Lounge news: Newquay and Bristol Aspire to temporarily close, ‘Lounge of the Year’ winners

A few bits of airport lounge news:

Cornwall Airport Newquay lounge currently closed

The modest terminal at Cornwall Airport Newquay is undergoing some building work which means that the Executive Lounge is currently closed.

To quote from the airport website:

Please bear with us as we undergo some exciting changes in the departures area. We’re pleased to announce that a brand new Café and Retail offering is on its way – opening May 2024.

Cold food options will be available during this time. Pasties from the Check-in Café are available to take through Security.

Tea, coffee, soft drinks and snacks will remain available in departures and the Airside Bar is open.

Unfortunately, due to the ongoing works, our Executive Lounge will remain closed.

We last reviewed the Cornwall Airport Newquay lounge back in 2018. It only had 15 seats.

Escape lounge at Bristol Airport to close for refurbishment

It’s difficult to keep track of what’s going on with the lounges at Bristol Airport.

Following rebranding, postponed refurbishments and then – as we covered last week – the permanent closure of the 1903 Lounge (according to Priority Pass), the Escape lounge is now due to close for refurbishment.

It is showing as closed from 10th to 24th April.

The 1903 Lounge will still be open during this period – it is due to close for good at the end of April. It isn’t clear if Priority Pass cardholders will still be expected to pay the additional fee (unstated, probably £10-£15) to use 1903.

Vienna Lounge wins ‘Lounge of the Year’

Back in June 2023, Rhys reviewed the Vienna Lounge at Vienna Airport. The headline of the review was “Is this the best independent lounge in the world?”.

It seems that other people thought the same way, because the Vienna Lounge has just won the Priority Pass ‘Lounge of the Year’ Award. This is based on feedback from Priority Pass users after their lounge visits.

The regional award winners were:

Asia Pacific

• Winner: Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club, Terminal 1, ‌Hong Kong International Airport, ‌Hong Kong

• Highly Commended: Oriental Club Lounge, Terminal 2, ‌Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, ‌Taiwan

Europe

• Highly Commended: Marco Polo Club, Venice Marco Polo Airport, Italy (reviewed here)

Latin America and the Caribbean

• Winner: Advantage VIP Lounge, Curitiba Afonso Pena International, Brazil

• Highly Commended: Macondo Lounge, Barranquilla Ernesto Cortissoz International, Colombia

Middle East and Africa

• Winner: Petra Lounge, Amman Queen Alia International Airport, Jordan

• Highly Commended: Primeclass Lounge, Muscat International Airport, Oman (I was in this lounge last October and agree)

• Highly Commended: Bidvest Premier Lounge, International Terminal A, Johannesburg O.R Tambo International, South Africa

North America

• Winner: VIP Lounge Aguascalientes, Jesus Teran Peredo International, Mexico

• Highly Commended: Escape Lounge, S Terminal A, Syracuse NY Hancock International, United States

We have been invited to Vienna for the presentation ceremony so hopefully Rhys will get to take another look at the winner very soon.

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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.

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

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.

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.

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