your stay this time is so short, I hope next time you can stay longer”.
What a delight. Even if the lounge offering isn’t cream-of-the-crop, a little pride in the product offering really goes a long way. I believe that Praise has a wider management role within Plaza Premium in Finland as well, and would love for her to take on a training role for the lounge.
Conclusion: Plaza Premium Lounge Helsinki
The Plaza Premium lounge in Helsinki is a typical Plaza Premium lounge – the seating and food are both uninspiring, and it’s just a tranquil space to work, especially in the mornings (which is more than what I can say about Plaza Premium lounges at other airports). However, a very hospitable lounge attendant made all the difference to my visit, and I appreciated that showers were included in the lounge access package too.
Have you visited the Plaza Premium lounge at Helsinki Airport before?
