Airport lounges, anyone use them? More specifically T1 Manchester?

R.O.S.S.I · 7 Jan 2015 at 18:28

Off on our holidays in April and thought it would be nice to try out one of the lounges at the airport.

Just wondering if any one off here uses the lounges and if they are as good as they make out? If i'm not misunderstood its free food and drinks, plus plenty of space to sit and relax. The reviews are a bit of a mixed bag though.

In T1 in Manchester there is an Aspire Lounge and an Escape Lounge. Anyone any experience of either?

We are actually flying with Etihad but their lounge is only open to Etihad Pearl Business Class passengers, Etihad Guest Gold & Etihad Silver Card holders, which we sadly aren't

mattyg · 7 Jan 2015 at 18:33

Spent 6 hrs in a first class lounge in Bangkok. Really nice

They are fantastic if you get delayed

mjt · 7 Jan 2015 at 18:36

Lounges can be completely hit and miss.

Read up on the lounges you're interested in over at flytertalk and see if it's worth a look

R.O.S.S.I · 7 Jan 2015 at 18:42

Cheers for that site i'll take a peek.

In fact, we've got a lot of time to kill on the return leg at Ho Chi Minh Airport, might see what their lounges are saying!

scorza · 7 Jan 2015 at 18:51

I've used the Aspire lounges at Gatwick and Edinburgh airports, both of them were well worth the money imo. Not as good as the airline business class lounges though, but you get what you pay for I guess. Having said that, my only bad experience of an airport lounge was the BA lounge at Bordeaux airport, which was a very pokey room, quite cramped and the food and drink was limited in selection - then again the facilities for everyone else airside at Bordeaux was a vending machine.

wnb · 7 Jan 2015 at 20:19

Flew out to vegas from Manchster and I spent 2 hours in the Virgin lounge. It make a real difference been able to relax in a comfortable chair with wifi, newspapers and breakfast. Worth every penny.

[TW]Fox · 7 Jan 2015 at 21:09

They are massively variable. Some are amazing, others are glorified waiting rooms. Generally speaking you are not getting into the amazing ones without either airline status or the appropriate class of travel.

I used the Plaza Premium Lounge at Vancouver and it was nothing special.

Adam · 7 Jan 2015 at 21:49

I use the SAS Premium lounges and they offer food and drink, wifi and somewhere to sit in a much nicer environment.

The SAS gold lounge in Copenhagen was separate to the premium lounge and had more food, premium branded spirits and a nicer area to sit.

Once you have access to lounges it's hard to go back to wasting time in the airport. I travel a lot so tend to know which gates I will be departing from so can normally find an empty gate out of the way to get away from everyone if I need to send some emails.

Unicorn · 7 Jan 2015 at 22:02

Anyone used any at birmingham airport if so what is it like and what does it offer?

jkb · 7 Jan 2015 at 22:28

Airlines own lounges are usually good, the generic lunes (servisair etc) you get to go into when you pay a bit extra are variable in quality. Still better than being in the main airport

Rich_L · 7 Jan 2015 at 22:35

The ANZ/Virgin lounge at Terminal 3 at LAX is great, though more because Terminal 3 at LAX is so bloody awful

sven256 · 7 Jan 2015 at 22:40

For me the ones I have used at Manchester are a waste of time, the only reason I have been in them is other people wanted to go in.

You pay your £20 and the seats are no better than what are around the airport in bars. The food is generally cheap and not meal worthy. And thee people tend to be up their own backside, thinking they are vip as they are in a lounge.

My advice just go to the bar and have a couple of drinks and save some money.

As others have said others are not too bad, especially if you have a long wait.

Vanquish-Storm · 7 Jan 2015 at 22:57

[TW]Fox;27446501 said:
They are massively variable. Some are amazing, others are glorified waiting rooms. Generally speaking you are not getting into the amazing ones without either airline status or the appropriate class of travel.

I used the Plaza Premium Lounge at Vancouver and it was nothing special.

I agree that the Plaza Lounge at Vancouver might be nothing special but it still beat trying to find a place to sit and eat while waiting for our flight.

I do not have much to compare it to, the only other lounges I have used are Flybe's at Manchester and the No1 Traveller at Manchester which was very busy.

Seft · 8 Jan 2015 at 00:05

[TW]Fox;27446501 said:
I used the Plaza Premium Lounge at Vancouver and it was nothing special.

They had some excellent brownies out when I was there.

Russinating · 8 Jan 2015 at 00:18

I use the Lounge Club member lounges whenever possible. Two free a year and from there £15 a time, which depending on flight times if you have a meal, some drink and then take some drinks onboard too it's well worth it. And avoids all the kids in peasant class.

I've showered numerous times before too, especially handy with overnight flights.

Quartz · 8 Jan 2015 at 00:24

How do you find out what the lounges offer?

Moothead2 · 8 Jan 2015 at 02:49

I've been in the BA lounge in Heathrow and it was quite nice. Decent food and its a nicer environment than the loud and crowded main lounge. Probably not something id pay for though unless my flights were stupidly far apart.

memyselfandi · 8 Jan 2015 at 05:40

I've used the BA lounge at Heathrow T3 and the JAL lounges at Narita and Haneda in Tokyo.

All have been comfortable with a good selection of free food and drink on offer. Generally found them as nice places to wait for my plain although the BA T3 lounge could do with better information screens on departures (my flight was showing what gate it was going from on the displays on the main concourse well before the screen in the lounge showed it).

Tunney · 8 Jan 2015 at 07:38

They're great if you're taking connecting flights as you can have a shower at most lounges. The food isn't usually anything to write home about and whether they're quiet is really dependent on the time of day and who's using it.

Amp34 · 8 Jan 2015 at 08:40

BA lounge at T5 is huge, has a buffet hot food area, dozens of wine and spirit options and large comfortable seats. BA lounge at Gatwick (South?) was muc smaller and didn't have hot food but was comfortable and plenty of soft and hard drinks. Servisair lounges on the other hand always seem to be small, packed and grotty with a choice of some biscuits and crisps for food (And signs saying you'll be charged if you take them out the lounge.

As already said the better lounges appear to be be those run by the airlines, the third party ones aren't worth it, unless you get them as a free perk with a card or affiliation.