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Excellent Groupon deal for DragonPass – a cheap way to use Plaza Premium lounge in T5

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A very interesting Groupon deal has come up which will get you into the new Plaza Premium lounge in BA’s Heathrow Terminal 5 for just £19, and just £16 for further visits.

Let’s take a step back first for some background …..

If you do not have airline status or are not travelling in Business or First Class, the only way to get airport lounge access (without paying steep walk-up prices) is via membership of a lounge club.

The three major lounge access cards are:

Priority Pass (buy outright here via a generous Black Friday discount or free with Amex Platinum)

Lounge Club (two free visits per year for Amex Preferred Rewards Gold cardholders) and

LoungeKey (for MasterCard World Elite cardholders, eg HSBC Premier)

These are all owned by the same company, Collinson Latitude.  Whilst there are some differences between the lounges available across the three Collinson Latitude products, the similarities are far greater.

DragonPass is the only independent group offering airport lounge access cards.  It is not connected with Collinson.  This has allowed it to cut some interesting deals which are not available with the three Collinson products.

Here are some interesting London examples which are NOT available with Priority Pass or Lounge Club:

Exclusive DragonPass offers at Heathrow:

In Terminal 5 and Terminal 2, you can use the Regus Express business centre lounge in Arrivals

In Terminal 5, you can use the new Plaza Premium departures lounge 

In Terminal 3, you can use the No 1 Lounge in departures (this is in Priority Pass but not Lounge Club)

You get dining discounts – but no freebies – at The Prince of Wales (T4), Giraffe (T3, T5), Comptoir Libonais (T4), The Curator (T3), Apostrophe (T4), Wonder Tree (T2), Market Gardener (T3)

Exclusive DragonPass offers at Gatwick:

In South Terminal, you can use the Regus Express business centre lounge in Arrivals

You can get dining discounts – but no freebies – at Nicholas Culpepper (North), Giraffe (South), Garfunkels (North), Wonder Tree (South), Apostrophe (South), Eat (North), Armadillo (North), Shake-a-Hula (North), Comptoir Libonais (North), Joe’s Coffee House (South)

Obviously DragonPass will also get you into most of the ‘usual suspect’ lounges which Priority Pass can also access such as Aspire and No 1 Lounges sites.

You can search the DragonPass lounge directory here.

What does a DragonPass card cost?

The standard prices for a DragonPass card are listed here (toggle to £ in the menu bar):

£68 gets you one lounge visit, with future visits and guests charged at £16

£128 gets you eight lounge visits, with future visits and guests charged at £16

£268 gets you unlimited lounge visits, with guests charged at £16

However, at the moment there is a very attractive deal available via Groupon.

The Groupon deal – save 57%

Click here for the offer.

Via Groupon, you can buy a 1-year DragonPass card for just £29 instead of £68.

If you do not have a Groupon account already, code NEW50 should take a further £10 off if this is your first order, taking your cost down to just £19.

This includes your first lounge visit for free.  Future visits plus guests, as per the above, will be charged at £16.

This is an excellent way of accessing the very impressive new Plaza Premium lounge in Heathrow Terminal 5 (see our coverage here and here and here.)   This lounge charges £40 on the door and the only other way in at present is by showing an American Express Platinum charge card.  It does NOT take Priority Pass, Lounge Club or LoungeKey.

Even if you only planned to make one visit to Plaza Premium in Terminal 5, this is £11 cheaper (£21 cheaper if you use the NEW50 code) than paying £40 on the door.  Future visits will save you £24 each time.  Given the cost of food and drink in the terminal, you won’t struggle to get £16 of value from a visit to Plaza Premium Terminal 5.

It is worth nothing that the lounge is incredibly quiet.  I have never seen a report which said it had more than 10 guests.  Unless it starts to accept Priority Pass, or until American Express starts to promote it to Platinum cardholders, I expect it to remain a haven of solitude!

If you want to buy, the Groupon link for a cheap DragonPass is here. 

