Which? slams the state of independent UK airport lounges

Which? magazine, which regularly tests and scores consumer goods, has turned its focus to airport lounges. It has released a league table for the best and worst independent airport lounges in the UK.

You can see the full article on the Which? website here.

We don’t agree with the conclusions, but I think most of us would agree with the sentiment of their report – that things are not what they used to be.

We’re no novices to this topic: Rob and I have visited and reviewed virtually every airport lounge in the UK, but it was interesting to read the perspective of an ‘outside’ source.

Whilst Which? calls the list ‘Best UK Airport Lounges’ it would be fairer to call it the ‘Worst UK Airport Lounges’.

None of the 20 lounges reviewed scored more than 3 out of 5 stars; the vast majority scored 2.5 and below.

Unlike Which?‘s recent attempt to rank hotel chains, this is not based on reader feedback but individual feedback from their team of inspectors.

To establish a star rating, reviewers looked at various categories as well as the price of entry if you book direct. Points were given based on the availability of, and quality of:

• internal toilets
• showers
• whether the lounge had runway views
• quiet zones (or lack thereof)
• children and family zones
• what alcohol was available, including sparkling wine

It’s not clear how the results were weighted or whether they took more of a ‘finger in the air’ approach to the star ratings.

The results were not good, with Which? concluding that:

“Not only did many lounges fail to deliver on expectations, but Which? found that many of the benefits once offered by lounges have been cut back since the pandemic. For example, many lounges no longer offer spa facilities, lounge chain No1 Lounges has stopped offering made to order lunches in many of its properties, and private sleeping pods, or ‘snoozepods,’ have been cleared at Luton to make room for extra seating.”

They also noted huge hyper-inflationary price increases with the on-the-door costs of Aspire lounges increasing by 40% since covid. Here is the table of results (click to enlarge):

Which independent UK airport lounges did Which? like?

Six of the twenty lounges visited scored 3 out of 5 stars, which was the highest rating given this year. No lounges achieved four or five stars.

The six highest rated lounges are (the links go to our reviews):

• Edinburgh Aspire
• No1 Lounge Gatwick North
• No1 Lounge Gatwick South
• Plaza Premium Heathrow T2
• Inverness Aspire
• Manchester T1 Aspire

It’s not clear which Edinburgh Aspire lounge Which? visited, since there are two. The Luton Aspire lounge, meanwhile, is closing next week and is being converted into a My Lounge.

Looking at the results above, it’s clear that of the three major lounge providers (Aspire, No1 and Plaza Premium), all are seen by Which? as roughly equal in terms of quality.

Both the Edinburgh Aspire lounges are quality lounges so I would agree with Which? there. However, they appear to have missed the new Plaza Premium Edinburgh (review here) which is now my favourite lounge at the airport and (in my opinion) one of the best independent lounges in the UK.

Also missing from the list are some of the new lounges in Manchester’s Terminal 2. The 1903 lounge is excellent whilst the Escape Lounge next door is decent too.

And the worst UK airport lounges ….?

I imagine a big part of the Which? star ratings are based on just a single visit, which can have a huge impact on the overall impression of a lounge.

For example, on a recent trip from Gatwick North I popped into the allegedly 3-star No1 Lounge to find an overcrowded, chaotic and messy lounge heaving with families and lads on stag dos. The Which? inspector clearly visited at a quieter time.

The Southend SkyLife Lounge ranks the worst and is the only lounge to receive 1 star. However, when you read the small print you’ll find that this is because the lounge remains closed and qualifying passengers are sent to a corner of an airport cafe.

More disappointingly, the Plaza Premium Gatwick North lounge gets just 1.5 stars:

“When reviewers visited Gatwick North’s Plaza Premium towards the end of the day, they found food that ‘looked past its best’, crumbs on the tables, stains on the seats and workmen busy fixing a TV.”

This is not entirely fair, I think. The hard product of the Plaza Premium lounge in Gatwick North is good – as you would expect, given it is an ex-Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse. It is let down by a poor selection of food and drink as well as poor cleaning standards, but I’m not sure I’d give it 1.5 out of 5.

Is paying on the door good value?

Perhaps one of the reasons that the lounges score so badly across the board is that Which? is factoring in the cost of entry.

Their analysis notes that the cost of lounges has increased substantially. The majority of lounges are now charging in the high £30s or low £40s compared to £20-£30 pre-covid. That is, I am happy to admit, not good value.

How many people actually pay full price, however? Certainly amongst Head for Points readers I imagine the vast majority are getting into lounges for ‘free’ or at heavily discounted rates thanks to the lounge offers attached to many premium credit cards including:

• The Platinum Card from American Express, which comes with unlimited free lounge visits for four people via Priority Pass
• American Express Preferred Rewards Gold, which comes with four annual lounge passes via Priority Pass (and the card is free for a year too)
• the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard which comes with DragonPass+ membership where you can buy lounge passes for £18.50 per person
• the new Lloyds Bank World Elite Mastercard, which costs £15 per month and comes with an unlimited Priority Pass for two people

You also have Barclaycard Avios Plus credit card holders who also have Barclays Premier Banking, who get four free DragonPass lounge passes per year as a reward for holding both products.

If you’re paying £18.50 then arguably the value proposition increases sharply. If you’re not paying at all ….

The best lounges are not independent lounges

Of course, the best lounges are always going to be airline-run and not independent lounges. When a business class ticket can cost thousands of pounds there is a much greater incentive for airlines to make sure their lounges are up to scratch

Heathrow has one of the highest concentrations of airline-run lounges in the world, including top offerings from Cathay Pacific, Qantas, Qatar Airways and more. I’ve personally ranked my favourites at two of the terminals (I’m still working on Terminal 4!):

• What are the best airport lounges in Heathrow Terminal 2?
• What are the best airport lounges in Heathrow Terminal 3?

The real pressure on independent airport lounges to improve needs to come from the airlines. Many airlines closed (or chose not to build) their own lounges at key airports because the quality of independent lounges went up. This situation has gone into reverse since the pandemic, and only the risk of losing large chunks of guaranteed business from airline customers is likely to change things.

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How to get FREE airport lounge access via UK credit cards (March 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.

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.

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.

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:

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 8th April 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Business Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to 120,000 points. You receive 80,000 points when you spend £12,000 within three months and a further 40,000 points if you spend on the card between Month 14 and Month 17. Points convert 1:1 into Avios and many other programmes. Click here to apply.

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:

PS. You can find all of HfP’s UK airport lounge reviews – and we’ve been to most of them – indexed here.