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British Airways now using the No 1 Traveller lounge at Gatwick North – feedback?

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In early January, the British Airways lounge complex at Gatwick closed.  This is part of the preparation for the terminal switch which is due to take place in November, with easyJet moving everything to the North terminal and BA moving to Gatwick South.

My thoughts on the Gatwick North lounges have been published here.  I found the British Airways lounges to be pretty awful (see my comments here) and the No 1 Traveller lounge (review) and its sister My Lounge (review) facilities to be pretty good.

No 1 Traveller Gatwick bar 1

When it was announced that BA would be ‘moving in’ with No 1 Traveller for 11 months, I thought it would be an improvement!

The feedback so far on Flyertalk has been mixed, to put it mildly.  I am a little surprised by this.  It seems to come down to the following:

At peak times, the No 1 lounge is now overcrowded.  There are some reports of long waits for food (although, to be honest, not so many that it seems to be a major problem).

British Airways has decided not to issue vouchers for free champagne to First Class and Gold Card ticket holders who would otherwise have been able to get it in the old Galleries First lounge.  No 1 charges £8 per glass.  This is a fair point, although I was surprised that missing champagne had inflamed so many people.

I get a feeling that some of the bad feedback is from people who had never visited the old BA lounge and so were unaware of what was on offer before.  Last time I checked, the BA Gatwick lounge did not have a table football table, for example, unlike No 1.  The No 1 lounge buffet is also substantially better than anything BA offered.

No 1 Traveller Gatwick North

What we can say is that I wouldn’t bother turning up at the No 1 lounge at peak times clutching your Priority Pass card, as your chance of getting in is low.  You can pay £5 in advance to guarantee entrance with a Priority Pass via this website.

Whilst this has not been announced, it seems that BA and No 1 may be taking over the old Delta lounge which is two floors beneath the No 1 lounge, next to the Aspire lounge.  This may be run as a separate facility for BA Gold and First Class ticket holders, although they will struggle to get it up to much of a standard in the time available.

There are also rumours that the move to the South Terminal will be delayed until next Spring, which may account for the Delta lounge conversion.

If you have been in the No 1 Lounge at Gatwick as a BA passenger in the last 2-3 weeks – and I haven’t – do let us know your thoughts via the comments below.


Getting airport lounge access for free from a credit card

How to get FREE airport lounge access via UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, here are the three options to get FREE airport lounge access via a credit or charge card:

American Express Platinum card Amex

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express comes with two free Priority Pass cards, one for you and one for a supplementary cardholder. Each card admits two so a family of four gets in free. You get access to all 1,300 lounges in the Priority Pass network – search it here

You also get access to Plaza Premium, Delta and Eurostar lounges.  Our American Express Platinum review is here. You can apply here.

Nectar American Express

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for the first year. It comes with a Priority Pass card loaded with two free visits to any Priority Pass lounge – see the list here

Additional lounge visits are charged at £20.  You get two more free visits for every year you keep the card.  

There is no annual fee for Amex Gold in Year 1 and you get a 20,000 points sign-up bonus.  Full details are in our American Express Preferred Rewards Gold review here.

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard

A huge bonus, but only available to HSBC Premier clients Read our full review

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard gets you get a free LoungeKey card, allowing you access to the LoungeKey network.  Guests are charged at £20 although it may be cheaper to pay £60 for a supplementary credit card for your partner.

The card has a fee of £195 and there are strict financial requirements to become a HSBC Premier customer.  Full details are in my HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard review.

PS. You can find all of HfP’s UK airport lounge reviews – and we’ve been to most of them – indexed here.

Comments (119)

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

  • Gary says:

    We went there last Friday afternoon and it was a good experience. It was hard to find a table as it was busy but we did get one, and the food we ordered arrived without much wait and didn’t really have to queue too much for the bar.

  • Carlie Whiskey says:

    Used it two weeks ago on flight to RAK late morning . Very crowded/cramped and circus-like – only just got two seats together. Staff willing and active but overwhelmed, queue for the three men’s loos, food limited but did come within 10 minutes, and bar service was acceptable.
    If I have been flying First on long–haul or for a special occasion I would have been very miffed indeed and would have formally complained. The non-champers for top whack payers is simply stingy.

    BA have had a long time to provide a decent alternative lounge and have quite clearly decided to provide only the absolute minimum at low cost to meet some financial savings target. As a result they take another reputational hit, but as they have clearly ditched “To Fly, To Serve” as an aspirational motto they obviously don’t care. Pity … most of us try so hard to wish the airline well, but it seems to be on a headlong race down the rankings as a matter of policy to get the dividends out. Tesco did that …..

  • Jeremy says:

    I was there the first weekend of January at 1:30pm or so – it was pretty crowded but not full, and the food service didn’t take too long. The hot food is nice compared to the old BA lounge, but the portions are tiny (and I think you only get the first order free). The cold salad/cakes weren’t really an improvement on the old BA lounge I don’t think.

  • Mark Evans says:

    Used the lounge last month en-route to Rome and that is all I need to say, at least it has a lounge. Yes food takes too long and is a little basic, but otherwise it’s a decent facility for the next 12months.

  • Concerto says:

    Er…what lounge does SWISS use in LGW. Got a flight coming up, sure hope it’s not the lounge reviewed above.

  • bill says:

    On Saturday I escorted my parents armed with a priority pass to the entrance and they went in. I sat at the entrance door waiting for my wife to catch me up – she had gone to the shop. We then attempted to get in with our priority pass just 5 minutes later and were told the lounge was full. When I pointed out that my parents had entered just a short time ago I was told that they must have had a reservation. What annoyed me was the lie. We went to a different lounge and met the parents on the way out.

  • Polly says:

    I was there yesterday lunch time flying Paddy Air to Dub, needed to save our avios for our next 241 , so needs must. Food portion tiny, but buffet ok. Soup was fab, I must say. Not too busy, but wine serving very minimal bar amount. Used not measure it so tightly. If I were on J or F, it would not make me very happy! Just cannot understand BA moving to the Sth term. Why?

  • Jordan D says:

    Last time I went through LGW was in November when heading to RAK. I visited the then BA F lounge and the No 1 Traveller lounge.

    Sorry, Raffles – we agree on a lot, but my opinion was that the BA lounge (on that day) was far superior to the offering being proffered by No 1. In terms of the quality of the food brought to us, in terms of their being free champagne in the lounge, in terms of the newspapers and magazines to read/take away.

    The only (and literally only) time No 1 outscored BA F was in terms of where the windows looked out: they had the apron, BA had another building. But a small price to pay for a more civilised pre-flight experience.

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.