Getting airport lounge access for free from a credit card

How to get FREE airport lounge access via UK credit cards (April 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 1,300 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

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

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

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus 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 £195 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 huge bonus, 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.

Category

General

Comments (87)

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

  • Tim Millea says:
    26 Nov26 November 12:30

    Just purchased the Groupon DragonPass for access to the Plaza Premium Heathrow Terminal 2 in January before our strictly no-alcohol served Egypt Air flight to Luxor – if the UK FO don’t stop us travelling before. Thanks Rob!

  • Alan says:
    26 Nov26 November 13:07

    Planning to try out the new T5 Plaza Premium lounge next weekend (via Plat) after going through security via the First Wing and briefly stopping off in the BA Flounge 😀 Will be interested to see what it’s like.

  • s879 says:
    26 Nov26 November 13:31

    O/T: Could someone clarify if I could refer someone from my Amex Platinum for cards other than Gold or Platinum and get referral bonus. I read something vaguely but am not sure how it works. Can they toggle and choose say an SPG Amex or BA Amex? If yes, what’s the referral bonus?

    • Alan says:
      26 Nov26 November 13:41

      Reports over last couple of days have suggested success. Looks like should be 18k per successful application if generated by an Amex Plat, regardless of card.

      • s879 says:
        26 Nov26 November 16:27

        Thanks Alan, I can only see the usual referral link option when I log-in. Are they able to choose the SPG etc Amex on the other end?

        • Alan says:
          26 Nov26 November 16:33

          Yes – if you copy the link and try it yourself in incognito/private browser window you’ll see there’s now a big button ‘view other cards’ – this will initially show charge card options, then click on ‘credit cards’ to see the full range of SPG, BA, etc.

        • mark2 says:
          26 Nov26 November 19:01

          Thanks Alan. Very useful.
          Do you know what happens with the points when I refer from SPG and they convert to Platinum for example? Do I get 18,000 SPG or just 5,000?

        • Genghis says:
          26 Nov26 November 19:04

          5k SPG

          • Alan says:
            26 Nov26 November 22:18

            Agreed, so whatever you do don’t refer from Nectar, you’ll only get 5k Nectar points! If you hold Plat long term (like I do) then always refer from it until 90k hit, then move on to refer from another card (prob SPG if you have it, esp as 90k limit takes more referrals to hit).

        • mark2 says:
          26 Nov26 November 20:16

          Thanks Genghis; as I suspected.
          Still, better than nothing.

  • john says:
    26 Nov26 November 15:48

    I just got this on Groupon. I am in T5 next Saturday (2nd). How can I gain access as I’ve not received any confirmation email with any membership number or such? Nothing in my inbox at all. I doubt I receive the physical card by then too.

    • John says:
      26 Nov26 November 16:06

      Email or phone them if you’re worried. Good customer service, I’ve found.

      But if you download DragonPass app from Apple or Google play stores to your smartphone.

      Then register your email address.

      A virtual card will then appear on the app. You don’t need a physical card.

      • john says:
        26 Nov26 November 16:34

        Thanks but cannot activate the app without activation code and membership number. The group-on instructions are really confusing. There is an activation link in the Groupon voucher but the T5 Airside lounge NOT listed as available for activation, only the Arrivals one! Why is this so difficult? I guess will need to make a phone call tomorrow. Is Raffless sure this is valid for th airside lounge? If so, why cannot gain access to this one with the groupon activation link?

        • Paul says:
          26 Nov26 November 17:05

          I was as confused as you are, you do not need to select a lounge just go to the “Redeem Now” page on the site that is linked from the Groupon receipt https://redeem.dragonpassuk.com/Payment and enter your details and the code from the groupon voucher. You should then receive an email with password number & activation code/password

        • Rob says:
          26 Nov26 November 19:28

          Because the Groupon deal was presumably launched before the lounge opened and so is not on the list.

