You can now pay for entry at the Qantas Heathrow Terminal 3 airport lounge

According to Executive Traveller, Qantas has opened its very good Heathrow Terminal 3 lounge (review here) to paying customers.

You do not need to be flying Qantas, oneworld or any particular cabin class: it is open to anyone passing through the terminal.

It costs £55 which is, needless to say, a lot. Despite its reputation as one of the best lounges in Heathrow you may baulk at the cost.

Apparently, Qantas is treating this as a trial. The lounge remains empty for most of the afternoon, since Qantas only flies from London at midday and just after 8pm. There is a good six hour slot between these two flights where one flight has departed and passengers for the second have not yet arrived.

£55 is a little steep compared to the No 1 Lounge (review here) and the Club Aspire lounge (review here), where £20-£25 can often get you access if you find the right deal.  That said, it is an impressive space.

My bigger question is over how Qantas intends to market it.  It can’t promote it to its own passengers who don’t have access, since the lounge is already busy over those periods.  It has no easy way of reaching other passengers flying out of Terminal 3 – short of sticking a big sign on the door saying ‘come on it, it’s only £55’ ……

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How to get FREE airport lounge access via UK credit cards (May 2023)

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 Plaza Premium, Delta Air Lines and Eurostar lounges.  Our American Express Platinum review is here. You can apply here.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 13th June, the sign-up bonus on The Platinum Card is doubled to 60,000 Membership Rewards points – and you get £200 to spend at Amex Travel too! Apply here.

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

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 £20.  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.

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard gets you get a free LoungeKey card, allowing you access to the LoungeKey network.  Guests are charged at £20 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.

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