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Which 10 UK airport lounges can now be pre-booked by Priority Pass cardholders?

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Many UK airport lounges, particularly in London, are now so busy that it is hard to get in at peak times using a lounge club card such as Priority Pass. This was particularly acute last year, when travel roared back but many lounges had yet to re-open.

To combat this issue, Priority Pass has been working with lounges to let you pre-book slots for £6. Whilst not ideal, it does at least guarantee you a spot when you want it.

Priority Pass has recently loaded five more UK airport lounges into the reservation system, taking the total that offer pre-booked timeslots to ten. It is worth noting that Priority Pass has an indirect shareholding in all ten.

You can pre-book all the following lounges on the Priority Pass pre-book website here. There is also a link to this page in the Priority Pass app on the page for each participating lounge.

You can also make reservations if you have a Lounge Key card via a HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard.

10 UK lounges you can pre-book with Priority Pass

10 UK lounges you can pre-book with Priority Pass

Heathrow Terminal 3

Three lounges are available to pre-book at Heathrow – two in Terminal 3 and one in Terminal 5:

Club Aspire Lounge Heathrow Terminal 3 (review here): opened in 2016, the lounge can accommodate just over 120 guests and is located near Gate 9. In addition to all the usual amenities (wifi, food and drinks including wines and spirits) the lounge also features showers, a quiet zone and (most importantly!) runway views. Reservations are £6.

No1 Lounge Heathrow Terminal 3 (review here): this is a bigger facility than Club Aspire and opened in 2011. This lounge features 12 bedroom pods for transiting passengers – the first of their kind in the UK – as well as showers and a spa. The 10-seat cinema/TV lounge is still operational, whilst food, drinks and wifi are standard. Reservations are £6.

Heathrow Terminal 5

Club Aspire Lounge Heathrow Terminal 5 (review here): this is the only Priority Pass lounge available at Heathrow Terminal 5 – the only other independent lounge is the Plaza Premium, which is a mirror image of this one (Plaza Premium accepts American Express Platinum cards and DragonPass but not Priority Pass). The Club Aspire is a relatively narrow lounge located on a thin terrace near Gate 18. Whilst the natural light and airiness is excellent – it is open to the wider terminal – it is often overcrowded. Reservations are £6.

10 UK lounges you can pre-book with Priority Pass

Gatwick North

Clubrooms Gatwick North (review coming this month): Clubrooms is the top-tier lounge brand in No1 Lounge stable with table service and a la carte dining. As such, Priority Pass charges an additional £15 fee on the door even if you’re not pre-booking in advance. Whilst the food and service here are undoubtedly premium, the windowless room means that it feels like you’re in a basement. Reservations are £15 and include fast-track security.

No1 Lounge Gatwick North (review here): At almost 1000 square metres this is a large facility with panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows occupying what used to be the lower floor of the British Airways lounge. Inside you’ll find a spa and showers available for an extra charge, as well as a small kids play area and a cinema / TV lounge. Reservations are £6 and include fast-track security.

10 UK lounges you can pre-book with Priority Pass

Gatwick South

My Lounge Gatwick South (review here): My Lounge is the cheapest of No1 Lounges brands but that doesn’t mean that the company has cut costs on the design. It looks trendy with industrial-style design, (fake) exposed brickwork and the like. It’s not huge but has been partitioned into a variety of rooms. It also features – uniquely – an outdoor terrace. A small buffet is available, as are self-pour wines and spirits. Reservations are £6 and include fast-track security.

No1 Lounge Gatwick South (review here): Another No1 Lounge, it is relatively small and can therefore get quite busy, particularly during peak times. If you can get in you’ll be treated to a bright, open stylishly designed space with wrap-around windows and warm wood and leather furniture. A central bar dishes out alcohol, although you’ll have to pay for anything more than the basics. A makeshift buffet serves food. There are toilets but no showers. Reservations are £6 and include fast-track security.

Clubrooms Gatwick South (review here): This is the original Clubrooms lounge and opened in 2015. Originally intended to offer genuinely private club rooms, the model has changed somewhat and it now offers a typical lounge experience but with premium table service and an a la carte menu. As at Gatwick North, you’ll need to pay a £15 additional fee whether you reserve in advance or not, so it’s worth pre-booking to get fast-track security bundled in. Reservations are £15 and include fast-track security.

