Bits: first photos of Aspire lounge in Terminal 5, Dragonpass lounge deal

News in brief:

First photographs of the Aspire lounge in Heathrow Terminal 5

Thanks to reader Neil, I can share a couple of photographs of the new Aspire airport lounge in Heathrow Terminal 5.  This officially opens on Monday and is not yet listed on the Priority Pass website.  I think these are the first pictures of it to appear anywhere.

and:

I should be there next week so I will report back.  Once I know exactly what cards are accepted, I will write an article on the best ways to gain access.

If you are planning to visit the Aspire lounge and do not have a Priority Pass, your best option is to book in advance and guarantee admission via the Aspire website here.

Dragonpass lounge deal in The Telegraph TODAY

Dragonpass is a Priority Pass-clone which is trying to gain traction in the UK.  There is an interesting deal in The Telegraph today, ie Saturday.

You usually need to buy a Dragonpass membership card for £60 before you can buy their lounge passes.  With this offer, you can just buy the passes you need for the standard cost of £15 each.  This is the same cost as having a Priority Pass, except that Priority Pass will charge you £69 for your card first!

More details are on The Telegraph website here.  Remember that you can get one for free today if you spend £10 at Waitrose and show a My Waitrose card!

Etihad ‘free Hilton Gold’ offer IS transferable

Finally, you may have had an email from Etihad yesterday offering free Hilton HHonors Gold membership until the end of October, with an extension to March 2017 if you complete three stays.

The link in the email can only be used once.  However, the offer is fully transferable.  I proved this.  I got the email from Etihad but input the details of my wife’s account (which is under a different surname so it was clear to Hilton that it was not me).  She was instantly upgraded to Gold.

I now need to decide whether I should put three stays through her account in order to get her Gold status until March 2017.  It would allow me to let my own Gold lapse after March 2016.