Club Aspire to reopen its lounges at Heathrow and Gatwick

News in brief:

Aspire lounge re-openings in London confirmed

If you are passing through Heathrow Terminal 5 soon, Aspire has confirmed that its Club Aspire lounge will reopen on Tuesday 25th May.

The Gatwick North lounge opens earlier, on Friday 21st May. The South Terminal at Gatwick remains closed, so if you are flying from Gatwick you will be in the vicinity of this lounge.

Our review of Club Aspire lounge at Gatwick Airport’s North Terminal lounge is here.

Our review of the Club Aspire lounge at Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 is here.

Both lounges are accessible via Priority Pass.

The Plaza Premium lounge in Heathrow Terminal 5, which is the only other independent option, does not yet have a published reopening date. The Plaza Premium lounge in Terminal 2 has been open for some time.

(Another) 100% bonus when you buy Hilton Honors hotel points

Well, would you believe it?

Hilton has brought back its offer of a 100% bonus when you purchase 15,000+ points, just a week after the previous ‘100% bonus’ offer closed.

The Hilton ‘buy points’ page is here. 

The annual purchase limit has been increased again for some people. If targetted, you can now buy 160,000 points, which would double up to 320,000 points with the bonus.

320,000 points is what you need to book a 5-night stay at an 80,000 points per night luxury hotel, given the ‘5 for 4’ deal given to all elite Hilton Honors members. 320,000 points would cost $1,600, which is currently £1,125 or 0.35p per point. This is virtually what I value them at, so it’s hard to lose money here.

This is the same deal I used to book 5 nights at the Waldorf Astoria Palm Jumeirah Dubai over Christmas, saving over 60% on the cash price. I wrote about how I did that in this article.

If you don’t see the 160,000 points offer, your purchase cap will be 80,000 points with a 100% bonus on top.

The page to buy points is here if you are interested. The offer runs to 8th July.

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How to get FREE airport lounge access via UK credit cards (June 2025)

Here are the six options to get FREE airport lounge access via a UK credit card.

Your best value option (but no points):

The cheapest route to a Priority Pass airport lounge card is via the Lloyds Bank World Elite Mastercard.

The credit card has a fee of £15 per month, and comes with a Priority Pass which gives unlimited free access for the cardholder. If you add a free supplementary cardholder, they will also receive unlimited free access.

Unlike the version of Priority Pass you receive with American Express, the Lloyds Bank version also lets you access £18 airport restaurant credits.

Even better, the credit card has 0% FX fees and comes with 0.5% cashback. Full details are in my Lloyds Bank World Elite Mastercard review.

Lounge access via American Express cards:

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 in-depth review of The Platinum Card from American Express is here.

You can apply here.

The American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Credit Card 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 Credit Card review here.

Lounge access via HSBC Premier credit cards (Premier account holders only):

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.

Got a small business?

If you have a small business, consider The American Express Business Platinum Card which has the same lounge benefits as the personal Platinum card:

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:

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