Our review of Aspire Rewards – and how Priority Pass lounge visits count

Aspire Rewards is the little-known reward scheme for Aspire and Club Aspire airport lounges in the UK, except for those at Heathrow.

It isn’t widely used, but it shoud be on your radar because Priority Pass visits count.  Visits via Lounge Key and DragonPass also count.  What is better than picking up an extra reward from something that you are not paying for in the first place?

A reader dropped me a note this week to highlight that there have been some changes to the rewards you can claim, so I thought it was worth another look.

You can find out more on the Aspire Rewards website here.

Aspire Rewards is app based, available via the Apple and Google app stores.  There is no ‘non digital’ alternative.

You need to download the Aspire Rewards app, create an account and then scan the QR code in the app each time you enter an Aspire lounge.

As far as I can see, there is no ability to drop the membership card into Apple Wallet which is a little annoying.

What happens to my LoungeMiles card?

Aspire Rewards replaced the previous card-based LoungeMiles scheme in September 2020.

In theory, as LoungeMiles cards had to be redeemed within 24 months of the first stamp, most remaining LoungeMiles cards are now invalid.

However, the Aspire Rewards website says that you should not give up hope, albeit this message was posted 18 months ago:

“Due to the impact COVID-19 had on travel in 2020, we will review LoungeMile stamp redemptions on a case by case basis. If you have stamps which you collected in 2018 and are yet to be redeemed, please contact a member of our team by emailing [email protected] and we will review this.”

How do you earn Aspire Rewards points?

The scheme is simplicity itself:

• You earn 4 points per £1 if you book via executivelounges.com or pay on the door

• You earn 50 points per lounge visit (25 points for a child) if you enter via a Priority Pass or other lounge scheme card

Importantly, “multiple visitors within one transaction can be added to one loyalty account“.

You can only earn points at UK Aspire lounges, excluding the two Heathrow sites.

How do you spend Aspire Rewards points?

There are two sorts of rewards:

• 500 points gets you a free lounge visit – this does NOT seem to be transferable because you redeem by scanning your phone

• 700 points gets you a £5 shopping voucher

Historically you could get shopping vouchers for John Lewis, Amazon and Marks & Spencer. As a reader flagged with me this week, the John Lewis and M&S options have disappeared from the app. The only shopping redemption currently available is a £5 voucher for the UK Amazon site.

You are basically getting 35p per lounge visit, assuming you get in via a Priority Pass card, as the only redemption worth having if you have such a card is the shopping voucher.

It is a lot more generous if you are paying cash for your visits.  At an average of £25 per visit, you’d be getting a free pass after every five paid visits.

Note that your points have a 24 month hard expiry – activity does not keep them alive.

Which lounges take part in Aspire Rewards?

Here are the participating lounges, according to the app.  I have linked to our reviews:

Belfast City lounge (Aspire) – review here 

Birmingham North lounge (Aspire) – review here 

Birmingham South lounge (Aspire) – review here 

Bristol lounge (Aspire / Aspire Plus) – review here 

Edinburgh x 2 lounges (Aspire) – review here and review here

Humberside lounge (Aspire) – review here 

Inverness lounge (Aspire) – review here 

Liverpool lounge (Aspire) – review here 

London Gatwick South lounge (Club Aspire) – review here

London Luton lounge (Aspire) – review here

Manchester Terminal 1 lounge (Aspire) – review here 

Manchester Terminal 2 lounge (Aspire) 

Newcastle lounge (Aspire / Aspire Plus) – review here 

Note that the lounges in Heathrow Terminal 3 and Terminal 5 do NOT take part.

You can find out more about Aspire Rewards on its website here.

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How to get FREE airport lounge access via UK credit cards (June 2022)

As a reminder, here are the four options to get FREE airport lounge access via a credit or charge 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 Plaza Premium, Delta and Eurostar 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 two free visits to any Priority Pass lounge – see the list here. 

Additional lounge visits are charged at £20.  You get two 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 30,000 points sign-up bonus.  Full details are in our American Express Preferred Rewards Gold review here.

SPECIAL OFFER: The sign-up bonus on Amex Gold is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 Membership Rewards points until 19th July 2022. This card is free for the first year.

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard gets you get a free LoungeKey card, allowing you access to the LoungeKey network.  Guests are charged at £20 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.