Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

1903 Lounge at BA’s Manchester Airport T3 now exclusively for Priority Pass holders

Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission.  See here for all partner links.

Well, this is a turn up for the books.

The uber-premium 1903 Lounge in Manchester Airport’s Terminal 3 is no more.

It has been rebranded as an ‘Escape’ lounge. My understanding is that it will be used exclusively for Priority Pass, LoungeKey and other lounge club cardholders, which is a great result.

Review new Escape Lounge Manchester Airport Terminal 3

Opened in 2017, Manchester Airport spent £1.6m to get the ‘adults only’ 1903 Lounge up and running. The photos in this article are from the review I did at the time.

Priced at £35, this was very much a premium priced lounge. It is a sign of the times that £40 is now seen as standard for ‘pay on the door’ entry to some average London airport lounges.

1903, by the way, references the year that the Wright brothers made their first flight.

Where is the new Escape Lounge (ex 1903 Lounge)?

The new Escape Lounge is in Terminal 3 at Manchester Airport, used by British Airways and many other scheduled airlines.

It is on the same level as, and only a few paces from, the empty shell of the old British Airways Terraces lounge and the other Escape lounge (reviewed here).

Your initial approach to the new Escape Lounge is not hugely promising, down a slightly depressing corridor.  The airport has done the best it can to lighten it up, however, with this impressive image:

Review new Escape Lounge Manchester Airport Terminal 3

These pictures are from 2017:

Review new Escape Lounge Manchester Airport Terminal 3

Are fish finger sandwiches still on offer?!

Review new Escape Lounge Manchester Airport Terminal 3

My view back in 2017 was that considerably more money had been spent on food than was strictly necessary. It was a noticeable step up from anything you found in a mainstream lounge. This may no longer be the case of course.

Here is the bar, as of 2017:

Review new Escape Lounge Manchester Airport Terminal 3

Decor was done well:

Review new Escape Lounge Manchester Airport Terminal 3

Other smart touches included this fascinating coffee maker, the like of which I had never seen before.

You have probably seen ‘hot taps’ which can dispense boiling water for tea or instant coffee.  This system had an entire coffee machine hidden out of sight!  There was a tap built into the table top and an iPad alongside showing different drink types.  You tap the iPad display button for, say, a cappuccino and it is dispensed from the tap!  I found this strangely impressive.

Review 1903 lounge Manchester Airport Terminal 3

The view is very impressive.

The main wall comprises floor to ceiling glass windows.  Aircraft gates are directly below you, but you are also looking directly out onto the main runway.  Every time an aircraft lands it will taxi past you on the way to its stand.   I’m not a plane spotter in the slightest – I can’t even tell the difference between Boeing and Airbus short-haul planes – but it was still pretty cool to watch.

Review 1903 lounge Manchester Airport Terminal 3

Conclusion

I was impressed by this lounge back in 2017. In my original review, I even suggested that BA passengers travelling for a special occasion should pay for the 1903 Lounge rather than go into the BA lounge for free.

If this new Escape Lounge is now exclusively a Priority Pass / DragonPass / LoungeKey lounge, with paying customers stuck in the poorer original Escape Lounge, then this is a good result.

According to the Priority Pass website, opening hours are 4am to 4pm daily, except for Friday (closes at 7pm) and Saturday (closes at 1pm).

If you passing through Manchester Terminal 3 this weekend and are able to pop in, please post below about what you find.

PS. If you are not a regular Head for Points visitor, why not sign up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters? They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and will help you travel better. To join our 65,000 free subscribers, click the button below or visit this page of the site to find out more. Thank you.

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

British Airways and Avios

Comments (55)

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

  • Colin MacKinnon says:
    3 Sep3 September 08:39

    At Strathaven Airfield we have a piece of wing fabric from the Wright Flyer on the wall – bet they don’t have that in 1903 lounges!

  • AJ says:
    3 Sep3 September 08:59

    I’ll be flying Iberia Express to Madrid from T3 as a Gold. First time flying from MAN in many years. Confused as to lounge options (if any!) – where could I go to avoid what has been described as a zoo?!!

    • Andrew J says:
      3 Sep3 September 09:19

      Probably better to rebook from LHR and then you can use the Cathay and Qantas lounges.

    • Blair Waldorf Salad says:
      3 Sep3 September 10:08

      Hi I did that Iberia flight in July (and BAEC refuse to accept it as a valid flight for earning purposes, as an aside). You’ll get access to Escape T3 by virtue of your status. The ‘zoo’ I referred to is the main terminal floor below the lounge. I shuddered while looking down at the queues and nowhere to go for refreshments but the single pub after about 8pm. Re check-in, Menzies handle it at MAN and they haven’t a customer service gene between them. You should fully expect some blowhard with the wrong covid docs for their onward flight from MAD to block up the one priority check in desk whilst Menzies automatons continue to service the economy queue without any regard for the non-moving priority queue. They do same approach when servicing BA and EI flights at MAN. It infuriates me. I know their faces by now and groan when I spot them as I know what’s coming (me having to step out of the priority queue and say “Now come on, we haven’t moved at all” and barge my way up to another desk)

      • David says:
        3 Sep3 September 10:21

        Oh dear.