10 UK lounges you can pre-book with Priority Pass

Birmingham Airport

Clubrooms Birmingham (review here): Close to Gate 54, the Clubrooms at Birmingham Airport opened in 2019. Blue wood panelling, large windows and a parquet floor mean this lounge really does make you forget you’re at an airport. As with other Clubrooms, a la carte dining and table service mean you don’t even need to get up. Image above. Reservations are £15.

No1 Lounge Birmingham (review here): Last refurbished in 2019, this No1 Lounge features an unusual mezzanine level with sofas in addition to its dining area and armchairs. A meeting room, TV room and private room can be pre-booked, whilst a small buffet is on offer with alcoholic drinks available from behind the bar – although expect to pay more for champagne or prosecco. Reservations are £6.

Conclusion

You can now pre-book access at 10 UK Priority Pass lounges. Whilst this comes at an additional fee, it does guarantee you entry and at Gatwick you’ll even be able to use fast track security.

If you want to visit a Clubrooms lounge, reservations are a no-brainer. The fee is the same as the supplement you would need to pay on the door anyway, and at Gatwick you get fast track security included.

To pre-book, head to the Priority Pass pre-booking site here (branded as No1 Lounges, confusingly).

Getting airport lounge access for free from a credit card

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.

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

If you have a small business, consider American Express Business Platinum instead.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit 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.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 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 £195 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 huge bonus, but only available to HSBC Premier clients 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 (91)

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

  • Martin says:
    18 May18 May 03:42

    I don’t like paying for something that should already be included.
    What’s the point of a paid membership that means you’ll pay again if you want to use it .
    Rip off Britain at its best..

    • BJ says:
      18 May18 May 06:26

      +1, reservations should be free, or say £0.50 to cover extra admin /IT costs.

      • Rob says:
        18 May18 May 07:07

        Er, no. The fee has to be high enough to cover the lounge if you no-show, since they don’t get paid by Priority Pass otherwise.

        • Andrew J says:
          18 May18 May 07:27

          Or give people say 10 pre-books a year so they use them wisely.

          • Rob says:
            18 May18 May 07:51

            How does that help the lounge? By holding a space for a prebook who doesn’t show it loses money.

            For a lounge owner the current system is great. It is literally 100% full all the time at peak periods. 1 person walks out and is immediately replaced by someone in the queue.

            Even if you only gave reservations a 5 minute window to show up (and there is no window at present before you are cancelled) the lounge is worse off unless you pay an extra fee.

        • BJ says:
          18 May18 May 07:44

          I imagined there would still be a line at the door anyway so they’d get paid by others and the loubge would still be as crowded as usual.

          I was quite impressed by management of Cibeles lounge at MAD T1 when we was there last month. We arrived to find a long line outside and I was worried we would be turned away because we were using PP. This proved not to be the case, the line moved quickly on a numbers out and number in basis. The next surprise was that the lounge was very pleasant and not at all overcrowded as Ivanticipated from the line outside. In effect they were using the line outside outside to keep everything orderly and ensure that once inside people got a good lounge experience like it used to be in the old days. It worked so much better than cramming people in to the point of overcrowding and then turning new arrivals away.

        • Gordon says:
          18 May18 May 08:44

          Ok, So Charge the £6 reservation fee and if you show up you get it refunded, Then you’ve paid for the lounge you are just about to use without getting fleeced.

          • Rob says:
            18 May18 May 08:52

            No, that is still a worse deal for the lounge because it has to hold the space until you show up.

            What possible logic is there to do this when they have a queue outside?

            A reservation is a drag on profitability. This is why many quick service restaurants have moved to ‘no reservations, queue outside’ because it ensures 100% capacity. Only a non-refundable fee fills the profitability gap.

    • Andrew J says:
      18 May18 May 06:29

      +1. I’ll stick to an airline where lounge access is included, as my worthless PP sits in a drawer at home.

    • Tim P says:
      18 May18 May 06:39

      +1

      Pay to buy something, then pay again if you actually want to use it! No thanks!.

  • BajiNahid says:
    18 May18 May 03:53

    The Heathrow T5A lounges mentioned here, i found soooo underwhelming, it isn’t really worth the hype in my experience.

    • Andrew J says:
      18 May18 May 06:30

      I’m not sure there ever was any hype about any of the lounges at T5?

      • Rhys says:
        18 May18 May 09:07

        Indeed….