  • Cuchulain says:
    26 Nov26 November 16:01

    Thoughts please : 1.Travelling ET BHD to LHR and LGW ( South ) to MCO next July on BA for 25th wedding anniversary ( 241 BAPP thanks Robb / HFP ) – DP deal seems like a good deal plus then load it with 1 guest pass for LGW (S). ( I have no status and not likely to change )
    2. Returning MCO to LGW in BA CW and LHR to BHD in BA CE – do both / either return flights allow us lounge access and what / where ? ( BA have already cancelled our LHR to BHD flight on 1st Aug and offered us the next flight 6hrs later …)
    Thanks in advance

    • John says:
      26 Nov26 November 16:08

      You did not say which cabin for the outbound longhaul. I assume CW which means you will have lounge access at LGW, MCO and LHR, as well as BHD if you are connecting same day. There is no need to get a dragon pass unless you have become jaded with the BA lounges, or your LGW-MCO is actually in WT(P)

      • Cuchulain says:
        26 Nov26 November 20:11

        John, sorry for not making clear : Outbound on same day Economy from BHD and PE/WT+from LGW to MCO.
        Inbound ( overnight 31st July ) MCO to LGW in CW and CE LHR to BHD later that day ( 1st Aug ).

        • TripRep says:
          26 Nov26 November 20:20

          You should have BA lounge access for the return legs.

          Outbound you won’t have anything unless you get into a independent lounge with membership/cash…

        • TripRep says:
          26 Nov26 November 20:35

          As an aside had you considered MIA so you didn’t have to go LGW—>LHR

          Often do outbound to MCO/TPA and return via MIA through LHR, can get a 24hr oneway rental of a Mustang/Camaro convertible with VS/Alamo for £50-£60 inc fuel!

        • Cuchulain says:
          26 Nov26 November 20:45

          TripRep,
          Thanks – as I thought Outbound, so I’ve jumped on this Groupon / DragonPass deal !! Will just add missus on for £16 to get us into LGW DP lounges – thx.
          Re MIA : considered that but minimal redemption opportunity for 241 and mega taxes.
          Re car hire – priced up the mad Mustang !! Currently approx £38 all in per day for 16 days but probably go Intermediate / Standard SUV – any ideas ?

        • TripRep says:
          26 Nov26 November 20:56

          I normally do Avis Base SUV for 14 nights rtn to MCO, then a 1 day one way down to MIA with Alamo as described above.

          Avis tend to let you choose the actual car in that level, think VW Tiguan, Ford Escape/Kuga.

          Also try holidayautos.com for a quote to cvompare prices, they have certainly gone up since the Brexit vote…

        • Cuchulain says:
          26 Nov26 November 22:36

          Thanks TR

    • fivebobbill says:
      26 Nov26 November 19:21

      Reading all that gave me a headache…

  • Ben Goulding-Huckle says:
    26 Nov26 November 16:51

    Looks like the NEW50 voucher has stopped working “Sorry, the code can’t apply to this purchase. Check the code’s rules.”

  • Anna says:
    26 Nov26 November 18:24

    OT but re Groupon – i’ve just checked my emails and someone seems to have hacked my Groupon account, changed the name on it and tried to place several orders, though these appear to have been rejected. I’ve changed my password and contacted Groupon but obviously don’t know how this has happened or if it’s affected anyone else. As a precaution, I’m also going to remove my credit card details from the account.

    • Anna says:
      26 Nov26 November 18:28

      Though seemingly you can’t remove your credit card details without actually speaking to them!

  • patrick says:
    26 Nov26 November 20:23

    One way to get the Dragonpass membership for free is through Regus (go to my account, tools, lounges)…I believe this is available even with the basic PAYG Regus membership, although you still have to pay for lounge visits at 16gbp each

    • Tungro says:
      27 Nov27 November 10:51

      £16 is still less than the Groupon deal. So thank you for this – just signed up via my existing Regus account.

      Anyone doing the same, please note – when you use the app, you log on with the membership number and password from the email. Don’t select the “activate digital membership” option as that won’t work.

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