Relaxing in an airport lounge can be a great way to start your summer holiday in style. 

It can offer a quieter, more comfortable alternative to the main terminal, typically including complimentary food and drink, free WiFi, charging points and workspaces.

Premium versions have showers, family areas, private meeting rooms and spa treatments.

They’re not cheap, but you may be able to get discounted or free access by

checking perks that come with credit cards you already hold – or by signing up to new deals via cashback websites.

Here are all the tricks to do it.

How lounges work

Airport lounges are operated by private companies and open to everyone, regardless of airline or ticket class. They may even save you money on food and drink – especially if you get a good deal.

The biggest airport lounge operators include Plaza Premium, No 1 Lounges and Aspire. Smaller operators include Escape Lounges, Extime and Primeclass.

You can buy a one-off pass for these lounges before you travel (walk-up prices are usually higher). 

For example, prices at No 1 Lounges are typically £48 if you just turn up, or £40 if you book online. Children are typically admitted free of charge up to the age of two and at a discounted child rate to age 12.

You can book direct or via comparison websites such as Lounge Pass, VIPLounges.com or Holiday Extras. 

Before buying a pass, check if you can earn cashback. TopCashback is currently offering 7.5 per cent cashback on No 1 Lounges and Holiday Extras. Quidco is paying 6.4 per cent cashback on Lounge Pass and No 1 Lounges.

To use a cashback site, go to their website and search for the lounge pass you want to purchase. Click through to buy it from the cashback website.

You can often get bigger discounts on your first visit by joining the provider’s mailing list. Escape Lounges offers up to 15 per cent off for new subscribers, while No 1 Lounges gives 10 per cent off. 

You can usually find the newsletter sign-up information at the footer of the homepage. Once you’ve signed up, you’ll be given a discount code for your first booking.

Member schemes

If you fly often, it can be worth joining a global lounge-membership scheme such as Priority Pass or DragonPass. These offer access to hundreds of lounges run by operators worldwide.

Priority Pass has three membership options. The Standard plan costs £69 a year, but you’ll need to pay £24 for each lounge visit. 

Standard Plus costs £229 a year and includes ten lounge visits, with subsequent attendances £24 each. At the top end, the Prestige plan costs £419 a year for unlimited lounge visits.

All tiers provide access to more than 1,900 lounges worldwide and allow the option to take a guest for £24. 

Priority Pass provides access at all major UK airports. Facilities vary between lounges but at the very least includes complimentary alcohol, soft drinks, food and snacks, WiFi, charging points and comfortable seating away from the terminal.

At the moment, you can get 30 per cent off the advertised prices by signing up via an affiliate link on the website Mrplaneguy.com.

An affiliate link is a type of tracked link that earns the publisher a commission when someone clicks it. 

You can also get 50 per cent off Standard membership or 20 per cent off Standard Plus by buying a discount code on deal website Wowcher for £5. 

The £5 Wowcher deal is not a Priority Pass membership itself – you’re buying a voucher that gives you a discount on a Priority Pass membership, which you then purchase separately from Priority Pass. 

For example, the current offers include 20 per cent off Standard Plus membership – you pay £5 for the voucher, then £183 for Standard Plus membership instead of £229.

DragonPass has three tiers: Classic costs £68 a year with one free visit and £24 per extra entry; Preferential is £168 a year with eight visits included, and Prestige is £379 a year for unlimited access.

Guest fees usually range from £20 to £24 – so a family of four could pay up to £72 extra. Dragonpass gives you access to a mix of independent airport lounges, including Aspire, Plaza Premium, No 1 Lounges, Escape and Primeclass, at all major airports across the UK. 

As well as Heathrow and Gatwick, there are lounges at smaller airports such as East Midlands, Exeter and Inverness.

