Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

British Airways adds lounge access at more European airports including Porto and Reykjavik

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

Last September, we published a list of British Airways European destinations which did not offer lounge access.

There are some airports on the British Airways network which simply do not have an airport lounge, as I found out in Pula, Croatia last Summer.  There isn’t much British Airways can do about this.  There are others, however, where there is a lounge but British Airways simply refuses to pay for it.

British Airways is now doing what it can to set this right.  In early February, they added Innsbruck, Ibiza, Krakow and Seville.

As of this Monday, you can now also access a lounge at Porto and Reykjavik.

Anika reviewed the lounge in Porto last year.  Click here to see what you have been missing.

The campaign continues …..

These airports have a lounge which BA won’t pay for but you can use a Priority Pass instead:

Lanzarote ACE

Catania/Fontanarossa CTA

Madeira FNC

Heraklion International Nikos Kazantzakis HER

Humberside HUY

Mykonos JMK

Olbia/Costa Smeralda OLB

Palermo/Punta Raisi PMO (landside)

Paphos International PFO

Thessaloniki Macedonia International SKG (as of 1st July 2017)

Split SPU

Rhodes – Diagoras International RHU

Tallinn TLL

These airports have a lounge which BA won’t pay for and which only accept cash, not Priority Pass / Lounge Club:

Brindisi/Casale BDS

Bordeaux-Merignac BOD

Bari/Palese International BRI

Cagliari CAG

Dalaman International DLM

London City Airport LCY (in the Private Jet Terminal)

And finally, here is a reminder of British Airways-served airports which have no lounge at all so you can’t blame BA for not letting you in:

Bergen, Flesland Airport BGO

Corfu / Ioannis Kapodistrias International Airport CFU

Chania International Airport CHQ

Chambery-Savoie CMF

Bergerac-Roumaniere EGC

Friedrichshafen FDH

Fuerteventura FUE

Grenoble-Isere GNB

Frederico Garcia Lorca GRX

Skiathos Island National JSI

Santorini JTR

Kos KGS

Kalamata KLX

Limoges LIG

Menorca MAH

San Javier MJV

Nantes Atlantique NTE

Asturias OVD

Pula PUY

Rotterdam RTM

Quimper-Cornouaille UIP

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

British Airways and Avios

Comments (144)

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

  • Tilly says:
    28 Feb28 February 13:44

    OT – impressed how fast bonus MR points posted. Upgraded PRG 2 weeks ago. Hit the £1k spend within 10 days …..even though my new card only arrived yesterday! Then applied for a supp card for the husband and the 5k bonus MR points posted almost instantly – within 5 mins!

    Still waiting for my welcome pack and email though.

  • Ian says:
    28 Feb28 February 14:14

    OT – can I use my Curve personal debit card (which is linked to my IHG CC) to pay a credit card bill? Or are there charges to do this? If not this could be a great way to rack up points…

  • moktar says:
    28 Feb28 February 14:15

    OT: Has Barclays taken down Hilton Honors Platinum Visa card? I can’t seem to locate it on their site. Hilton’s link to the card doesn’t work either.

    • wally1976 says:
      28 Feb28 February 14:26

      Oh dear…I can’t find it either :-(. Glad I got his ‘n’ hers in January. End of an era…??

      • Rob says:
        28 Feb28 February 14:33

        It has gone. Barclaycard has confirmed. Still waiting for Hilton to confirm.

        • Richy says:
          28 Feb28 February 14:38

          Do you think this was in response to your presentation at the Co-Brand Credit Card Conference, Rob?

          • Rob says:
            28 Feb28 February 15:00

            The Hilton team told me at the conference that they were working on a new benefits package for the card. They didn’t mention that they were about to pull the current one though!

        • Tilly says:
          28 Feb28 February 15:00

          Is that for existing card holders too? Or just closed to new applications? Had my card for over 10 years and will be sorry if it goes.

        • Cate says:
          28 Feb28 February 15:44

          Yes it’s been a good earner for me to Tilly and staff were very helpful when I had a fraud issue..

          Well they may be bringing in a visa version of the new American offering 🙂

      • Gavin says:
        28 Feb28 February 16:08

        Damn! I was hoping to persuade Mrs Gavin to sign up for it after we have moved house (can anyone on HfP recommend a nice place to live within. 30 mins train or tube journey from St Paul’s?).

        Guess I will keep mine until the better end now.

        • Anna says:
          28 Feb28 February 18:23

          I just got mine last week, looks like it was just in time! (Unless the replacement is better, but that rarely seems to happen)

    • Gill says:
      28 Feb28 February 18:05

      Shame – was on my plans for this year. Just as well the other half got his Lloyds application in the other week.

