New Luton Airport option for Priority Pass customers

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• Marko says:

  19 May19 May 04:10

  Thanks Rob! I had the old Sheraton Porto booked for August, I was completely unaware of the new Renaissance at the time of booking. Just cancelled Sheraton & booked the RS.

• John says:

  19 May19 May 07:55

  “There is also the Aspire lounge at Luton […] Recent reader feedback has not been too impressive though.”

  A wonderful understatement, Rob. While the rest of LTN has been on a journey of improvement – exemplified by the new Shuttle and contactless barriers – the Aspire Lounge has deteriorated to a filthy calamity. Beyond the poor and scarce food, and toilets in need of a deep clean and maintenance, the greatest dis-amenity is the long term absence of usable Wi-Fi in the lounge (and recently in the departures hall too).

• Save East Coast Rewards says:

  19 May19 May 08:45

  “There is a grand total of ONE restaurant experience globally that Amex-issued Priority Pass customers can use”

  There’s not. There’s at least two. I learned that from comments on here and just verified that’s still the case 😁

  • AlexT says:

    19 May19 May 09:10

    Indeed. There’s Berlin as well…

    • Rob says:

      19 May19 May 09:45

      Forgot about Berlin, you’re right. Apologies. Too new to register.

      • Save East Coast Rewards says:

        19 May19 May 10:07

        Due to the delay in opening it’s possible the Movenpick cafe actually signed an agreement with Priority Pass before the Grain Store which is how it’s an oddity.

        Berlin was one of my favourite cities to visit but I’ve not been yet since TXL closed. I need to fix that some time

• Michael says:

  19 May19 May 08:55

  We were turned away from the Aspire Luton last week with the Plat Amex; the staff said that they had never provided access via this card.
  Is there an effective and easy way to feed this stuff back to Amex as it devalues the card?

  • Save East Coast Rewards says:

    19 May19 May 09:01

    Aspire doesn’t provide access via Plat Amex, it provides access via the Priority Pass card you’re given.

    That’s the confusing bit… Some Amex lounge access (most) comes through Priority Pass, but others (Plaza Premium, Eurostar, Lufthansa, etc) comes through the Amex card itself, of course their own Centurion lounge access comes through the card too.

    • Michael says:

      19 May19 May 09:09

      Oh I see. Thanks for the clarification

• ExpatInBerlin says:

  19 May19 May 09:24

  I used the Aspire Luton in late Feb before flying back to Berlin after a very short notice job interview in London (EZY still had a £40 flight to Berlin bookable 48 hours before, all other airlines out of London were extortionate). I was thankful for some space as the terminal was packed. To be fair, on the day I was there they had a half decent chicken curry option so I was able to have a hot meal before the flight. The bar was manned but there were no queues so I enjoyed a couple of g&ts. Main gripes were that there were used plates/glasses everywhere and despite staff around no one seemed to be bothered about clearing them up. Also for some weird reason there were “reserved” signs on about 75% of all the tables! I opted for one of the single comfy seats in the “quiet” section overlooking the terminal. Agree that the toilets need a far more rigorous cleaning regime. I noticed that as I was packing up to leave there were a few large groups coming in teetering on rowdy. Aspire could do with improved sectioning off of the lounge for the quiet spaces to prevent noise from travelling.

• PlaneSpeaking says:

  19 May19 May 09:27

  Currently and everywhere I look, there are articles on Porto. Everyone I know has either just been, is there now or is going in a few weeks. I’m having such a FOMO moment – have I missed something?!

  • Rob says:

    19 May19 May 09:44

    There are many places in that neck of the woods – Valencia, Bologna etc – which are all equally interesting but which have finally got on the map after tidying themselves up, investing in new facilities and, frankly, benefitting from people looking for something new who have already ‘done’ Lisbon, Madrid, Barcelona etc.

    Note that Porto is very hilly, as the photo in the article shows. Not one for the feint hearted, weak jointed or anyone with a buggy or walking impairment.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      19 May19 May 21:45

      Valencia was a great destination 7-8 years ago if you knew

  • xefo says:

    19 May19 May 10:06

    We went there last year and enjoyed it even more than Lisbon. Fantastic views, great and cheap food, friendly people.

• PlaneSpeaking says:

  19 May19 May 09:54

  Thanks Rob, that’s good enough for me – it’s on the list (and with no port on BA for years, there’s a further incentive to visit too!).

• yorkieflyer says:

  20 May20 May 01:04

  I’m not sure that Bologna is in the same neck of the woods as Oporto?!

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