Bits: Etihad ex-Dublin flight, deals, 10% off Etihad code, half-price Priority Pass

UPDATE – JUNE 2025:  This is an old article, and the credit card information given is likely to be out of date.

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News in brief:

Etihad ex-Dublin deals

Etihad is currently running a number of aggressive deals out of Dublin in both economy and business class.

You need to book by August 4th for travel by 30 June 2015 – although I’m pretty sure there are black out dates on particular routes at particular times.

The headline business class fares are pretty aggressive.  These are in Euros, remember, so knock off 20% to get to £ figures:

Bangkok €1,765

Abu Dhabi €1,920 (cheaper to add on a side trip to Bangkok!)

Beijing €2,180

Male €2,280

…. plus many others.

From Dublin, Etihad flies a Boeing 777W and an A330-200 which both appear to offer fully flat seats in business.

Full details can be found here.

…. and a 10% discount code

Etihad is also currently promoting a 10% discount code for travel in September – you may have seen the ad pop up on HfP.  Code GRIP002 gives you a 10% saving on the base fare, excluding taxes, on ANY Etihad flight.

It will combine with the special deals above.  However, you need to book via the Etihad home page here instead of via the special offers page, as the latter does not give you a box to enter the discount code.

The Bangkok fare comes down to €1,642 return, which is excellent.  I have no idea how long you can book with the GRIP002 code but travel dates must be in September.

Get a half-price Priority Pass lounge access card

Amazon Local has brought back their ‘half price Priority Pass’ deal for a few days.

The link to buy is here.

Priority Pass is a network of 600 airport lounges across the globe. Some are run independently whilst others are ‘official’ airport lounges which are happy to sell seats to the general public.

In the UK, the lounges run from dire (Servisair Terminal 1 at Heathrow) through to fantastic (the No 1 Traveller lounge at Heathrow Terminal 3 and Gatwick North and South, and the new United Club in Heathrow Terminal 2).

If you are an American Express Platinum member, you receive 2 Priority Pass cards – each admitting two people – for free. These cards also allow unlimited lounge visits.

For everyone else, there is the option of buying a Priority Pass card and then paying for individual lounge visits. The standard cost of a 1-year Priority Pass is £69, but via this Amazon Local deal you pay just £34.

This does not include the cost of your lounge visits, of course. You will still need to pay your £15 per visit, per person.

(Amazon is also offering a £49 version of the deal which includes one free lounge visit. This is absolutely no different in total cost to buying the £34 version with no visits!)

Whether this makes sense for you depends entirely on what airlines and airports you use. The biggest users of Priority Pass, I think, are companies who gives passes to their employees as a trade-off for having to fly economy.

For an individual, it might make sense if you did – say – 15 visits over a year. This would amortise the cost per visit, including the card fee, down to £17.

Only a small number of lounges would be worth that, however – and the more stays you do, the more sense it makes to get an Amex Platinum to get a free Priority Pass. It is also worth remembering that the No 1 Traveller lounges at Heathrow and Gatwick are ‘pay to enter’ for anyone, albeit for more than £15.

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How to get FREE airport lounge access via UK credit cards (June 2025)

Here are the six options to get FREE airport lounge access via a UK credit card.

Your best value option (but no points):

The cheapest route to a Priority Pass airport lounge card is via the Lloyds Bank World Elite Mastercard.

The credit card has a fee of £15 per month, and comes with a Priority Pass which gives unlimited free access for the cardholder. If you add a free supplementary cardholder, they will also receive unlimited free access.

Unlike the version of Priority Pass you receive with American Express, the Lloyds Bank version also lets you access £18 airport restaurant credits.

Even better, the credit card has 0% FX fees and comes with 0.5% cashback. Full details are in my Lloyds Bank World Elite Mastercard review.

Lounge access via American Express cards:

The Platinum Card from American Express comes with two free Priority Pass cards, one for you and one for a supplementary cardholder. Each card admits two so a family of four gets in free. You get access to all 1,500 lounges in the Priority Pass network – search it here.

You also get access to Eurostar, Lufthansa and Delta Air Lines lounges.  Our in-depth review of The Platinum Card from American Express is here.

You can apply here.

The American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Credit Card is FREE for the first year. It comes with a Priority Pass card loaded with four free visits to any Priority Pass lounge – see the list here.

Additional lounge visits are charged at £24.  You get four more free visits for every year you keep the card.  

There is no annual fee for Amex Gold in Year 1 and you get a 20,000 points sign-up bonus.  Full details are in our American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Credit Card review here.

Lounge access via HSBC Premier credit cards (Premier account holders only):

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard gets you get a free Priority Pass card, allowing you access to the Priority Pass network.  Guests are charged at £24 although it may be cheaper to pay £60 for a supplementary credit card for your partner.

The card has a fee of £290 and there are strict financial requirements to become a HSBC Premier customer.  Full details are in my HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard review.

Got a small business?

If you have a small business, consider The American Express Business Platinum Card which has the same lounge benefits as the personal Platinum card:

You should also consider the Capital on Tap Pro Visa credit card which has a lower fee and, as well as a Priority Pass for airport lounge access, also comes with Radison Rewards VIP hotel status:

PS. You can find all of HfP’s UK airport lounge reviews – and we’ve been to most of them – indexed here.