    • RK says:
      28 Feb28 February 18:24

      Absolutely gutted! ☹️

  • @mkcol says:
    28 Feb28 February 14:21

    OT: Spend £125 or more for a £20 AMEX statement credit. Book, rent & pay by 31 May 2018.
    Could combine well with the Virgin Atlantic 6000 miles offer for Avis rentals of group C or higher for 3 days or more, which expires today.

  • wally1976 says:
    28 Feb28 February 14:24

    OT – for anyone interested – I have taken out a new Amex Gold charge card in the last few days. Straight after activating it, I asked on live chat if there was any bonus for adding a supplementary cardholder and was told “no”. So I added one anyway and, sure enough, 3000 MR points hit my account the very next day :-).

  • john says:
    28 Feb28 February 14:53

    What happens to the clubhouse apartment after 4th March?

    The booking form seems to suggest can book it in April onwards or is that bogus? Seems to cost £1 per night!

  • Tom says:
    28 Feb28 February 15:03

    OT: Lloyds Avios gone from their website

    • New Card says:
      28 Feb28 February 15:25

      Hilton and Lloyds gone on the same day :O
      February gone and no sign of new Virgin card 🙁

      • Tom says:
        28 Feb28 February 15:30

        I know, I was going to apply for Hilton one this week as well … Hopefully they will introduce something new like they did in the USA with Amex (Hilton)

        • Rob says:
          28 Feb28 February 15:34

          Is there a market in the UK for a £350 fee Hilton credit card, albeit one which gives you Diamond status and £500 of credits to spend at Hilton hotels (restricted in how they can be used).

        • Craig Strickland says:
          28 Feb28 February 15:40

          I think something like the US Aspire card which include Priority Pass maybe? It would basically have to compete with the Amex Platinum Rewards, I think they would struggle to do that if it’s co-branded.

        • Tilly says:
          28 Feb28 February 15:40

          What can the £500 credits be used for?

        • Tom says:
          28 Feb28 February 15:43

          There is also a free one and $95 one too with a good sign-up bonus – that could work if the SPG works

        • Cate says:
          28 Feb28 February 15:49

          Rob there is a market for a £350 fee card. They could double that for us and I’d still take two out for myself and MrCate.

        • Tilly says:
          28 Feb28 February 16:43

          Thanks Rob. Depending on any other fee paying cards I hold at the time I could be tempted. 100k HH points doesn’t go far though if redeeming for their nicer properties. Diamond and other benefits though could sway it. Looks like churning might be harder with that card.

        • New Card says:
          28 Feb28 February 16:53

          If it had more earning power per £1 (ie more than 2 points per £1) like some of the US cards do then a fee that high could be viable.

        • TripRep says:
          28 Feb28 February 18:16

          Rob – yes there is. I’d pay for Diamond status and $500 credit + 100k HH pts.

        • What's the Point says:
          28 Feb28 February 20:56

          That new Hilton Amex card in the US looks pretty impressive. Especially for someone that can use the credits and bonus multiplier points to the maximum value.

      • Craig Strickland says:
        28 Feb28 February 17:09

        Is this you working on a new article for tomorrow now Rob?

        • RK says:
          28 Feb28 February 18:26

          Not for me personally….would not want to pay for HHonors card… anyway just one opinion amongst many

    • Craig Strickland says:
      28 Feb28 February 15:28

      Falling like flies!

    • KevMc says:
      28 Feb28 February 16:36

      No application link, though

    • Lynx says:
      28 Feb28 February 16:41

      Yes, but there’s no “apply here” button. It’s gone from the LBG website, although they have forgotten to remove the references to Amex and Avios from the bottom of the page.

      As the 2-4-1 is no use to me, I’m hoping it won’t be pulled from existing cardholders until around the end of the year, but that looks a little less likely now.

    • Grimz says:
      28 Feb28 February 19:23

      I got mine approved today

  • S879 says:
    28 Feb28 February 15:58

    OT: re the Hilton Barclaycard being taken down. I applied for it just a few days ago and was accepted. Haven’t received the card yet. If I do and I spend £750, will they honour the free new night certificate. I applied after a gap of 6months and 2 weeks.

    • Rob says:
      28 Feb28 February 16:00

      There is no 6 month rule with Barclaycard, but you might still get the voucher anyway.

      • Rob says:
        28 Feb28 February 21:40

        I applied a couple of weeks ago and was declined, no reason given. I have a good credit score and cancelled my Hilton Visa over 6 months ago.

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

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. Got any questions? Ask them in our forums.

Latest Forum Posts

Get 40,000 bonus points (worth 40,000 Avios) and £300 dining credit with The Platinum Card

Check reward flight availability instantly for free!

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

Get £10 when you spend £150 on your free Currensea card

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 £1.7 million of rooms to date. Click for details.

SME? EARN POINTS WORTH 10,500 AVIOS WITH CAPITAL ON TAP

Get 20,000 bonus points, four airport lounge passes and your first year free with American Express 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!