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British Airways lounge at Edinburgh Airport to close on Sunday for refurbishment

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The British Airways lounge upgrade programme, which has recently seen the Heathrow Terminal 5B lounge get an overhaul and new furniture added to Galleries First, is heading north.

The (surprisingly large) BA lounge at Edinburgh Airport will close on Sunday for three weeks for refurbishment.

This isn’t a bad lounge – the sheer size of it means that you can usually find somewhere quiet to sit and there is enough variety of furnishings to keep both business and leisure passengers happy.

Our 2022 review of the British Airways Edinburgh lounge is here – we might pop back after Christmas to see what is new.

British Airways could not confirm which lounge would be used as the alternative, although it appears to be the Aspire lounge by Gate 4, as this is currently unavailable for cash bookings. Our recent 2023 review of the Aspire lounge by Gate 4 (there are two Aspire lounges so make sure you head to the right one) is here.

If you have a Priority Pass airport lounge club card, I would recommend the Plaza Premium lounge (review here) instead which is a far more pleasant space.


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.

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.

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.

Comments (107)

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

  • FearlessTraveller says:

    Although it’s not from BA, I recently asked for compensation from TAP, another airline notorious from stretching the time on compensation claims.

    So back in March 2022 (last year), I travelled to Cape Verde – and the departure of our flight was constantly being pushed back, until we ended up leaving Manchester at 2am the next day.

    After submitting the EU261 claim on their website, I would wait until February 2023 to recieve an update on my claim. They offered me an ‘elevated’ compensation of €1200 voucher or €900 bank transfer. Safe to say I chose the voucher, as I had plans to travel during the Easter period.

    • Anna says:

      That’s good to know, as TAP doesn’t have the best reputation with HFP readers!

  • Anna L says:

    Firstly I took 1year plus for BA to accept that they need to compensate me due to a delayed flight that led to me missing my connecting flight (on the same booking ref). Different CS agents repeatedly rejected my claim until someone sensible accepted it and then the payment (Eur600) was processed very quickly after (3 days).

    They just cancelled my return flight from Haneda to LHR, let’s see how long it will take them this time.

  • Moira says:

    We were in the Aspire lounge in Edinburgh this morning, and were very impressed with the food on offer and the quality of the coffee, all the staff were exceptionally friendly and tables were cleared very quickly. Lots of power points and USB points available as well.

  • Hector says:

    Hi Rob, BA are indeed using the Aspire Lounge at Gate 4. Took a while to get in on Monday but otherwise it was fine.

  • Fionners says:

    I had a very surreal experience with BA and refunds last year. I had three return tickets booked from London to LA. The return leg was cancelled without notification from
    BA (I only discovered it through trying to check in online) so we got booked on the same flight but a day later. We were staying with friends so no accommodation issues luckily but I put in for a refund. I heard nothing back from BA. Not an email, phone call or message on the site. One day about two months later I noticed that a lodgement had been made into my account for exactly half of the full return fare paid. That was great to get but not a word from BA…

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

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