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Aspire Lounges coverage
Aspire Airport Lounges is the biggest lounge network in the UK with 21 lounges. There are another 17 in Europe, 3 in Canada, 3 in Dubai, 2 in Jamaica, 1 in Kenya, and 1 in Johannesburg.
A new Aspire lounge at Ottowa International is due to open in February.
Aspire Plus lounges offer better food and drink options.
Aspire Rewards loyalty scheme
Aspire Rewards uses an app with a digital membership card. Your account at the Aspire lounges website does not work with the Aspire Rewards scheme, and you have to register in the app as a new user.
The website account is only for managing bookings, not rewards.
Earning points
The Aspire lounge at Heathrow T5 is excluded, as are some partner lounges like Glasgow.
At other UK lounges you earn 4 points per £ if you book direct.
You can also earn points if you enter using Priority Pass or Dragon Pass. The earning rate is 50 points per visit.
If you enter as a group you can ask for the points to be split between multiple accounts, or applied to one account.
Redeeming points
Redeeming is also done in the app. There is no part-pay option, and there are no refunds.
Importantly, redeemed lounge passes do not carry the same guarantee of entry as a regular pre-booking, so if you try to use one at a peak time like August you risk not getting entry. Try to save them for quieter times like January, if that’s an option for you.
The passes are also not transferrable.
500 points – Free lounge visit
700 points – £5 shopping gift card for Amazon, Debenhams, and others
To earn 500 points through paid lounge visits would require spending £125, or 5 visits. Except, annoyingly the earning rate is actually 4 points per whole pound, and the entry cost is typically £24.99.
That would be 96 points, so you would only earn 480 points from 5 visits and come up short of the 500 needed for a freebie.
With Priority Pass, 10 visits will get you a freebie.
Aspire Rewards points expiry
Points expire after 24 months, regardless of any more recent activity in your account.
Closures
Luton Airport Lounge will be closed from the 26th January 2020 until the 12th March 2020 for refurbishment.
Edinburgh Airport gate 5 will be closed from 1st March to 14th April 2020, but the one at gate 16 is open.
Aspire Lounges access
Lounge clubs – Subject to availability, no pre-booking possible
- Dragon Pass – Excluding Heathrow T5
- Priority Pass
- LoungeClub
- Lounge Key
Pre-booking – online
Walk-up – Subject to availability
Airlines – First and business class
oneworld access to Aspire Lounges
Sapphire and Emerald oneworld members (BA Silver or Gold) have access to Aspire lounges at:
- Birmingham
- Edinburgh
- Inverness
- Gatwick North
- Manchester T1
- Amsterdam
- Calgary
- Cork
- Helsinki
- Nairobi
- Larnaca
- Johannesburg
- Zurich
Prices
£25 for Aspire, £35 for Aspire Plus. Direct bookings can be amended for free up to 48 hours before the booked time.
Gift certificates
£26 for one visit including 1 guest, at all UK Aspire lounges.
£35 to include Aspire Plus lounges.
Annual Membership
£260 for unlimited access including 1 guest, at lounges in the UK, Canada, Denmark and The Netherlands.
£400 for Aspire Plus membership, adding access to the Aspire Plus lounges.
Standard annual membership would only be worth it if you have more than 13 visits per year (because of the free visits you would earn paying per booking), and even then only if you chose not to use Priority Pass instead.
Priority Pass entry is subject to availability, but covers many more lounges around the world.
Aspire Lounges discounts and promos
Price match
For their UK lounges, Aspire lounges offer a best price guarantee against re-sellers like Holiday Extras or Lounge Pass, including discounts and offers. Take a screenshot of the offer, submit it online. It could take a few days.
Price match excludes Aberdeen and Glasgow, and excludes lounge access when booked as a bundle eg with parking or hotel stays.
Senior discount
Anyone aged 65+ gets a 10% discount.
Institute of Directors members
20% discount on walk-up prices.
Aspire Lounges sales
- Black Friday brings a 25% discount
- In December there are a series of competitions on their Facebook page
- The pre-Christmas sale offers 10% discounts
- The Boxing Day sale running until early January offering 10% or 15% off
- An anniversary double points offer may be repeated on 16th September
Aspire Lounges booking tips
Lounge club entry is subject to availability. One problem with lounge clubs is that you are at the bottom of the list for entry if the lounge is busy. The same goes for walk-up entry.
It’s increasingly common to be turned away from lounges with your Priority Pass or Dragon Pass card at busy times, especially in the smaller lounges such as are common in UK regional airports.
The only guarantee is by pre-booking. Sadly, pre-booking is not available for lounge club pass holders.
Aspire Lounges and Heathrow Rewards
At the Aspire lounges at Heathrow T3 and T5 you can earn Heathrow Rewards points. Remember the T5 lounge does not earn Aspire Rewards.
Aspire Lounges locations
- Aberdeen Airport Northern Lights Executive Lounge
- Belfast City Airport Aspire Lounge
- Birmingham Airport Aspire Lounge
- Birmingham Aspire Airport Lounge [South]
- Bristol Airport Aspire Lounge
- Bristol Airport AspirePlus Lounge
- Edinburgh Airport Aspire Lounge
- Edinburgh Airport Aspire Lounge – New
- Glasgow Airport Upperdeck Lounge
- Humberside Airport Aspire Lounge
- Inverness Airport Aspire Lounge
- Liverpool John Lennon Airport Aspire Lounge
- London Gatwick Airport North Terminal Club Aspire Lounge
- London Gatwick Airport South Terminal Club Aspire Lounge
- London Heathrow Airport Terminal 3 Club Aspire Lounge
- London Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 Aspire Lounge
- London Luton Airport Aspire Lounge
- Manchester Terminal 1 – Aspire Airport Lounge
- Manchester Terminal 2 – Aspire Airport Lounge
- Newcastle Airport Aspire Lounge
- Newcastle Airport AspirePlus Lounge
- Amsterdam Schiphol Airport Aspire Lounge 26
- Amsterdam Schiphol Airport Aspire Lounge 41
- Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg EuroAirport Skyview Flughafen-Lounge
- Calgary Airport Aspire Lounge International
- Calgary Airport Aspire Lounge Transborder
- Cologne Bonn Airport Lounge
- Copenhagen Airport Aspire Lounge
- Cork Airport Aspire Lounge
- Dubai Ahlan First Class Airport Lounge at Concourse D
- Dubai Airport Lounge @ B Terminal 3
- Dubai International Airport Business Class Lounge
- Dublin Airport DAA Executive Lounge
- Eindhoven Airport Aspire Lounge
- Faro International Airport CIP Lounge – Non Schengen
- Faro International Airport CIP Lounge – Schengen
- Geneva Airport Swissport Horizon Lounge
- Graz Airport VIP Lounge
- Helsinki Airport Aspire Lounge
- Jomo Kenyatta Airport Nairobi Aspire Lounge
- Larnaca Airport Aspire Aphrodite Lounge
- Montego Bay International Airport Club Mobay Lounge
- Montreal Airport Swissport Lounge
- Norman Manley International Airport Club Kingston Lounge
- O R Tambo International Airport Aspire Lounge
- Ottowa International Airport (February 2020)
- Sofia Airport Vitosha Aspire Lounge
- Zurich Airport Aspire Lounge
- Zurich International Airport Aspire Lounge – Midfield Terminal, Gates E
