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The new Aspire lounge in Manchester Airport Terminal 2 is finally opening

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The new Aspire lounge in the new pier at Manchester Airport’s Terminal 2 is gearing up for opening.

The Aspire website shows that you can book in from Tuesday 1st February, and this date has also been promoted on social media. It was meant to open in late October but got pushed back due to the drop off in travel.

The new Aspire lounge should be accessible via Priority Pass. We are hoping to review it during March.

Date set for the new Aspire lounge at Manchester Airport

There are two other new airport-run lounges at Terminal 2 which we have already covered. You can read our review of the Escape lounge at Manchester Airport Terminal 2 here and our review of the premium 1903 Lounge at Manchester Airport Terminal 2 here.

There will also be a Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse in due course, although the opening has been delayed until later this year when flights and premium passenger numbers have ramped up.

According to the airport website, the following airlines are currently operating from the new Terminal 2:

  • Aegean Airlines
  • Aer Lingus (transatlantic only)
  • Air France
  • airBaltic
  • Brussels Airlines
  • Cathay Pacific
  • Ethiopian Airlines
  • Etihad
  • Eurowings
  • Jet2
  • KLM
  • Norwegian
  • Pakistan International Airlines
  • Pegasus
  • Qatar Airways
  • Singapore Airlines
  • Tui
  • Virgin Atlantic

All other flights are operating from Terminal 1.

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Getting airport lounge access for free from a credit card

How to get FREE airport lounge access via UK credit cards (April 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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee 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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 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 £290 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 good package, but only available to HSBC Premier clients Read our full 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:

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

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:

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits 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 (146)

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

  • nigel says:
    30 Jan30 January 10:47

    I have 6 FTV’s’. It seems impossible to redeem them, as I can never get thru on the phone. Is there any other way. I have been calling 0344 493 0747., but seems impossible to get thru. ?

    • Gordon says:
      30 Jan30 January 11:25

      I just called the normal customer services number after trying the exec club and not getting anywhere. I said I needed to speak to exec club customer services and they took details and passed me through it took about 10 to 15 mins but got through.
      Everybody is in the same situation calling exec number that’s why it’s the mess it is.

    • Rob B says:
      30 Jan30 January 11:25

      You might have a nasty surprise on your phone bill after calling that number. I did before I realised it was an out of plan number for my mobile. I also failed to actually speak to anyone so basically I spent £55 for nothing.

      • Aston100 says:
        30 Jan30 January 11:44

        Aren’t 0344/0345 numbers included as part of your monthly minutes allowance?
        Oh hang on, did you use a landline?

        • Aston100 says:
          30 Jan30 January 11:45

          Right, I see you stated mobile. SO yeah, surprised those numbers weren’t included in your monthly package.

        • Gordon says:
          30 Jan30 January 11:52

          Used my mobile and all is good😀

          • Rob B says:
            30 Jan30 January 12:24

            Ah forget what I said. It was the 08 number that charged me not the 03 (I think)

      • Gordon says:
        30 Jan30 January 11:51

        Is is a 0330 number and I have a zero spend cap on my 02 account so it would not of allowed me to call it. its not a premium number….

      • John says:
        30 Jan30 January 12:43

        I don’t know any UK mobile provider that doesn’t treat 03xx as a normal rate number. 0844 is different, it’s expensive to call from anywhere.

      • Joan says:
        30 Jan30 January 16:32

        Me too £21 ! Grr

  • Scott says:
    30 Jan30 January 11:28

    From reading the linked article & comments it seems I can package two 2-4-1 vouchers into one FTV and I only need to book a one-way ticket for the “holding” flight in the FTV even if I intend to use for a return later, but one thing I can’t see is if I can change the departure location as well as the destination, e.g. do I need the FTV booking to start where I will need later (EDI) rather than using LHR as the default?

  • Waldek says:
    30 Jan30 January 11:43

    My booking was 2x 4500 avios plus £17.50 each so total 9000 avios and £35
    BA send me confirmation of cash refund and but no avios:

    Avios points information
    No Avios points have been refunded to your account. Please see the terms and conditions of your booking for more information.

    • Pedro says:
      30 Jan30 January 12:22

      Maybe they’re giving you the full ticket price as the cash refund. That’s what they did for me when I used the £20/1000 Avios promo in august. I did layer them up into bigger bookings that were then involuntarily cancelled and subsequently refunded. No Avios, just the total cash amount including the value of the Avios.

      • John says:
        30 Jan30 January 12:49

        That’s completely different. You sold avios to BA at 2p each and bought a paid ticket. When BA cancelled they were obliged to refund in full. In theory they should have refunded your avios, but maybe they lost track because of how many times you got evouchers. But BA will not be refunding any evouchers as these are easily used online.

        The person you were replying to had a redemption ticket and did not sell avios to BA. There is no “full ticket price”. As much as I would love BA to pay me £20000 when they cancel an F redemption…

  • BagginsSurrey says:
    30 Jan30 January 12:22

    I’m going to book a flight using an Amex companion voucher then cancel to hopefully extend the expiry date and receive an FTV. Is the minimum cancel after booking time 24 hours?

    • Pid says:
      30 Jan30 January 12:33

      No you can do it straight away if you like.

    • AJA says:
      30 Jan30 January 12:34

      That’s what I did on Friday (cancelled for FTV after booking late on Wednesday) Apparently you don’t have to wait but I thought it best to do so.

    • Rob says:
      30 Jan30 January 12:34

      Yes, because otherwise you will get a full refund under the cooling off rules.

      • John says:
        30 Jan30 January 12:50

        Is BA automatically refunding in full if you request a voucher less than 24 hours after booking?

        • Pid says:
          30 Jan30 January 13:07

          They issued me a FTV when I cancelled within the hour yesterday,

        • Rob says:
          30 Jan30 January 15:31

          There is a link on ba.com for a voucher which seems to work regardless. Riskier via MMB. What’s the stress out in waiting a day?

      • Andrew J says:
        30 Jan30 January 13:28

        Incorrect. As we all found out last year with the part pay deal, you can cancel within minutes for a voucher.

  • jo51cat says:
    30 Jan30 January 12:26

    I have 3 FTVs and interestingly the only one I’ve had an email about is the only one I didn’t use a 2-4-1 for even though it was the most recent booking. So they can’t be doing them in chronological order.

    • NorthernLass says:
      30 Jan30 January 13:39

      They’ve been refunding FTVs without 241s for a while now, so there seem to be 2 separate processes in play here. So they could well be refunding the 241 FTVs in chronological order.

  • Chris says:
    30 Jan30 January 12:34

    I have an expiring 2-4-1 voucher on 22 February. Can I use it to book 2x Club to LAX in November 2022 now? I see the availability, but as long as I remember I must do the first leg by 22 Feb this year? When start the booking process I am able to select this voucher and continue to dates / destinations afterwards. Thanks

    • AJA says:
      30 Jan30 January 12:43

      No I don’t think so. The outbound flight has to be before the expiry of the 2-4-1 so you would have to book a flight departing before 22 Feb 2022.

  • flyforfun says:
    30 Jan30 January 12:47

    I have a 2-4-1 voucher expiring in April. Already booked to go somewhere and no chance to use is beforehand.

    Can I still book at then cancel to get a FTV now?

  • BagginsSurrey says:
    30 Jan30 January 13:06

    If I receive a FTV which extends my Amex companion voucher to Sep 23 but if unable to travel by then and it expires then will the Avios and taxes etc money tied into the voucher be lost? The BA website is lacking in info regarding Amex companion FTV’s.

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

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