        • Rob says:
          18 May18 May 09:15

          Aspire was always bad. Many have forgot that it was even smaller originally due to having a spa.

          Plaza was exceptionally good but opening to DragonPass has squeezed quality. NatWest giving out DragonPass has also put a squeeze on. DragonPass pays a lot more than Priority Pass though.

          What may eventually happen is DragonPass gets wider acceptance and more lounges drop Priority Pass, happy to take the extra £ from DP.

          • Gordon says:
            18 May18 May 12:04

            As well as NatWest you get 4 free Dragon passes with Barclays as a dual reward customer on every 12 month anniversary and you can purchase them thereafter for £18.50 each. I’ve never had PP and looking at the comments on here I’m not missing much?

          • Rob says:
            18 May18 May 13:08

            No. DP is better as includes Plaza Premium and some others eg Cardiff.

  • Robert Spree says:
    18 May18 May 05:22

    We used the No.1 Lounge at Gatwick South on May 1st (bank holiday Monday).
    Disappointingly:
    1. They had, apparently, run out of eggs around 8.30;
    2. People were ordering orange juice from the bar as there was none out;
    3. We were sat in a side room by the reception area and THEY WERE TURNING PEOPLE AWAY EVEN WHEN THEY’D PRE-BOOKED!!

    Sounded from their communications like My Lounge was in a similar situation.
    Wonder whether the fact that the likes of Jet2 are dishing out lounge access has caused (or at least magnified) this problem??

  • Mohamed says:
    18 May18 May 05:53

    PP is laughable, something supposed to be free is now with some fee??? £6 to book the Aspire Lounge T5, I think they need to pay me to visit such crowded corridor, the formula of a card giving you access to lounges without airline status have failed.

  • TimM says:
    18 May18 May 06:20

    At the Manchester T3 Escape lounge, occupying half the space of the former BA lounge (the other half now sadly just a overflow seating area), they have a permanent sign outside advising all lounge pass members that the lounge is full. I was advised to go to ‘the other lounge’ next to the lifts, which was closed. There is never any joy at MAN.

    • MT says:
      18 May18 May 06:35

      Fully agree, it must have a negative impact for MAN, for me its another reason to avoid the airport. That issue is not just at T3 but all terminals, you would think they could figure some way to increase lounge space, equally it is MAN and management there cant seem to figure much out!

      • QwertyKnowsBest says:
        18 May18 May 08:30

        +1 and the loss of the BA lounge at Manchester removed the only pleasant aspect of flying BA from Manchester.

        Why the airport did not simply join/open up T3 Escape lounge to the BA lounge when it closed to more than double the space is perplexing. Must have been simple to do as when BA used to use T3 as pretty much its own terminal, it occupied the full space, splitting it into two some years later when Escape used the partitioned space.

        • Save East Coast Rewards says:
          18 May18 May 09:53

          It was originally split for a Flybe lounge. When Escape first opened in T3 it originally took the old bmi lounge and then moved into the Flybe space when Flybe stopped doig lounges.

  • The Original Nick. says:
    18 May18 May 06:36

    The only time I use my PP is at DXB because the BA lounge is far too small. I won’t pay any extra just like others have said.

  • GM says:
    18 May18 May 06:58

    No1 Lounge at BHX reservation fee was £5 and included fast track security. When there were huge security queues last summer, fast track bookings were suspended and No1 also removed the perk. Seems they decided to use it as an opportunity to not bother at all, because it wasn’t reinstated when service went back to normal. It’s also gone downhill as a lounge – seems to be the chosen destination for hen parties and big extended families flying Tui. One of my friends managed to get them to let him sit in the almost always “reserved” section in the mezzanine to do some work, but they also commented that Clubrooms would suit him better!

    • AFKAE says:
      18 May18 May 08:03

      Yes, last year paid your pre-book fee which seemed only to guarantee you a place in the queue.

      Once inside it was horrendous. I wrote at the time I would rather have been in Wetherspoons.

  • polly says:
    18 May18 May 07:35

    We use ours a lot at Grain Store, as they will swipe it a couple of times each. At least we get a meal and a drink. But we will try for a lounge first of course. Usually a queue tho.

    • Simon says:
      18 May18 May 07:47

      Do you know whether you have to dine in at The Grain Store, or whether PP can be used at the takeaway counter? Thanks

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