Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

British Airways now using the No 1 Traveller lounge at Gatwick North – feedback?

Links on Head for Points may pay us an affiliate commission. A list of partners is here.

In early January, the British Airways lounge complex at Gatwick closed.  This is part of the preparation for the terminal switch which is due to take place in November, with easyJet moving everything to the North terminal and BA moving to Gatwick South.

My thoughts on the Gatwick North lounges have been published here.  I found the British Airways lounges to be pretty awful (see my comments here) and the No 1 Traveller lounge (review) and its sister My Lounge (review) facilities to be pretty good.

No 1 Traveller Gatwick bar 1

When it was announced that BA would be ‘moving in’ with No 1 Traveller for 11 months, I thought it would be an improvement!

The feedback so far on Flyertalk has been mixed, to put it mildly.  I am a little surprised by this.  It seems to come down to the following:

At peak times, the No 1 lounge is now overcrowded.  There are some reports of long waits for food (although, to be honest, not so many that it seems to be a major problem).

British Airways has decided not to issue vouchers for free champagne to First Class and Gold Card ticket holders who would otherwise have been able to get it in the old Galleries First lounge.  No 1 charges £8 per glass.  This is a fair point, although I was surprised that missing champagne had inflamed so many people.

I get a feeling that some of the bad feedback is from people who had never visited the old BA lounge and so were unaware of what was on offer before.  Last time I checked, the BA Gatwick lounge did not have a table football table, for example, unlike No 1.  The No 1 lounge buffet is also substantially better than anything BA offered.

No 1 Traveller Gatwick North

What we can say is that I wouldn’t bother turning up at the No 1 lounge at peak times clutching your Priority Pass card, as your chance of getting in is low.  You can pay £5 in advance to guarantee entrance with a Priority Pass via this website.

Whilst this has not been announced, it seems that BA and No 1 may be taking over the old Delta lounge which is two floors beneath the No 1 lounge, next to the Aspire lounge.  This may be run as a separate facility for BA Gold and First Class ticket holders, although they will struggle to get it up to much of a standard in the time available.

There are also rumours that the move to the South Terminal will be delayed until next Spring, which may account for the Delta lounge conversion.

If you have been in the No 1 Lounge at Gatwick as a BA passenger in the last 2-3 weeks – and I haven’t – do let us know your thoughts via the comments below.

Getting airport lounge access for free from a credit card

How to get FREE airport lounge access via UK credit cards (September 2021)

As a reminder, here are the three options to get FREE airport lounge access via a credit or charge card:

American Express Platinum card Amex

The Platinum Card from American Express

60,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

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 1,300 lounges in the Priority Pass network – search it here. 

You also get access to Plaza Premium, Delta and Eurostar lounges. The card has a sign-up bonus of 60,000 points which is a special offer running to 2nd November 2021.  Our American Express Platinum review is here. You can apply here.

Nectar American Express

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

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

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

Additional lounge visits are charged at £20.  You get two more free visits for every year you keep the card.  

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

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard

A huge bonus, but only available to HSBC Premier clients Read our full review

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard gets you get a free LoungeKey card, allowing you access to the LoungeKey network.  Guests are charged at £20 although it may be cheaper to pay £60 for a supplementary credit card for your partner.

The card has a fee of £195 and there are strict financial requirements to become a HSBC Premier customer.  Full details are in my HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard review.

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

Category

British Airways and Avios

Comments (119)

  • Steve says:
    11 Feb11 February 23:42

    Was in the LGW N no1 lounge a few weeks back on a Club Europe ticket. I like the style of the lounge better than the old BA offering which looked with. Hot food options far superior. Good selection of quality wines, spirits and beers, all served at the bar (which I prefer). My only gripes were overcrowding and lack of complimentary bubbles. The overcrowding issue must have been forseeable to both BA and No1. It actually appeared to me that BA were using the My Lounge as overspill too. I do think BA should offer vouchers to their customers travelling in premium cabins for free bubbles as it’s something they would have offered if the BA lounges were open. That said, it was a minor gripe because the lounge gin was good and the cabin crew served enough bubbles on-board to make up for it 🙂

    • Kathryn says:
      12 Feb12 February 14:10

      Lucky you, on my flight we had 8 rows of CE, and the crew rather heavily pushed the champers on their first pass through an hour into the flight, such that they had to stop serving it! Apparently 60 bottles onboard, so when they reached 30 (1 per pax) they stopped so they had enough for the return route. Then everyone switched to g&t, so return trip may have run out of that 😉

  • Mark Hicks says:
    13 Feb13 February 00:24

    Flew to Edinburgh – had an hour before departure… 15 minute q to get in with the No.1 lounge staff all on temp passes struggling with the system – then 5 mins to log a guest in with me … To find the place rammed to the rafters … Great service at the bar to place an order for food to be told it’s a 30min wait for a bacon roll – not the most challenging of breakfast items … Tables full of dirty crockery, people moaning all over the place … Would rather pay now for the My Lounge which was empty than the hassle of the this offering . Sat 6th Feb – 9ish

  • Pompeyyorkblues says:
    19 Feb19 February 11:26

    We flew from Gatwick on 15th Feb at 0825 and used the My Lounge with our Club Europe tickets. We found it fine, quiet and were happy with that. We never bothered entering the No 1 lounge due to the above comments, so cannot comment on that lounge, but as an alternative, you could try the My Lounge maybe?

    Food was good, drinks in good supply and although we have not travelled like this before, so may be easily pleased, we were happy with it. Thanks for the heads up on the No 1 Lounge though..

  • Nick says:
    22 Feb22 February 21:03

    No 1 lounge is terrible. BA should be ashamed. Not enough toilets, waiting 15 mins for a coffee, 40 mins for a terrible bacon roll and even the Diet Coke on tap is undrinkable. I mention people complain about the old terraces lounge, well sorry but a million times better than No 1!!!

    • Rob says:
      22 Feb22 February 21:52

      No 1 was totally fine before it was overrun by BA passengers …. in the same way that the BA lounges would have been a nightmare if No 1 had been shut and all the passengers sent up there!

    • harry says:
      22 Feb22 February 21:53

      It’s a real shame as No1 does a great job normally, they are normally excellent. Sounds like they took on the BA relief business & can’t cope.

      If I were in charge I would be making a lot of changes, why can’t No1 mgt & BA mgt see this?

      Start the self pour service same as old BA to relieve barhops.

      Recruit more barstaff & cleaners.

      Limit numbers to what is manageable.

      Probably increase prices.

      Simples

New to Head for Points?

Welcome!  We’re the UK’s most-read source of business travel, Avios, frequent flyer and hotel loyalty news. Let us improve how you travel. Learn more on our About page.

VAA

Latest comments

240,000 bonus Avios with British Airways Premium Plus American Express

SPECIAL OFFER: Get 60,000 points when you get Amex Platinum before 2nd November

Amex Gold
25,000 bonus Avios with Barclays Avios Rewards

Check reward flight availability instantly for free!

See a whole year of reward seat availability on one page at SeatSpy.com

Booking a luxury hotel?

Our luxury hotel booking service offers you GUARANTEED extra benefits over booking direct. Works with Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, The Ritz Carlton, St Regis and more. We've booked £1.3 million of rooms to date. Click for details.

SPECIAL OFFER: Amex Gold now has a 20,000 points bonus and no fee for the first year!

Amex Gold

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.

Got it!