Check your bank account and card

Many premium bank accounts and credit cards offer passes for Priority Pass, DragonPass or LoungeKey. For example:

• Barclays Travel Plus Pack (£26 a month) is an add-on to a Barclays current account: Six DragonPass visits a year plus travel insurance and other perks such as UK and Europe breakdown cover.  Guests travelling with you can use your available lounge visits. Additional guest passes can be purchased for £16.
• NatWest Premier Reward Black (£36 a month, strict eligibility criteria, for example a minimum income of £100,000 or have £100,000 in savings and investments with NatWest): Unlimited DragonPass access and a bundle of travel and insurance benefits. Guests passes are £24.
• Revolut Ultra (£55 a month) is Revolut’s premium tier, offering travel, lifestyle and financial perks: Unlimited DragonPass access (Guest fees vary).
• Revolut Metal (£14.99) – a packaged account offering travel insurance, cheaper international transfer fees and partner subscriptions: Discounted LoungeKey passes (£7.99 to £24.99 each).

Best card deals:

• HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard (£290 a year 100.2 per cent APR): Unlimited Priority Pass Prestige access (Guests, including children, are charged £24).
• HSBC Premier Credit Card (free 29.9 per cent APR): Standard Priority Pass membership (lounge visits and guests cost £24 each).
• Lloyds Bank & Halifax World Elite Mastercards (£180 a year 55 per cent APR): Unlimited Priority Pass Prestige access for the main cardholder, plus one additional cardholder (guest fee £24).
• American Express Preferred Rewards Gold (free for a year, then £195, 85.8 per cent APR): Four free Priority Pass visits a year.

Paying for a premium credit card purely for lounge access rarely makes sense unless you travel frequently or the card has other perks you will use. 

Either way, make sure you pay the balance off in full each month as interest rates can be high.

Virgin Media and O2 customers

O2 and Virgin Media customers can get 50 per cent off single DragonPass airport lounge passes (until 19 July 2026) through Priority. This is O2’s reward scheme which is available to all customers. The firm says the discount typically saves at least £21 per entry.

To claim, users need to download/open the Priority app, find the ‘50 per cent off DragonPass airport lounge passes’ offer, tap ‘use now’ and follow the steps.

The deal refreshes weekly, and customers can claim it once a week. An O2 customer could collect four discount passes.

Airline vs airport

Airline lounges are different from airport lounges as they are almost always exclusively reserved for passengers travelling in first- or business-class, or those with elite frequent-flyer status.

They are typically the most luxurious, often featuring à la carte dining, premium wines and spirits, spa treatments, sleeping pods and workspaces.

It’s virtually impossible to blag your way into an airline lounge – you usually need to have reached a certain tier in the airline’s loyalty scheme or that of a qualifying partner airline.

However, some will let eligible travellers bring a guest.

For example, access to the British Airways lounges is available to passengers flying in Club Europe, Club World (both business-class), or First Class. 

It’s also available to members of its loyalty scheme, British Airways Club who have reached Silver or Gold status (a minimum of 7,500 tier points or a minimum of 50 eligible flights in a year), and Oneworld Sapphire or Emerald members. 

Silver and Gold members can usually bring one guest travelling on a British Airways or Oneworld flight.

‘You can’t buy a pass to get into BA lounges,’ says Rhys Jones, of travel website Head for Points.

He says the simplest way to gain access is to upgrade from economy or premium economy to

business-class before departure, using cash or Avios points. For example, using Avios for an economy flight to Paris costs 10,000 points plus £1, but Club Europe class costs 16,500 Avios plus £15.

‘The difference is just 6,500 Avios plus £14 one way. For that you get lounge access, but also additional checked luggage, a dedicated check-in desk, fast-track security, priority boarding, a seat at the front of the plane with an empty seat next to you and a meal with complimentary alcohol including champagne,’ says Jones.

One of the easier ways to accumulate points quickly is taking out an American Express Gold card, adds Jones.

If you qualify for the card, you’ll get 20,000 bonus Avios points by spending £3,000 in the first three months.

You’ll need to pay off the balance in full every month or face sky-high interest.

The card is free for the first year, but then carries a £195 annual fee. It also offers four free airport lounge passes (but not access to the BA-specific lounges).