Lounge news: East Midlands closure, new Manchester restaurant, Dublin T2 re-opens

News in brief:

East Midlands lounge closure announced

The Escape Lounge at East Midlands Airport is to be refurbished.

That’s the good news. The bad news is the lounge will be closed from 20th January to 16th March to allow the work to take place.

There are no alternative lounges at East Midlands so it looks as if you will be stuck in the main terminal. It is possible that the scheduled airlines which use the lounge (if any) will offer catering vouchers instead.

Our last review of the lounge is here, from 2019. It needed an update anyway so we will see if we can get up there next year.

The official lounge website is here.

Priority Pass adds a restaurant at Manchester Airport

Priority Pass has unveiled a new Manchester Airport restaurant deal for its cardholders.

It is The Evergreen Bar & Brasserie in Terminal 2.

It joins the two existing Priority Pass venues in Terminal 1 – Starbucks and The Grain Loft.

You will receive £18 credit towards food and drink when you show your Priority Pass. If your Priority Pass allows a free guest and you arrive with someone else, you will receive a £36 credit between you.

Unfortunately these deals are NOT available to anyone who gets their Priority Pass via American Express, with two exceptions. It is available to anyone who gets their pass directly from Priority Pass or via another financial partner such as the HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard or the new £15 per month Lloyds Bank World Elite Mastercard.

There are a grand total of TWO restaurant experiences globally that Amex-issued Priority Pass customers can use.

One is Pizza Express at London Gatwick’s South Terminal. Given that this is the British Airways terminal, it is at least convenient for most HfP readers. The other is the Moevenpick Cafe in Berlin Brandenburg.

PS. Without wishing to state the obvious, you should not take part in these restaurant deals if you have a ‘pay per use’ or – if you’re not alone – a ‘pay for guests’ Priority Pass. The guest fee is now £24 and you are getting £18 of restaurant credit so you can see the problem here!

Want to see the full list of Priority Pass UK restaurant deals?

In a separate article today, we have updated our master list of UK airport restaurant deals where you can get £18 of credit with a (non-American Express) Priority Pass. We did not email the article today but email readers can see it by clicking here.

The Liffey Lounge opens in Dublin Terminal 2

The old Dublin Airport Authority lounge in Terminal 2 has just emerged from refurbishment and is now known as The Liffey Lounge.

This is the Priority Pass cardholder lounge in Terminal 2.

It is also used by British Airways for passengers on flights departing before 9am after which point BA passengers use the Aer Lingus lounge.

A photo is above. You will find it next to the ‘400’ gates.

More interestingly for users of Dublin Airport, the airport CEO commented under the news of the re-opening on LinkedIn: “And more lounge revamps to come and brand new lounges to be added.”

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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.

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:

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.