Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Aspire lounge in Terminal 5 confirmed, whilst United says ‘no more Priority Pass’ in Terminal 2

Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission.  See here for all partner links.

Heathrow Airport confirmed the story yesterday that I originally ran on Head for Points on April 1st – that an independent airport lounge will open in Terminal 5 this Summer, possibly July.

It will be operated by Swissport / Servisair under the ‘Aspire’ brand.  It is NOT confirmed at this time that Priority Pass and / or Lounge Club and / or Airport Angel cards will be accepted, but it seems likely – especially Priority Pass

New Aspire lounge Edinburgh entrance 2

(Priority Pass has a bigger network than its sister Lounge Club and I get a sneaky feeling that it pays more to lounges.  More importantly, Collinson Group – which owns Priority Pass – are joint venture partners in the new lounge.)

It will be situated by Gate 18 / 19.  This means that it will be underneath the Galleries South complex (Gates 18 / 19 are around the corner as you go past Paul Smith and past the escalators that take you up to Galleries South).

I think that British Airways will be generally happy with this lounge.  Apart from any embarrassment should the food turn out to be better, it will be a lifesaver for anyone who can no longer retain BA status following the tier point changes later this month.

It may even persuade some people to continue to fly with BA who would otherwise defect to an airline in a different terminal which does have a Priority Pass lounge.

The interesting statistic will be the number of BA passengers who have BA lounge access who still use Aspire!  They may, of course, simply be popping in to get a Lounge Miles stamp so they can earn a £5 shopping voucher for every seven visits …..

That is the good news of the day.  Now the bad news.

Business Traveller reported yesterday that United Airlines is removing Priority Pass access from all 49 of its lounges globally from May 15th.

This will be a major blow for anyone who uses the United Club lounge in Heathrow Terminal 2 on the B concourseHeathrow’s United Club is a fantastic lounge as I reviewed here.  It has the longest bar in Heathrow (photo above), it has an amazingly large range of free food and it has free-flow champagne!

It is not the end of the world for Priority Pass holders, of course.  The Plaza Premium lounge in Terminal 2 is also very impressive, and of course you don’t need to head all the way out to the B concourse.  Plaza Premium is more of a relaxing contemplation space though, whilst United Club was a better option for those who wanted to maximise their food and drink before a flight!


Getting airport lounge access for free from a credit card

How to get FREE airport lounge access via UK credit cards (October 2024)

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

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 American Express Platinum review is here.

You can apply here.

The Platinum Card from American Express

50,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

If you have a small business, consider American Express Business Platinum instead.

American Express Business Platinum

Up to 80,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold 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 review here.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

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.

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard

A good package, but only available to HSBC Premier clients Read our full review

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

Comments (26)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Jordan D says:

    Are Turkish Airlines still status matching? Might be time to sort that for the UA lounge …

  • Tariq says:

    I’ve got F seats booked EWR-LAS in July, are there any other options for getting into United lounges without paying extortionate amounts of cash? Was dismayed to find out that domestic F doesn’t get you into a lounge…

    • Rob says:

      Only if you can get a Star Alliance Gold status match from a BA Gold or similar, probably via Turkish.

    • Alan says:

      I’m guessing that’s not one of the United ‘premium service’ routes? It’s just I thought they offered lounge access on those ones, but it may be JFK-LAX

    • Stuart says:

      You could buy a United one-time pass from eBay for about $20, does that count as an extortionate amount of cash?

      • Tariq says:

        Thanks, that sounds more affordable than what I thought UA themselves were charging…!

  • Roger says:

    Only slightly OT, no more alcoholic drinks in the LHR T2 Plaza Premium arrivals lounge, according to Priority Padd newsletter:

    QUOTE
    UNITED KINGDOM
    London Heathrow Airport (LHR)
    Plaza Premium Lounge (Arrivals)
    April 15, 2015
    Please note alcoholic drinks are not available until further notice at the Plaza Premium Lounge (Arrivals) located in Terminal 2.
    UNQUOTE]

    The United change seems to part of a wider ‘enhancement’ as several United clubs no longer accept PP cards, according to the PP newsletter.

  • Joe says:

    So, some downgrades to the Priority pass – I wonder if this takes them below the 700 lounges? And if so, I wonder how many years it will take Amex to notice when promoting the (diminishing) benefits of their Platinum Card? They are still boasting access to 1000+ lounges in some parts of their advertising literature, which I imagine is a hangover from the days of the Marco Polo benefit.

    • Rob says:

      I told Amex to change this and I think they made one change but not elsewhere. FCA trouble may loom ….

      • KK says:

        Apologies for going off topic, but does SPG starpoints expire after 12 months? I had amex spg points which i converted nearly 12 months ago 20th april 2014 to be precise. Do they expire in 12 months? Any ideas on how to keep it active appreciated.

        • Flyoff says:

          They do expire after 12 months. Having an Amex SPG card and spending keeps them alive. You can convert to Avios. In my experience they will re-instate them if you go over the year but you would be taking a risk on Thierry goodwill.

          • Khozema says:

            I cancelled the card shortly after claiming the initial signup/spending bonus of 20k points. So don’t have any avenues of collecting. Unless of course book a stay at SPG or perhaps Uber. Are there any freebie points to be had like any social media/ promotion ? Or perhaps only option of $17.50 purchase of 500 points?

          • Rob says:

            You can reapply for the SPG card as long as you cancelled 6 months ago.

  • Fenny says:

    My mate will be miffed. She paid for a PP card when she was going to visit her dad last year in the US just so she could used the United lounge.

  • What's the Point says:

    Just got in.
    Flying German Wings on the 29th of April from T2 to knock a few more quid off the Amex Plat membership fee!

  • Koshka says:

    Whilst I really like the United Club lounge I have just experienced the crushing disappointment of opening the “Lincolnshire Sausages” tray to discover yet more Thai chicken curry. It’s still nice to be sitting in daylight though.

  • RIccati says:

    Been to a Delta Sky Club briefly and noticed something about discontinuation/limits for AMEX Plat holders.

    Btw, United has “a new policy” about baggage interlining — they give a firm “no” if flights are not on the same itinerary. Star Alliance flights are allowed as “an exception” to the policy. It is a pain when you have a combo of paid and reward flights — they can’t be on the same itinerary. Airline industry must recognise that.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

The UK's biggest frequent flyer website uses cookies, which you can block via your browser settings. Continuing implies your consent to this policy. Our privacy policy is here.