Review: the Aspire lounge at Birmingham Airport

This is our review of the Aspire lounge at Birmingham Airport.

It is part of our series of reviews of airport lounges across the UK.  You see all of the reviews here.

All this week, in partnership with Priority Pass, we are reviewing some of the best independent airport lounges outside London. All of these lounges can be accessed with a Priority Pass membership, which you can buy here with a 40% discount or get for free with selected UK credit and charge cards (click here to learn more). You can also pay cash, of course.

There are currently two Aspire lounges at Birmingham Airport – the ‘main’ lounge and the South lounge, which is temporarily closed. This review is of the ‘main’ lounge, just round the corner from where you exit duty free after security.

Inside the Aspire lounge at Birmingham Airport

The lounge is very easy to find – just turn left and take a few steps towards gates 1-20. You will immediately see the entrance, pictured above.

You are asked for your boarding pass and booking (if you have one) at the little reception desk:

As you can see, Halloween decorations were out in full force!

The lounge itself is long and thin, but straddles windows overlooking the gates. There are a few different zones, including:

and

and

As you can tell, this Aspire lounge has not yet been refurbished and still features the older style decor and design. The lounge was due to be refurbished during Covid but the plan was put on ice – it’s not clear when that will now take place. Despite this it is all in good shape and I believe a lot of the soft furnishings are new.

The only other thing worth mentioning is that the lounge does not have its own toilets or showers. You need to exit the lounge and head to the main toilets instead which are not very far.

Food and drink at the Birmingham Airport Aspire lounge

Unlike the other Aspire lounges I have reviewed recently hot food and alcohol is table-service only. You order by scanning a QR code.

At breakfast time hot items include a full English, sausage or veggie barm and bacon roll. Alcohol includes Famous Grous Whisky, Absolut Vodka, Boddingtons, Magners cider, Beefeaster pink gin, Gordon’s gin, Martell, Havana Club Rum and red, white and rose wine. A 125ml glass of prosecco is available for £4.99.

In addition to the table service you have access to the cold buffet, which includes a pancake machine as well as croissants and cereals:

…. and fruit and yoghurt:

Here is my full English:

…. and a croissant:

When is the Birmingham Airport Aspire lounge open?

At present the lounge is open from:

• 4:30am until 6pm on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sundays

• 4:30am until 9pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays

Keep an eye on the lounge website as these times are subject to change in the current environment.

How to get entry to the Aspire lounge at Birmingham Airport

There are two ways to get access to the Aspire lounge at Birmingham Airport. One option is to book ahead on the Lounge Pass website here, with headline prices starting from £24.99 per person. This guarantees you a spot at your booked time.

The alternative is to use a lounge membership program such as Priority Pass or DragonPass. Standard Priority Pass membership is currently £69 via this link, or you can get it for free via the following cards:

• The American Express Platinum Card with Priority Pass membership with unlimited lounge visits for you and one guest at 1,300+ lounges globally
• The American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Card comes with a two-visit Priority Pass membership
• The HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard comes with a LoungeKey card, and offers unlimited lounge visits, although you will be charged for bringing in guests.

Using a Priority Pass or LoungeKey membership doesn’t guarantee you a spot – it is first come first served – but the Birmingham Aspire was not particularly busy when I went. Capacity will also increase when the Birmingham South Aspire lounge re-opens.

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

Here are the five 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 1,500 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.

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 £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 American Express Business Platinum 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.