Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Manchester Airport to re-open its lounges – and get 20% off parking

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

Manchester Airport has announced that its directly-owned airport lounges will open on 11th July.

This means you can now book the Escape lounges in Terminal 1 and Terminal 3.  The 1903 Lounges and Premiair terminal will remain closed.

It isn’t yet clear what facilities will be available in the lounges.

Our review of the Escape Lounge in Manchester Terminal 3 is here.

If you want to pre-book slots for cash, you can do so here.

Manchester Airport lounges to reopen

….. and save on Manchester Airport parking

Until midnight today (30th June) you can save 20% on official airport parking for July and August, and 15% on parking between September and December.  All bookings can be cancelled or changed without penalty.

The special discount is only available via this link.


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.

Comments (107)

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

  • Pid says:

    My Curve card does not seem to be working since last weekend. Do you need to update the app or anything or should it just now work?

    • mr_jetlag says:

      update required

    • First Class Fiona says:

      @Pid, pop along to your app store and you should see a Curve update. Bloody marvellous stuff.

      • Andrew L says:

        I’m still shocked at the £1,500 every month on champers from M&S, that you mentioned above, just to get a rebate on your Curve metal fee. You are living the dream, Fiona. First Class Fiona indeed!!

        • First Class Fiona says:

          @Andrew L, I don’t spend that much on champers every month old bean but one has to entertain with appropriate beverages. I also use my other five retailers to try and cover the monthly fee.

          What you can also do is spend £1,500 on items that are easily returned and refunded. Guess what happens to your Curve points on a refund? That’s right, nothing! They aren’t reclaimed and they stay in your Curve cash. If that isn’t bloody tremendous, I don’t know what is.

          Bottoms up!

          • Andrew L says:

            😂 You are a hoot, Fiona. Top class! Thank you

          • Alex W says:

            That is really stretching the limits of morality for me. Costing curve money and they get nothing in return. How to make them go bust…

          • Secret Squirrel says:

            If your any good at this game you’ll make Curve Metal pay you nicely each month.

      • Daz says:

        Been having a problem paying HMRC VAT lately, any idea how to get around this error:

        Sorry, there is a problem with the service
        You can select another payment option or try again later.

        It comes up after entering curve card details, occasionally I get a payment through but wondered if there is a trick to it (on curve metal). Thanks

        • old bob says:

          Daz,
          I find that when I have neglected to pay, or more usually genuinely can’t be arsed to cough up. I get the inevitable reminder to pay, that sending an email along the lines of;

          ” Dear HMRC, Thank you for contacting me, I am away on leave, traveling through time and will be returning last week” generally confuses the average civil servant, and gives me more time to enjoy a jar or three with Geoff in my local.

  • Riccatti says:

    Kudos to Curve.

    I had a refund reaching my Curve card on Friday, June 26th. (Merchant issued it some earlier in the week). I see it today reflecting on my underlying card.

    I was prepared not to see this for months (if Wirecard Card Solutions accounts were in administration and client money not properly ringfenced).

    Truly impressive.

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

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.