Review: the LNER First Class Lounge at London Kings Cross railway station

This is our review of the LNER First Class Lounge at London Kings Cross station.

Whilst I go through this lounge 2-3 times per year, it seems that we haven’t written about it since 2019. Finding it surprisingly quiet on Wednesday morning, I was able to get some fresh photographs – not that much has changed!

If you only learn one thing from this review, it is that you can use LNER lounges as arrivals lounges as well as departure lounges. Whilst I never have the urge to visit when arriving back in London, I do use the LNER lounge in York as an arrivals lounge whilst waiting for my non-LNER connection.

First Class railway lounges in the UK are a strange beast.  To some extent we should possibly be grateful they exist at all (and if you don’t board in London they often don’t) but no-one has ever made the experience really work.

The three main London lounges are Paddington (reviewed here, but there have been reports of cut backs since that article), Euston (well intentioned but hampered by the lack of space Avanti has to work with, reviewed here) and Kings Cross (the most modern of the lot, but also the smallest).  In all three cases the lounge suffers from being shoehorned into the existing architecture.

Inside the LNER First Class Lounge at Kings Cross

If you’re new to Kings Cross the lounge can be tricky to find.  It is on the first floor, and at concourse level there is simply a small doorway leading to a lift.  You will find it to the left of Little Waitrose.

Exiting the lift, there is a stand-alone reception desk which frees up some space inside the lounge itself.  The magazine and newspaper rack which was there pre-covid has gone.

The first thing you see when walking in is a fridge full of free bottled water.  You then come to what is actually a secondary seating area next to the food and drink island:

Once you get past this you have a more casual seating area:

and

The lounge then veers to the right, where you have a hot desking area:

Tucked around a corner are some private booths which are very rarely occupied:

Food and drink

The food and drink selection is terrible by airline lounge standards but actually OK by railway lounge standards.  You are looking at individually shrink-wrapped muffins, small packets of biscuits, crisps, bananas and apples. It’s nothing for any HfP reader used to airline lounges to get excited about.

It was surprisingly quiet for 8.30am but I think this was a function of the school holidays reducing business travel.  I have seen it a lot busier than this. Oddly my train was 95% full in First Class but seemed more tourist heavy than usual – I think a lot of people don’t know the lounge exists.

All in all, this is a perfectly fine place to spend 30 minutes or so.  It is worth remembering that LNER allows everyone with a First Class ticket to come in, even Advanced Purchase ones.

When you leave, there is a short cut which takes you directly to the platforms. You do not need to return to the concourse via the lift and fight through the crowds to the main set of gates. You exit the lounge, follow the arrow and you find yourself on a virtually unused bridge. It cuts across all of the LNER platforms with escalators and lifts to take you down.

PS.  Our review of the LNER lounge in York station is here. Nothing has changed in the three years since we published that.

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How to get FREE airport lounge access via UK credit cards (October 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 1,500 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.

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

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 22nd October 2024, the bonus on American Express Business Platinum is increased to up to 80,000 Membership Rewards points, worth 80,000 Avios. You will receive 8 points per £1 spent for the first three months, on up to £10,000 of spending. Click here to read our full card review. 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.

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.

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