Bits: British Airways Manchester lounge changes, win a New York trip with Virgin Hotels

News in brief:

British Airways lounge changes at Manchester Airport

Whilst we wait for British Airways to move across to Terminal 2 at Manchester Airport, lounge provision in Terminal 3 is expected to take a turn for the worse this week.

Rumours on Flyertalk and forums4airports claim that the Escape lounge in Terminal 3 will close for good on Monday evening.

From Tuesday, British Airways passengers will be sent to a temporary lounge space.

There is no confirmation of where this will be. One source says it will be ‘in the old BMI lounge’ whilst a (more likely) alternative source says that it will simply be a roped off area of seating in the departure area. It would gain a coffee machine and some biscuits, but no ‘proper’ food will be available.

We will see on Tuesday ….

The same sources seem confident that the Terminal 2 space which had been reserved for a Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse will now be developed by Manchester Airports Group. It will become a dedicated airline lounge for British Airways, Qatar Airways and Virgin Atlantic.

Separately, it seems that the 1903 brand will be retired. The Terminal 2 lounge, which Rhys toured here, will apparently be turned into an extension of the Escape lounge. This is not surprising as the two lounges already share an overflow space which can become part of either lounge depending on capacity.

Win a New York holiday with Virgin Hotels

Virgin Red has teamed up with Virgin Hotels to offer one member a New York holiday.

It’s not a bad prize. The winner gets:

• 4 nights in Virgin Hotels New York which we reviewed here to use by 31st July 2026

• 100,000 Virgin Points, which should be enough for two Premium seats to New York on Virgin Atlantic (you are on the hook for the taxes and charges though)

To enter, all you need to do is register with ‘The Know’, the loyalty programme for Virgin Hotels, by the end of June and ensure that your Virgin Red number is in your ‘The Know’ profile.

You must be UK resident to enter.

You can enter via this page of the Virgin Hotels website.