Plaza Premium Lounge MCO Terminal C Review: Food, Space & Amenities

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Airport lounges are a huge plus when traveling and the Plaza Premium Lounge I visited in the Orlando airport adds to my long list of lounges visited. It’s quite a spacious lounge with multiple showers and restrooms. There’s a full buffet along with made to order food that you have to pay for. The bar is pretty solid as well with lots of complimentary options and a few paid drink options.

How do you access the Plaza Premium Lounge?

In order to access the Plaza Premium Lounge, you’ll need a Priority Pass membership. Here are some cards that offer Priority Pass access (not an exhaustive list):

Chase Sapphire Reserve®
<amex-platinum>
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
Bank of America® Premium Rewards Elite Credit Card

Where is the Plaza Premium Lounge at Orlando airport?

The Plaza Premium Lounge is located in Terminal C of the Orlando airport. It’s located soon after the security checkpoint near Gate 241. There’s a check-in desk for the lounge and then you can take the stairs or elevator to level 2 where the lounge is located.

Terminal C is a relatively small terminal so it’s not a bad walk to the lounge—I’d say it’s not more than 5 minutes.

How was my experience waiting at the Plaza Premium Lounge?

Upon arriving at the lounge, I noticed there was a bit of a line to get in. This always makes me nervous because I’m thinking there could be a waitlist. When we hopped into line, I noticed an employee putting up a sign that showed a QR code to join the waitlist.

When it was my girlfriend and I’s turn in line, the employee at the desk informed me that we had to join the waitlist. We were the first ones on the waitlist—sad. So we sat somewhere across the lounge.

As I waited, I saw that the lounge was accepting people with the <amex-platinum> or if they were on a business class flight. It’s definitely incredibly frustrating to see dozens of people accepted as you wait with your Priority Pass access via being an authorized user on the Chase Sapphire Reserve®.

Anyways, I was eventually notified via email and got to enter the lounge after a 15 minute wait.

What’s the food and drink like at the Plaza Premium Lounge?

The food at the Plaza Premium Lounge in Terminal C of the Orlando (MCO) airport got the job done—it wasn’t anything special but there were a couple decent options.

I really enjoyed the Cuban style ground beef as it was loaded with spices and plenty of protein to keep myself full on my flight from Orlando to Providence, Rhode Island.

The pasta that was offered didn’t taste very good and there was oddly a lot of water still in the pasta.

The rice was pretty good and I didn’t get a chance to try the sautéed vegetables.

You could also choose from options in the refrigerated section. None of them looked that appealing to me so I skipped it.

I did not get a chance to take a picture of the menu but you could also order food from a menu. They had options like burgers, chicken sandwiches and fries. The lounge had a sample of what the food looked like out at the bar and it frankly looked much better than the free buffet food. The prices for the entrees were around $10. The idea of this seems to go against the whole idea of a lounge. You pay to get access to a lounge and then you have to pay more to get food? This is an abnormality—I have not seen this at any other airport lounge and I’ve visited over 50 in my life.

I also ordered a complimentary Cabernet red wine for my girlfriend from the bar. It’s quite a pretty looking bar with great service.

FAQs

How do you access the Plaza Premium Lounge in Terminal C of the Orlando airport?

You’ll need a Priority Pass membership in order to access the Plaza Premium Lounge. There are a number of credit cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve® and <amex-platinum> that offer Priority Pass membership as a benefit.

Do you have to pay for food in the Plaza Premium Lounge?

You do not have to pay for the buffet in the Plaza Premium Lounge. However, there is a made to order menu which costs money. Most lounges do not require purchases for food once you’re in the lounge.

Why is it nice to have airport lounge access?

Having airport access makes for a great place to relax or do work before your flight. And it can save you money at the airport—having airport lounge access can be significantly cheaper than buying food constantly at restaurants in the airport.

Is lounge access expensive?

Lounge access is not as expensive as you would think. For instance, the U.S. Bank Altitude Connect Visa Signature Card offers 4 visits to Priority Pass lounges as part of the card benefits. And it has no annual fee!