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Review: the Upperdeck lounge at Glasgow Airport, used by Priority Pass

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This is our review of the Upperdeck lounge at Glasgow International Airport.

This is part of our series of reviews of airport lounges across the UK.  You see all of the reviews here.

I first reviewed the Upperdeck lounge in Glasgow just over two years.  I didn’t plan to review it again, but there has been a big change – the kids play area, which was the only stand-out thing about the lounge, has gone.  I thought it was worth updating my original article.  The photos are all new except where noted.

Whilst British Airways has its own lounge in Glasgow (it is very pleasant and I reviewed it here), there is a second lounge in the airport – the Upperdeck lounge.  This is your alternative to the BA lounge if you have a Priority Pass or HSBC Premier World Elite credit card LoungeKey card, or your only option if you don’t have access to the BA facility.

You will also be sent to this lounge if you are flying with Delta or Virgin Atlantic.  Emirates passengers do not use it – Emirates has its own lounge.

The Upperdeck lounge was previously known as the Skylounge – you may know it under that name from a previous visit.  It appears to be run by Aspire / Servisair (they sell access on their website and the wi-fi network is called ‘Servisair’) but does not carry either of those brands.

For some reason, the Upperdeck lounge didn’t really do it for me.  This is purely a personal opinion though – it is big and light and it may well work for you.

The lounge is situated above the main airport restaurant and is a little tricky to find.  Once you make it up there, you are greeted with a bright large space:

Upperdeck lounge at Glasgow Airport review

If that doesn’t appeal (and the banquette seating doesn’t do it for me) there is more traditional seating on the left:

Upperdeck lounge at Glasgow Airport review

and

Upperdeck lounge at Glasgow Airport review

Part of my lack of enthusiasm for the lounge, I think, is that it looks a bit like you are still inside the main terminal.  The British Airways lounge is designed to feel like a private club and does give a sense of being apart from crowds.

This time I was there for breakfast.  It wasn’t hugely exciting.  Apart from a few cereals and pastries, the only other option – and the only hot option I could see – was bacon rolls:

Upperdeck lounge at Glasgow Airport review

The photo of the reading selection is from 2017 but it is still as messy today!

Upperdeck lounge at Glasgow Airport review

Here is the bad news.  In 2017, Upperdeck had (note the past tense) a fantastic kids play area:

Upperdeck lounge Glasgow Airport review

Now it doesn’t:

Upperdeck lounge at Glasgow Airport review

A new bar has also been added in part of the space previously occupied by the play area.  There is a very small kids seating area in one corner but it is about 5% as much fun as it used to be.

In terms of access, the Upperdeck lounge is a member of Priority Pass (free with American Express Platinum). 

You can also pay for entry.  You can book for cash via the Lounge Pass website here.

If I was back in Glasgow and flying British Airways, I would choose the BA lounge over Upperdeck.  That is due to the BA lounge being rather impressive rather than any failings here – Upperdeck is perfectly acceptable.  It is only a shame that the only unique selling point – the best kids facilities of any UK airport lounge – has now gone.


Getting airport lounge access for free from a credit card

How to get FREE airport lounge access via UK credit cards (October 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 1,500 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

40,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

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

American Express Business Platinum

Up to 80,000 points when you sign-up 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 £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

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

Comments (34)

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

  • Dale says:

    Well clearly it’s not an equivalent to the BA lounge so it’s unfair to make the comparison – much better to compare with Aspire/No1 and it beats those lounges hands down.

  • Alan says:

    More hot food options that BA lounge though – only porridge outwith London for their breakfast offerings! (hence why normally worth popping next door to Aspire for a hot breakkie, or longer walk to No 1 for a bacon roll)

  • RussellH says:

    It is used by Lufthansa too.
    We used it before our trip to Hong Kong, first leg GLA-FRA at the very end of January before the flight at 1600.
    Belhaven beer, yes, but it is still not that good IHMO. (Not many things that the English can do better than the Scots, but beer is one of them. Bad English Beer is as bad as bad Scottish beer – probably. And some of the other breweries are improving – the last beer I had from Harviestoun was miles better than it was when I lived nearby and we bought it for the village hall.)
    As to the lounge, no. No food at all apart from a few crisps + nuts and a couple of bits of curling bread with a slim grated cheese stuffing.
    Nothing much to read either.
    I think that the Starbucks at Abington Services on the M74 was about the same standard as the lounge — and I try to avoid Starbucks.

    • Mark2 says:

      very damning last comment!

    • Lady London says:

      sounds like most lounges I have ever been in at french airports. Bar the CX lounge in paris, that is.

  • Louise Allen says:

    Whilst the BA lounge at GLA is decent and better than Upperdeck, I would struggle to call it impressive. It’s main redeeming feature is proximity to the gates for domestic flights. Maybe I’ve spent too long in there!

    • Rob says:

      It IS impressive. I used it the following day when I flew back to London, although nothing has changed since my previous review so I decided not to bother covering it again. Pop into Manchester if you’re not convinced!

  • PAL says:

    This Longe is poor, food poor too.

  • Don says:

    Yes, it’s rubbish. Drinks and food crap. Those sandwiches I wouldn’t feed to my dog. I pity anyone who eats them. I tend to buy a sandwich in town and bring it to the airport. Oh and the lift is crap. It’s just a very tired airport, especially the international side. It’s like stepping back in to 60s Britain.

    I’m preferring EDI more. From 50 mins on the bus from Buchanan Street vs about 20-25 to Glasgow. Only a fraction more for the EDI bus than the rip-off Glasgow “Flyer”.

    The Upperdeck lounge is a good reason to choose EDI, not that EDI lounges are so much better, but I can sit in the Aspire lounge and look at the LH gates out of the window. At GLA there is no proper priority boarding setup and its a long walk to find out that boarding is delayed. Aspire has some decent free Malt in Aspire and passable salad buffet.

  • Volker says:

    I always use the BA lounge at GLA which is absolutely fine – Rob nailed it IMO by describing it as giving “a sense of being apart from the crowds”. Staff at reception are friendly, knowledgeable and have been very helpful every time my flight was delayed or cancelled. Visited the Upperdeck lounge a couple of times as a Flybe passenger, and what really put me off was the noise levels – which were not due to kids in the play area. Instead, it was package holiday makers who felt that they had to “tell” everybody what a bargain they had got given all the free booze they were able to consume. Maybe isolated incidents, but I have since avoided that place like the plague.

  • occasional ranter says:

    I found this lounge very disappointing on both visits in last 2 years. They should hand over the running of it to whoever runs the friendly well-stocked little lounge at INV.

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