The new ‘Escape’ lounge at Stansted Airport opened on Monday. ‘Escape’ is the in-house brand operated by Manchester Airports Group, who own Stansted.
(This is part of our series of reviews of airport lounges across the UK. You see all of the reviews here.)
You can book your entry in advance via the Lounge Pass website here.
‘Escape’ is the first airport lounge to be located in the main departure area at Stansted, on the mezzanine floor. This means that EVERY passenger can use it, whichever pier they are flying from, although children under 6 are not allowed in.
The lounge takes part in Priority Pass. It is also part of Lounge Club so it is a good place to use the two free Lounge Club passes that come with the – free for the first year – American Express Gold card (review). Alternatively, you can buy entrance in advance to guarantee a spot.
Thank you to Mark for these first pictures of the new Escape lounge at Stansted.
About Head for Points
Nice! Looks superior to BA’s LGW lounges! (not very hard)
I have a Lounge Club card from a year or so ago that I got with Amex Gold, and have not yet used. The expiry date is still a week away. Is there any way for them to check that I no longer have that Amex card, or is the Lounge Pass card completely separate and so still would have 2 valid entries on it to use before the expiry the printed on it?
I tried looking online for a way to check validity but couldn’t find one.
They are cancelled pretty quickly I think when you cancel the card.
Lounge Club and Priority Pass cards only work when there is a valid credit card ‘guarantee’ on file to pay for extra guests. As your Amex is no longer active, Lounge Club would have no way of being paid for any extra guests you took in and so they close your card even though the two free visits were unused.
Ah, ok. As I have a new Amex Gold now anyway, I’ll just have to use the new lounge club card then. Thanks for your help.
Hi Andy
It was far superior to BA’s lounges, especially Gatwick. In fact I would go as far as saying it was actually nicer than galleries. Obviously it’s brand new and not everything’s free but for comfort and design it was most definitely up there.
One thing I have to praise were the staff, they were so friendly and couldn’t have been more helpful. I had better staff and service in this lounge than I’ve had on some BA F flights!
The whole airport had a fresh new feel although still in the final stages of its refit I think it’s been done very well.
Hi Mark,
Could you let us know what wasn’t free in the lounge? If my Lounge Pass is still valid I will be there this weekend, and am hoping it will be able to save me a hotel breakfast.
Thanks
Free items are cereals, pastries, cheese selection, cakes, fresh cooked bacon or sausage rolls, tea, coffee, juice etc.
If you want a full english (which was very nice by the way) then it’s an extra £6.95
Sat in here now. Brilliant place!
Free bacon or sausage bap. Fantastic cheese and bacon croissants. Basic spritits & drinks (Gordon’s) free. Then tanqaury etc. paid.
Anyone try using PP or Lounge Club cards to go thru fast track security ?
lounge club worked back in december
Cheers, will try it tomorrow morning.
PP card worked, no problems.
thanks for lettings us know, will try later today!
Anyone know if AirportAngel passes are accepted ?
Was wondering this myself George. It is listed on the site, so should be: https://www.airportangel.co.uk/airportangel/page.aspx?PageID=21&venue=15922
I’ve just received my first Lounge Club card after taking out the Preferred Gold Card. Are the two complimentary visits only for the named person on the card or can I use the 2 passes in one visit for me and my husband – or do I have to pay £15 for him as a guest?
You can use the 2 passes for you and your husband.
Does one just need to turn up and show the Lounge Pass card, or do you need to book a time slot, as mentioned on the stansted website?
Disappointing to say the least.
No hot food as per the included options in the booking despite asking twice for the buffet to be topped up, poor choice of sandwiches (egg, egg, ham or egg). Entry package only includes cheap unbranded spirits and beers, not main brands unless you pay more / upgrade.
Sorry but I don’t class Tsing Tao or Cobra lagers as premium brands but that’s what they are classed as here.
OK at £20 it isn’t at all expensive, but all other airport lounges I have visited have been sold service with main brands, and this isn’t.
Not recommended at all, I rate this 2 out of 5 at best
Thanks to this article I was able to enjoy this lounge on a trip out to Valencia last weekend. Here’s what I did:
I showed the Lounge Club card (it came with my Amex Gold card) to the guy on Fast Track security, he let my wife and I in (we only have one card between us) thus skipping the 150-person-long queue, and breezed through security in about 5 minutes.
You then have to go with all the other passengers through all the shops until you reach the main departure lounge. At the time we arrived (about 5.30am) there was standing room only, the place was packed! (possibly to do with the building work currently going on there). After a bit of shuffling around, we saw a sign to the lounge right by the toilets (not the most illustrious of entrances). The lounge itself had coffee machine, pastries, cookies, cereal etc, similar to a Premier Inn breakfast. The sausage in a bap was quite tasty too.
Apart from the fact that it was relatively calm, lots of seating, and good selection of food, one of the other great advantages is having its own toilets inside compared to the state of the main departure ones. I will be hanging on to my lounge card once I cancel the Amex gold, free fast track for the next 2 years sounds good to me!
I believe its £25 now. I am on the lounge via PP card. I thought the signage to direct me here was terrible. Although the last time I visited Stansted was 14 years ago so I cant recall if its better or worse. Sadly I forgot to ask about using PPcard for fast track. They’ve got pasta, houmous, sausage rolls, croissants, pies, pasties, sandwiches, cheese & crackers, fruit, cookies and soup. Not too bad. Very little natural light.