Plaza Premium Lounge Helsinki Airport Review (Non-Schengen)

The Plaza Premium lounge at Helsinki airport is what a lounge should be, a calm place to unwind, refresh, and have a bite to eat before a flight. If you are leaving the EU, this lounge provides peace of mind, being already past passport control, and near all the departure gates.

We were able to stop by for a visit in the morning before our flight to London, continuing to the United States. We were in for a long travel day, so it was nice to start it in a relaxed manner at the lounge.

Location In HEL

The plaza premium lounge in Helsinki-Vantaa airport is located past passport control for non-Schengen flights, near gate 40. 

It’s quite a hike from the entrance to the airport so leave sufficient time to get through security, passport control, and the long walk. 

You can only access this lounge if you are taking a flight exiting the EU.

If you need to get your tax refund stamped and sent before leaving the EU, then stop by the customs desk or use one of the automated machines. GlobalBlue has a variety of drop off points within the airport, in the Arrivals hall, as well as by the gates.

Plaza Premium Lounge Access

This lounge accepts priority pass, making it accessible for many premium cardholders, such as the Capital One Venture X, Chase Sapphire Reserve, Citi Strata Elite, and American Express Platinum Card. There is also paid access available. 

I accessed this lounge through the priority pass from my Venture X Card, and booked my flight as part of a a multi segment journey from Tromso to Miami with American Airlines points. This flight was the middle leg from Helsinki to London. We had arrived the morning before so we had the whole afternoon to explore Helsinki and get some rest before another early departure. 

Skip the hassle of looking for flights! Use my Award Booking Concierge Service. I’ll find the flights on points and let you know exactly how to book. 

Food & Beverage

We were at the Plaza Premium Lounge during breakfast, which was quite serviceable. They had scrambled eggs, hash browns, potatoes, mushrooms, sausage, and local rice pies. For bread there were croissants and rolls. A small salad bar was also available. 

For drinks, there are self-service coffee machines, soda, juice, water, and infused water. You could fill up your bottle using the tap that also dispenses the juice across from the salad bar area. 

Complimentary alcoholic beverages were limited to wine (red, white, and rose) and a beer on draft. Cocktails and spirits were available at an additional charge. Prices were reasonable and the staff was very attentive. By staff, I mean the one kind woman who was manning every station, from reception, to the bar, to clean up, all with gracious cheer. 

The food selection was good quality, although limited, it was a solid breakfast.

The Space & Seating

The plaza premium lounge is modern and spacious. Everything looks well taken care of and clean. 

There is plenty of seating in the lounge, which was still very empty while I was there, before 7 am. There are dining sets, private booth chairs, and many armchairs with accompanying tables.

We sat at a pair of armchairs are were a happy to see that all of them had power outlets. 

Amenties

There is a kids room which was well stocked with a variety of toys for little ones. 

Showers are available, restrooms are quite private and spacious, and there are also sleep pods available for a charge. 

Helsinki Layover Tips

It’s easy to get to the city centre of Helsinki from the airport with their frequent train. It takes about 30 minutes and costs about 5 euros. 

There are many airport hotels, some on-site and others requiring a shuttle. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Helsinki Airport, which had very pleasant service, upgraded me thanks to my platinum status from the IHG Rewards Premier Card, and even has a sauna. 

They have a restaurant that seemed fairly busy for dinner and offer a buffet breakfast that covers even early morning flyers (additional €15 pp at check in). The main drawback is that it requires a shuttle to get to, and we had just missed it when we arrived so we had a long wait in the cold. The full Holiday Inn Helsinki review covers more about what the rooms and service was like.

You’d do much better staying directly at Helsinki airport at the Hilton or Scandic hotels. We were wishing we had as we watched time tick by, waiting for the bus, and shortening our time in the city. 

If you are visiting Helsinki on a longer layover, I suggest doing a walking tour, like this free/tip-based one I did. I appreciated that they had an afternoon time slot available and felt like I learned a lot about Helsinki and Finnish culture. Finish off your day with a bowl of Chinese noodles at 99 TopMeal and a nightcap at BarMate. 

Helsinki airport also had plenty of shops to keep you busy, so stroll along in the Schengen area before making your way past passport control. 

Overall Impressions

I would gladly visit this lounge again. 

Nothing was out of this world, but it provides quality were other lounges lack. The seats were not worn, it was not packed with people, and it had everything we needed for a good breakfast. 

The pleasant service and possibility of using additional amenities like showers and sleep pods makes this a nice layover lounge.