With delays likely to affect many airports this winter, one option is to pay to enter an exclusive lounge.
While airline lounges are typically only accessible to passengers with business or first-class tickets, anybody can pay between £25 and £40 to enter an airport lounge with free drinks, food, magazines and newspapers.
But your experience can vary dramatically depending on where you fly from, according to our recent airport survey.
The best and worst airports for lounges
At Birmingham Airport, three in 10 passengers who used a lounge told us they weren’t satisfied with the experience. Only one in 10 said they were ‘very satisfied’ with the upgrade away from the busy terminal.
Birmingham Airport has three lounges open to economy passengers: Aspire (£25.99 if booked in advance), No 1 Lounge (£29.50) and the more luxurious Club Rooms (£40).
In contrast, around nine in 10 travellers who paid for a lounge at Luton Airport were satisfied. At Glasgow International, three quarters were satisfied with their experience.
At all three airports the vast majority of travellers in our survey were flying economy, so they wouldn’t have had access to the more luxurious airline lounges. Heathrow Airport also performed well, although a higher proportion of travellers who used the airport were flying business or first class.
Airport lounges compared
| Airport | Not satisfied | Satisfied |
|---|---|---|
| Glasgow International | 6% | 77% |
| London Heathrow Terminal 3 | 8% | 83% |
| London Luton | 10% | 87% |
| London Heathrow Terminal 2 | 10% | 77% |
| Edinburgh | 10% | 83% |
| Gatwick South | 11% | 76% |
| Gatwick North | 11% | 76% |
| London Heathrow Terminal 5 | 12% | 73% |
| London Stansted | 13% | 78% |
| Manchester Terminal 2 | 15% | 71% |
| Manchester Terminal 1 | 19% | 69% |
| Birmingham | 29% | 63% |
In August 2022, we asked Which? members to complete an online survey about their experiences of flying from and to a UK airport in the past two years. 1,403 of them told us about their experience of using a lounge. At most airports there are several lounges of varying quality and price. The figures above are an average of their overall experiences.
undefinedAre there restrictions on using airport lounges?
Most lounges have a dress code. Tracksuits and football tops are typically not allowed, along with fancy dress and other clothing associated with stag or hen parties.
Some ban caps and shorts, while others specify that smart shorts are allowed. Many airport lounges specifically prohibit ‘onesies’. Check the rules before you travel.
What can you expect if you pay for an airport lounge?
Some lounges include fancy spas and a chef whisking up fresh food, but this is the exception for the pay-as-you-go lounges.
When we last reviewed lounges in 2020 only three out of 21 had spa facilities – all at Heathrow. Five of the lounges didn’t even have a loo. Nine had food that was made to order, while the rest had buffets of varying quality.
However, the price of entrance will typically include a selection of hot and cold foods (often pasta or rice dishes, salad, or cooked breakfasts in the morning). There are also pastries and cakes. Lemon drizzle cake was nearly ubiquitous at the lounges we visited.
Drinks, including alcoholic drinks, are free, but most lounges will limit how many you can consume (bearing in mind that it is illegal to be intoxicated on a plane).
Is it worth paying for an airport lounge?
Some of the better lounges, such as the No1 Lounge at Heathrow’s T3 (£36 in advance) and Manchester’s T3 1903 (£45 in advance) impressed us in 2020, but they weren’t the cheapest.
You’ll probably make the best use of a lounge if your flight is delayed. But, unfortunately, last-minute entry is much more expensive than booking in advance.
It might be worth paying for one of the better lounges if you plan to eat your main meal there and enjoy a drink or two (check the menu online first).
Some sites, such as Lounge Pass or Lounge Buddy, say they can provide cheaper access to lounges around the world, but check whether it’s better value to book direct.
See the best and worst UK airports – as rated by you.
source https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/is-it-worth-paying-for-an-airport-lounge-aJiMI1t3pHAO