Qantas and Emirates re-open their UK airport lounges

There is good news for anyone flying with British Airways out of Heathrow Terminal 3 in the near future.

Qantas has re-opened its Heathrow Terminal 3 lounge. This is an excellent facility and well worth a visit. Unfortunately, we haven’t done a proper review since the opening party. This clearly wasn’t typical (I doubt the Qantas CEO will be pouring your drinks if you go) but it left us in no doubt that this is far superior to the British Airways and American Airlines lounges. Our initial review of the Qantas London Lounge at Heathrow is here.

As a member of the oneworld alliance, you can access this lounge with a British Airways Gold or Silver card, or if you are flying British Airways in Business Class or First Class. There is no need to be flying with Qantas.

Of course, if you have an American Express Platinum card, you can also try the brand new American Express Centurion Lounge in Heathrow Terminal 3 which we reviewed here.

The opening hours are currently 6am to 4pm. Whilst Qantas flights are limited, the airline has a joint venture with Emirates and the opening hours seem to be designed to fit around their schedule.

You can find out more about the Qantas London Lounge on the Qantas website here.

Emirates lounges are opening too

Emirates has announced the phased re-opening of additional UK lounges to coincide with the relaunch of flights from London Gatwick yesterday.

Emirates lounges at Manchester Airport and Birmingham Airport will open this month. The lounges in Glasgow and London Gatwick will open in January.

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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.