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Aspire airport lounges announces lengthy Luton and Edinburgh closures

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It doesn’t seem that long ago since it last had a makeover, but the Aspire Lounge at Luton Airport is to close for facelift.

If you want to see what it is currently like, our last review of Aspire Luton is here.

Looking at the booking calender on the Executive Lounges website, the lounge will be closed from Sunday 26th January to Thursday 12th March inclusive.

The high quality Clubrooms lounge (I reviewed the Luton Clubrooms lounge here) will remain available for Priority Pass and Lounge Club cardholders but there is a supplementary charge of £10.  No children under 5 are admitted.

….. as is the Aspire lounge at Edinburgh Airport

With the brand new Aspire lounge at Edinburgh Airport, by Gate 16, now up and running, the company is planning a full refurbishment of the original lounge.  This is the site down by Gate 5.

The closure is planned for 1st March to 14th April.

This shouldn’t provide too much inconvenience for lounge card holders, except at peak times, as you can still choose from the brand new Aspire lounge which we reviewed here as well as the new No 1 Lounge which we reviewed here.  We need to hope that the planned soft refurbishment of the British Airways lounge does not happen at the same time.

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

General

Comments (26)

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

  • Sapiens says:
    22 Jan22 January 04:59

    FYI The good Doha priority pass lounge has been replaced by a FAR smaller and worse lounge with a considerably diminished food and drink offering. Almost standing room only and little food.

    Unfortunate, given how bad Qatar’s OWS status lounge is

    • TGLoyalty says:
      22 Jan22 January 07:50

      A decent airport ruined by its lounges.

      All of them are poor including the downgrading of their proper J and F lounges.

  • Yorkieflyer says:
    22 Jan22 January 05:56

    Another Priority Pass update is that showers are now chargeable in the plaza premium LHR arrival lounges

    • Alex M says:
      22 Jan22 January 07:16

      What? Since when?

      • Rob says:
        22 Jan22 January 08:16

        This is correct.

        • n_g says:
          22 Jan22 January 08:21

          Does this also apply to if you enter with an Amex Platinum Card as opposed to the Priority Pass.

          • Youllnever says:
            22 Jan22 January 08:45

            Or other cards like the Cathay Pacific Elite card?

          • Rob says:
            22 Jan22 January 08:51

            Dunno. It could be different, I agree.

          • Youllnever says:
            22 Jan22 January 09:05

            Just had a look at Priority Pass’ lounge list and it now seems to say that shower facilities are subject to payment in all PP and Aspire lounges in LHR.

          • Lady London says:
            22 Jan22 January 10:11

            Are we talking £15 or so extra now? Haven’t used them but was nice to know the opportunity was there as an inclusion.

          • Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:
            22 Jan22 January 14:11

            Was free last summer at PP T3 using Amex Plat

          • yorkieflyer says:
            22 Jan22 January 14:30

            Re using a Plat to gain access, according to the Amex website “Card Members and his or her guests will receive all of the complimentary benefits and amenities afforded to the Plaza Premium Lounge customers, as well as access to purchase non-complimentary items. Some product features may be subject to additional charges. ” So that’s clear then….maybe.

  • DaveL says:
    22 Jan22 January 08:37

    Can you book Clubrooms at Luton ahead of time? Flying during aspire closure and don’t want to be stuck in that terminal!

  • Alexey says:
    22 Jan22 January 09:52

    Do you need to prepay these 10 pounds in advance for Clubroom Luton for Lounge Club holder or can just pay at entrance ?
    Going to test it in 10 day

    • Alex says:
      23 Jan23 January 11:56

      I would pre-pay if I were you, if you definitely want to use it. Otherwise they might turn you away if it’s full.

  • Chris says:
    22 Jan22 January 10:51

    Lounge Related Question.

    Any tips for buying lounge access at LHR T2 (for someone else) departing tomorrow? Just book direct through Plaza Premium website, which is quoting £41,or is there a ‘hack’ / Promo I’m missing?

  • Kathy Hallam says:
    22 Jan22 January 10:59

    My son and his girlfriend have a booking for 27th January. We were not informed of closure 26th. What are they supposed to do? I bought them these tickets in good faith !

    • Rob says:
      22 Jan22 January 11:28

      You might get lucky – I reckon Aspire will send you to Clubrooms and you won’t be asked to pay any extra.

  • BSI1978 says:
    22 Jan22 January 13:41

    Anyone know of any deals/discounts for Clubrooms at Luton? £24 seems a tad toppy based on Robs review….

  • Daniel says:
    22 Jan22 January 20:53

    Lounge Question… I have the HSBC Premier WE lounge key and want to use the £15 credit for the grain store. With lounge visits complementary, is there anything stopping me from going there have a meal that is just under £15 paying for it, then order some drinks just under £15 paying for it and then order some snacks just under £15 and paying for it. Will I be charged or is this all included in the complementary visits through the membership?

    TIA

    • TGLoyalty says:
      22 Jan22 January 23:55

      The only thing stopping you would be the person serving you at the till, if they remember you ofcourse.

    • Polly says:
      23 Jan23 January 01:00

      You can order the drinks, meals etc. They will divide up into 15 parts in the bill, and have you sign just one of them. And if by any chance you get charged the extra 15, hsbc will refund it ASAP. Then move to the counter and order a nice smoothie, coffee to go, piece of cake, comes to just under 15 also…

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

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