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The Aspire lounge in London Gatwick’s North Terminal to close for refurbishment

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Aspire has announced that its lounge in Gatwick North will close on 26th February for refurbishment.  It will re-open under the Club Aspire format in May.

This is the oldest Aspire lounge in the portfolio, albeit only 6 years old, so the company clearly believes it is due a revamp.

Aspire lounge Birmingham entrance

This closure will put additional pressure on the No 1 Lounge (reviewed here) and My Lounge (reviewed here). 

If you are planning to visit Gatwick North – the easyJet terminal – with a Priority Pass or Lounge Club card you may want to consider paying £5 per person via this link to reserve a spot and guarantee admission, as well as getting Fast Track Security.


Getting airport lounge access for free from a credit card

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

Here are the five 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

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee 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 – 30,000 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

Got a small business?

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

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

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:

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits 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 (128)

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

  • Lee says:

    OT – related to another post today about Dubai hotel
    Need some suggestions.
    We’ve booked two nights in WA Palm for two nights over Easter weekend with free Hilton certificates. Also have 3 SPG cat 1-5 free night cert to use, currently booked for Sheraton Mall of Emirates due to lack of choice. Since the cat change from 6th Mar, Grosvenor House, Le Royal Méridien and W Dubai Al Habtoor City all dropped to cat 5, could anyone recommended one for a family of 3 with a 9 yrs boy? I’m spg platinum if that helps. Thanks!

  • KevMc says:

    O/T I don’t recall seeing it mentioned anywhere on here, but according to LL, it looks like Club Carlson is going to be renamed ‘Radisson Rewards’ from March 5th.

    Hopefully they will revamp the program as well as release an app that actually works as it should and doesn’t look like it was designed in the 90s

  • Anna says:

    I tweeted BA earlier asking why they had cancelled my 40 minute flight from LHR to MAN while still offering seats for sale at £343 pp. Funnily enough, they haven’t replied.

    • Cate says:

      I’ve been reading your posts throughout and couldn’t imagine how someone who isn’t up to speed on these things would manage. It’s a very poor start to your well planned flight..

    • Lady London says:

      Good one Anna. Name and shame.
      It does look as though British Airways has been rather naughty doesn’t it? 🙂

  • Dwadda says:

    Q for Rob: What top tier status did you use for the Hilton Diamond match?

    • JamesB says:

      He probably used IHG spire elite, however, IHG platinum has historically been mayched to diamond too. I asked in the comments in last few days if this was still the case and feedback was yes.

  • Rich says:

    Issue for me at the Gatwick North Aspire Lounge was the poor quality wine and very restricted catering…..,

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

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