Plaza Premium Lounge In Orlando Airport is Now Open!

by joeheg

Orlando International Airport (MCO) opened Terminal C about a month ago. While the first flights arrived on September 20th, it wasn’t until a month later, on October 25th, that JetBlue finally moved all of its arriving and departing flights to the new terminal.

We visited the pre-security areas on opening day and there wasn’t much to see as many of the shops were closed and only a handful of flights were due to arrive. Even as JetBlue was completing its move, many of the shops, restaurants and the only lounge still were closed.

Terminal C is getting a Plaza Premium lounge and they got a local celebrity chef to supervise the food offerings.

I’m happy to report, via MCO’s Twitter, that the Orlando Airport Plaza Premium lounge is now open.

The lounge is located on the 2nd floor, overlooking Palm Court. Here are some pictures showing the various seating options available and the large bar area.

a room with chairs and art on the wall a table and chairs in a room with a large window a group of chairs with blue cushions a bar with a counter and chairs

The Plaza Premium lounge is open daily from 2 PM – 9 PM.

There are showers rooms available for lounge guests.

American Express Platinum and Capital One Venture X cardholders, and Dragonpass members get access to Plaza Premium lounges. There’s no need to register in advance, you just have to show your credit card.

In addition, the Plaza Premium is the contract lounge for business class passengers on the following airlines:

  • Lufthansa/Eurowings Discovery
  • Aerlingus
  • Emirates
  • Icelandair
  • British Airways
  • Caribbean Airlines

I’m guessing that’s why the hours are from the afternoon to evening to serve passengers waiting for Transatlantic red-eye flights.

I’m glad to see the lounge open and, based on the pictures, it looks wonderful with plenty of natural light. Something that’s missing from the other lounges at Orlando Airport.

Pictures courtesy of @MCO on Twitter.

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9 comments

Lars November 3, 2022 - 11:47 am

Looks very nice! Would love an article detailing the ability to visit this lounge if flying out of Terminals A or B, and the time it would take to pull off such a mission. Probably time prohibitive for most since it would involve clearing TSA multiple times…but could still be situationally useful!

Reply
joeheg November 3, 2022 - 1:35 pm

I’m not sure if you can enter terminal C with a boarding pass from flights leaving A or B. Even so, the ride between terminals is long, then add the walk to the gates, clearing security and doing the same in reverse and I don’t see it as a reasonable option.

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Sean November 3, 2022 - 5:58 pm

Are you sure that Capital One Venture X can access this lounge? It’s not on their list of Capital One Venture X eligible Plaza Premium lounges.

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joeheg November 3, 2022 - 6:05 pm

That was one of the ways to enter as reported by the MCO Twitter account. In addition, the lounge isn’t listed on the Plaza Premium website either.

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Sean November 3, 2022 - 6:17 pm

Maybe they haven’t updated it yet.

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John / Travelman5 November 4, 2022 - 12:03 pm

It looks beautiful, but sad it’s only open a few hours, later in the day. There are incoming/outgoing flights all day long. Why build a big, beautiful new lounge only to punish qualified travelers that don’t fit the select hours. Seems unfair, and a big waste of money. The mire use it gets, the getter the investment.

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joeheg November 4, 2022 - 10:54 pm

I agree. However, I’m betting that the lounge is being subsidized by the airlines using it as a contract lounge for business class passengers. The opening hours align with the departure times of those flights. To stay open longer would depend on if the money from AMEX and Capital One for everyone else would overcome the cost of staffing the lounge.

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Einar Matthiasson March 8, 2023 - 1:12 pm

Is your lounge open for Priority Pass holders?

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joeheg April 5, 2023 - 7:59 pm

No, this lounge is not part of Priority Pass.

Reply

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