Review: the Eurostar London St Pancras Business Premier lounge

This is our review of the Eurostar Business Premier lounge at London St Pancras station.

For me, it was my actually my first ever proper visit – and, shockingly, my first ever Eurostar trip – following the press party I attended in the lounge last month.

Remember that you can access this lounge with a personal American Express Platinum card – there is no need to book an expensive Business Premier ticket.

Entrance to the lounge is on the right hand side of the concourse – it’s easy to spot as you can see above.

You either have to be travelling in Business Premier or have Carte Blanche status to get in, unless you have a personal UK, French or Belgian American Express Platinum card. There is no option to pay. If you go through the fast track security and passport line it is literally ten seconds additional walk.

The geometry of the station and the available space means that the lounge is long and thin. It does, however, get plenty of natural light thanks to its large windows overlooking Kings Cross.

It is split over two floors:

Whilst the ground floor was very busy, the upper floor was virtually deserted. It did fill up considerably just prior to departure when two trains were due to leave within five minutes of each other.

Access is via a shiny spiral staircase.

At the top you are greeted by the cocktail bar, very busy here just before the trains left:

This is one of the standout features of the Business Premier lounge. The bar opens at 3pm and is staffed by Marius who will make you any cocktail you want. From May you should be able to order the Amaretto cocktail I named (yes, I named a cocktail for Eurostar – it’s a long story!) – Snow Bird.

British Airways doesn’t even have mixologists in its Galleries First lounges at Heathrow so this is a big plus for Eurostar. There is a similar cocktail bar in the Paris lounge.

Further on is a small self-serve drinks area with wines, spirits and soft drinks:

and

…. plus a few snacks. Food has never been a big selling point of the lounge from what I can gather and the best you’ll get is a variety of bar snacks, small cakes and samosas:

Given the proportions of the space most of the lounge has just has pairs of seats:

I found myself an armchair and settled down with my Snow Bird!

and

All the seats come with power sockets and wireless charging pads, which is great.

The selection of magazines and newspapers was outstanding – better than any airport lounge I know.

(It is pretty poor that British Airways still isn’t stocking actual, physical copies of newspapers and magazines in its lounges yet. This is especially true at Gatwick where the airport makes newspapers and magazines freely available by the gates whilst BA’s racks in the lounges remain empty.)

Newspapers included The Times, Le Monde and FT. The rack above is just a fraction of the selection available across the two floors of the lounge.

Conclusion

Natural light, a cocktail bar, self-pour spirit and drinks – you can’t really ask for more. The food offering is slim but then you can expect a full meal service if travelling in Business Premier.

It can get crowded during busy periods but having looked at the schedules it’s rare to have two full trains leave within minutes of each other.

Remember that Eurostar lounge access is a benefit of American Express Platinum (see our new review here) – just show your card at the door.  It is not a benefit of Business Platinum. No guests are allowed but obviously your partner could come in if they were your free Platinum supplementary cardholder.  The lounge is also known to show leniency towards additional child-sized guests at weekends.

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How to get Club Eurostar points and lounge access from UK credit cards (September 2023)

Club Eurostar does not have a UK credit card.  However, you can earn Club Eurostar points by converting Membership Rewards points earned from selected UK American Express cards. 

Cards earning Membership Rewards points include:

• American Express Preferred Rewards Gold (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 1,333 Club Eurostar points. This card is FREE for your first year and also comes with four free airport lounge passes.

• The Platinum Card from American Express (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 30,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 2,000 Club Eurostar points. Card benefits include Eurostar lounge access.

• American Express Rewards credit card (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 10,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 666 Club Eurostar points. This card is FREE for life.

Membership Rewards points convert at 15:1 into Club Eurostar points which is an attractive rate.  The cards above all earn 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 spent on your card, so you will get the equivalent of 1 Club Eurostar point for every £15 you spend.

American Express Platinum comes with a great Eurostar benefit – Eurostar lounge access!  

You can enter any Eurostar lounge, irrespective of your ticket type, simply by showing The Platinum Card at the desk.  No guests are allowed but you can get entry for your partner by issuing them with a free supplementary Amex Platinum card on your account.