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The new Club Aspire airport lounge is now open in London Gatwick’s North Terminal

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The Aspire Lounge in Gatwick’s North (easyJet) terminal has now reopened following a refurbishment.  It is now a Club Aspire lounge.

For those who care about the business side of things, ownership is now split between Swissport (which owns the Aspire brand) and Collinson Latitude, which owns Priority Pass and is moving into direct lounge ownership.

The good news is that free prosecco is being served for the first two months!

We will be reviewing the lounge in a couple of weeks, so keep an eye out for that.

Access is via Priority Pass (free with Amex Platinum or buy one here), Lounge Club (two free passes with the free Amex Gold) or Mastercard World Elite’s LoungeKey.

You can also pre-book entry via the Aspire website here for £24.99.  Walk-up entry is £28.


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 (104)

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

  • A Pinate says:

    OT: Resort Fees payable on IHG Rewards nights?
    Hi everyone, looked online but could not find anything recent on this topic.
    I’m planning a rewards stay in New York – Crowne Plaza TImes Square, which does have a resort fee – but I wanted to check if people know if they are waived for IHG Rewards Members / Reward Nights?
    I’m a Spire Elite member if that makes any difference…

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

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