Aspire lounges at Manchester Airport Terminal 1 and Edinburgh now open

Aspire is continuing its programme of airport lounge reopenings.

Following the relaunch of Newcastle on Monday, which will also be used by British Airways passengers now that the BA lounge has permanently closed, the Aspire lounge in Terminal 1 of Manchester Airport is now open.

The opening hours are:

• 4am to 12pm Monday to Friday
• 4am to 4pm Saturday and Sunday

As you can see from the picture below:

….. the lounge has floor to ceiling windows which overlook the apron and runway, although I’m not sure how many landings you will see at the moment.

This is NOT the new lounge for British Airways passengers. BA flyers need to use the Escape Lounge in Terminal 1 as the oneworld alliance ‘Lounge Finder’ tool shows.

And Edinburgh too ….

Aspire also re-opened its ‘new’ Edinburgh lounge this week.

The opening hours are:

• 4.30am to 12pm Monday to Friday
• 4.30am to 1pm Saturday and Sunday

There are two Aspire lounges at Edinburgh. The one which is open is the one by Gate 16, above Pret A Manger. The second, older, lounge remains closed.

With No1 Lounge having closed permanently, options out of Edinburgh remain a little thin although the British Airways lounge is now open.

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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.

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 £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.

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.

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