      • AJ says:
        3 Sep3 September 10:50

        Thanks all for your comments!

        I will manage my expectations – chose MAN as more convenient as I reside ‘up north’.

        Looks like I will just grin and bear it – at least from MAD I have a C flight to MIA with IB to look forward to!

      • QwertyKnowsBest says:
        3 Sep3 September 13:10

        Manchester does that to yo!. + 1 re Menzies. Mr chip on shoulder needs to be removed from a customer facing role.

  • Steve says:
    3 Sep3 September 09:05

    They have those coffee makers in quite a few hotels I’ve stayed at

  • Neil says:
    3 Sep3 September 09:14

    I’m totally confused by this story based on my visit to MAN T3 last month.

    The old BA lounge at MAN T3 was huge. When I went last month, this space had been divided in 2 – half was now overflow lounge seating available to all (much needed in the tiny T3) , and half was in the form of a new Escape Lounge.

    The 1903 lounge at MAN T3 was still in a different part on the 1st floor T3 and was still closed. However, this article suggests there are one of the same – or am I confused?!

    1903 and Escape are in different parts of the MAN T3. Are you suggesting 1903 is shutting down and now Escape will be the only lounge option, are you suggesting there are to be 2x Escape Lounges now, or is this article in error?!

    One fact I CAN confirm, is that the new Escape Lounge IS NOT in the same place as the previous 1903 lounge nor has physically replaced it.

    Clarification welcomed.

    • Rob says:
      3 Sep3 September 09:23

      Flyertalk reports that 1903 is being used as of 1/9.

      1903 cannot be booked for cash any longer.

      • Neil says:
        3 Sep3 September 09:31

        Which is fine… but you’re article is still confusing. As a regular BA flier form T3 , BA have NEVER used 1903 at T3…. It was either their own lounge, then BA moved to T1 during covid and they used the escape lounge, (also when they decided to close the T3 BA lounge) and know they have returned to T3 continue to use the New Escape lounge.

        For clarity, I would remove any reference to BA and 1903 as the 2 have never been linked.

        • Neil says:
          3 Sep3 September 09:35

          The story here is that T3 is Ryanair’s terminal and that the premium offer (1903 vs Escape) doesn’t appear to work here so MAN have decided to build 2 escape lounges…

          – 1x for airlines and cash booking
          – 1x for lounge pass etc memberships

          A great shame though, I loved T3 1903, it was the first at MAN and was a regular user when flying Ryanair

    • Tim says:
      3 Sep3 September 11:40

      The Escape lounge was always there, it isn’t as a result of the BA lounge being split in two?

      • Alex says:
        4 Sep4 September 11:02

        A very very long time ago, it was a big BA lounge. When BA cut back at MAN it was split into two with the smaller half becoming an Escape Lounge. BA then closed for good during COVID. The 1903 lounge was a separate space.

  • Freddy says:
    3 Sep3 September 09:57

    Don’t quite believe it, a lounge where a priority member can actually get into. Might actually make use of the priority pass one day then

  • Tominoz says:
    3 Sep3 September 10:55

    So if you are flying BA biz from MAN T3 which lounge will you be offered from now on…will it be this new one?
    …and does anybody know which lounge Qatar use in MAN T2 please?

  • James Ward says:
    3 Sep3 September 12:39

    I’m passing through T3 on 19/09 if nobody’s submitted a review before then

  • Jason says:
    3 Sep3 September 12:42

    I’m in the lounge now and it is the old 1903 lounge. There’s a standard buffet with sandwiches, cheese, pasties and soup and plenty of self serve drinks. The fancy coffee tap has gone and has a big hotel style coffee machine. On entrance both lounges are labelled escape lounge which caused some confusion to people. One has priority and dragon pass written underneath. For some reason it closes at 1 today too

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

New to Head for Points?

Welcome!  We’re the UK’s most-read source of business travel, Avios, frequent flyer and hotel loyalty news. Let us improve how you travel. Got any questions? Ask them in our forums.

Get 25,000 Avios with the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

GET A SIGN-UP BONUS OF 18,000 VIRGIN POINTS!

Latest Forum Posts

Get 80,000 bonus points (worth 80,000 Avios) and £400 of dining credit with The Platinum Card (Offer ends 27th May)

Check reward flight availability instantly for free!

See a whole year of reward seat availability on one page at SeatSpy.com

Get up to 10,000 bonus Hilton Honors points

Booking a luxury hotel?

Our luxury hotel booking service offers you GUARANTEED extra benefits over booking direct. Works with Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, The Ritz Carlton, St Regis and more. We've booked £1.7 million of rooms to date. Click for details.

SME? GET THE ONLY FREE SMALL BUSINESS CREDIT CARD WHICH CAN EARN AVIOS

Get points worth 30,000 Avios with 'first year free' American Express Gold (ends 27th May)

The UK's biggest frequent flyer website uses cookies, which you can block via your browser settings. Continuing implies your consent to this policy. Our privacy policy is here.

Got it!