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No1 Lounge re-opens at London Gatwick Airport today

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There is some good for anyone flying out of London Gatwick today, as the No1 Lounge and Clubrooms in the North Terminal (the only functioning terminal) reopen.

These are the first No1 Lounges to reopen after the latest lockdown.

No1 is not the business it was, unfortunately, having undergone a CVA. The lounges in Edinburgh and Luton are closed for good. The two My Lounge sites in Gatwick North and Gatwick South will not re-open in their current form, although I believe the sites are being retained.

No1 Lounges reopens at Gatwick today

Going forward, the business will only operate at Gatwick, Heathrow Terminal 3 and Birmingham.

The good news is that, with the company now in the same family as Priority Pass following its recent sale, Priority Pass holders will – from the Autumn – be able to access No1 Lounges sites again.

For now, the only way to get entry to the Gatwick North lounge is by booking a slot here for cash or by using a DragonPass card.

There is some confusion over opening hours. A company post on LinkedIn yesterday said that opening hours were restricted to 4am to noon, Monday to Friday. The website shows a 7-day operation from 4am with mid-afternoon closing times.

Our last review of the No1 Lounge at Gatwick North is here. A lot has changed since then, of course – it is now table service only and the overcrowding has presumably gone.

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 (41)

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

  • Stu N says:
    23 Jul23 July 08:56

    Has anyone booked Aer Lingus short haul via BAEC recently? Avios.com want 9k Avios and £75 for an EDI-DUB return.

    I know BAEC taxes and charges are cheaper for long haul but not sure if that’s the case for short haul too.

    • Damian says:
      23 Jul23 July 10:50

      +1

      • Stu N says:
        23 Jul23 July 11:46

        Looks like the saving will be small. The TFC on a cash booking is approx £62 on EI, vs £76 on redemption so you MIGHT save about £14 a head.

        Long haul, the reported difference is about the same as the fuel surcharge which isn’t charged on short haul flights.

    • ADS says:
      23 Jul23 July 11:46

      I phoned up BAEC a few months ago to get a quote for an Aer Lingus flight, and they came up with a cost that was actually slightly higher than on Avios.com

      The numbers seem to constantly change, possibly due to exchange rate fluctuations.

  • Blair says:
    23 Jul23 July 09:12

    Aer Lingus T2 lounge closed, Aer Lingus DUB lounge closed for refurb. Dublin T2 is a ghost town for the past year, with a single coffee kiosk open only till 13.00. Things may have improved in the past week with people allowed leave the country without a permitted reason.

    As others have said though, nothing is open for indoor dining UNLESS you’re a hotel guest in which case you can dine in. Thus major incentive to stay somewhere with more than 1 on site restaurant. Otherwise, the date for indoor dining and pubs to re-open has repeatedly slipped.

  • lgflyer says:
    23 Jul23 July 09:33

    Interestingly Ireland also lets in anyone with a EU Covid passport.
    So if a UK resident wants to meet a EU resident, Ireland is the only country where they can meet with no tests and no quarantine.

    • Jan M says:
      24 Jul24 July 13:58

      Hmmm. If only I had known this. I wouldn’t be spending 11 days in Croatia to travel back to the UK despite being double vaccinated (by evil untrustworthy foreigners).

  • Aaron C says:
    23 Jul23 July 10:48

    Is anything open In Ireland? Might consider a weekend but not much point if all the restaurants are shut!

    • Blair says:
      23 Jul23 July 11:20

      You can eat inside in your hotel

    • ADS says:
      23 Jul23 July 11:48

      Loads of restaurants are open serving outdoor dining, or indoor dining for wedding groups!

      Most pubs are doing outdoor drinking.

      Obviously it does rain in Ireland !

  • paul says:
    23 Jul23 July 11:16

    Flew Lgw to Dub on Wed night on Ryanair. The staff at the gate checked Iriah locator forms, we had the Northern Ireland vaccine cert but they also allowed the paper cert you get when you get your vaccine. Border control at Dub a breeze and only checked passport. Not one shop open at Gatwick at 9pm.

  • Sandgrounder says:
    23 Jul23 July 19:14

    Iceland are now going to require a test before arrival, although a lateral flow will be acceptable. I had a great couple of weeks with no restrictions and minimal risk, but cases are now rising again in Reykjavik (the highest levels this year) and some precautions may return. It was brilliant to spend some time in a post-covid world though, if you made the window.

    • Aaron C says:
      23 Jul23 July 19:30

      Same. Got back on Tuesday. There was no sign of Covid there at all. Like being back in 2019. Tourist numbers were recovering so most places were open and many busy but there were no large Chinese groups which made it quite pleasant.

  • Sam says:
    23 Jul23 July 23:28

    LoungeKey can be used for No1 Gatwick right?

    • Rob says:
      24 Jul24 July 10:24

      No, because it is Priority Pass in disguise.

      It should be back in September / October though.

      • Sam says:
        24 Jul24 July 15:09

        Ahh… so the LoungeKey app is essentially useless now? Don’t know where else to look for a full list of lounges that I can use for Loungekey

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