Review: the No1 Clubrooms at London Gatwick’s North Terminal

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This is our review of the No1 Clubrooms at London Gatwick’s North Terminal.

It is part of our series of reviews of airport lounges across the UK. You see all of the reviews here.

If you are heading out of Gatwick on a British Airways flight in the near future, and have a Gold card or are travelling in First Class, there is some good news.

The No1 Traveller Clubrooms are now open.

This means that – as long as you are travelling before 3pm – you won’t have to use the overcrowded No1 Traveller lounge or My Lounge (reviewed here), both of which have been full to (over)capacity since the British Airways lounges at Gatwick closed in January.

A HfP reader was there yesterday and kindly sent me a few pictures.

The Clubrooms are for Gold and First Class passengers only. Like the old BA First Class lounge, it appears to closes at 3pm to BA passengers in line with the last long-haul flight with a First Class cabin. The lounge itself remains open until 8pm but only for paying guests.

Whilst not fully clear yet, it seems that only British Airways Gold cards will be accepted. Top tier members of other oneworld frequent flyer programmes will not be admitted.

Note that you still won’t get free champagne even if you head downstairs. You DO get free champagne if you book Clubrooms for cash, according to their website.

Clubrooms use the space below the main No1 lounge previously occupied by the Delta lounge. Once British Airways moves over to the South Terminal, Clubrooms will become an ‘uber premium’ lounge (c £40 per head) similar to the one in the South terminal which I reviewed here. Until then, it is probably doomed to become a ‘slightly less overrun’ version of the main lounge, unless it is restricted to ticketed First Class passengers only.

Looking at these pictures, No1 seems to have tweaked the business model slightly. The original plan at Gatwick South was to sell whole rooms, targetting families and small groups who wanted their own private space.

The photos here look more like a standard airport lounge, albeit one furnished to a high standard and (once BA moves out) with a high price tag to enter. Unfortunately the space is underground so lacks natural light, but apart from that I am impressed by what I see.

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:

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.

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.