Airport lounge access

BPL

Hi folks, I read the MSE article and was dismayed to see that no one is offering free Airport lounge access any more. Does anyone have any good hacks to use them? I was looking at amex gold 4 passes  used to be unlimited:-(. Nat West black dragon pass £100k :-(. Prices for walk ins are up 50% against pre COVID. 
Any help greatly appreciated

NoodleDoodleMan

I think it's been quite a while since Amex Gold was anything more than 4.

The days of free lounge passes are gone I suggest.

Emmia

Frequent flyer loyalty? That does require you to stick with one airline group, and fly a lot. And no lounge access for the first year 

Alternatively fly first/business... 

Neither of those are cheap though 

DullGreyGuy

Or upgrade to AmEx Platinum which still gives unlimited access, but fees are going up again next year. 

Buy a membership like Priority Pass rather than getting it via a credit card

Bank with Barclays and get the Travel Plus pack which is another 6 visits a year or Natwest Black

BPL

Platinum amex £650 £285 for supplementary card!

Exodi

Maybe somewhere on the internet someone has compiled all the different figures (as it's probably unfair to consider free airport lounge access as free, if you have to pay £500+ a year for the card that includes it).

To add some more options to this thread:

Curve Metal (£17.99 p/m) includes LoungeKey access (among other bundled features with the card), though this isn't free, it's £24pp (which I believe is around a 50% discount).

Alternatively, if the bundled services weren't of interest, you could subscribe to Priority Pass. The standard plan of £69 per year for £24pp fee - assuming it is a 50% discount as per my experience and the breakeven is 3 times per year. If you opted for the standard plus the breakeven is 5, but you get great value between 5-10, as they are free.

https://www.prioritypass.com/join-prioritypass

DullGreyGuy

BPL said:

Platinum amex £650 £285 for supplementary card!

The first supplementary card is free

No one said it was cheap but, assuming you have someone close to give the supplementary card to then you get 4 people into lounges an unlimited number of times. There is no PP pass you can buy that does the same, even buying two people the £230 each pass still has the two guests billed at £24 each per visit. 

Add to that £300 of dining credit, £100 of Harvey Nichols credit, travel insurance including car hire excess, MR points and FHR. Plus a few more unusual bits like getting into the Eurostar Lounge and random discounts etc through the year.

Certainly not a card for the masses but for some, namely those travelling a lot, it can be a beneficial thing. A friend with an overseas weekend home instantly saved as they could ditch their Priority Pass and save on guests which more than covered the fee before you add the other elements. 

NoodleDoodleMan

I interpret free literally - there is no such thing as far as I can see.

TELLIT01

Which has recently done a survey of UK airport lounges and basically say that none of them are worth the money.

jimi_man

TELLIT01 said:

Which has recently done a survey of UK airport lounges and basically say that none of them are worth the money.

I can believe that. I had a free pass to the one in T5 (I think it was the Aspire lounge, which is normally £30 and it was overcrowded and rubbish. Definitely not worth £30. 

I use the BA/OneWorld lounges but they vary massively. Some are great and some are dreadful. If I’m travelling short haul Economy (ET) then they are good for getting something to eat as there is no food on the plane. 

But if one doesn’t have FF status then tbh it’s hard to beat Wetherspoons or Wagamamas for less than the price of a couple of lounge passes. 

Wonka_2

As a FF it's clear in Europe that the days have gone - on most occasions I see either a sign outside the lounge saying no capacity for Credit Card/LoungePass passengers - or them being turned away (and often then going through every card in their wallet to try one.

If I take my most frequent lounge in Manchester it's now filled with people who've pre-booked/paid as part of their holiday/trip with them allowed to reserve seats leaving even the airline frequent flyers fighting for a place it sit.

That said it's part of the post-covid world and I'm grateful that the facility exists at all