London City Airport finally opens a lounge …. and charges £180 per person
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….. although children under 2 are free.
London City Airport has revamped the lounge in the Jet Centre, used for private aircraft, and is now making it available for use by the general public.
The lounge itself will not be giving Frankfurt’s First Class Terminal any major worries as you can see from the photographs here. Following a refurbishment it can now seat 18 passengers.
The key part of the service is not the lounge itself but the service around it. The Jet Centre has its own passport control and security channels, and you will be driven directly to your aircraft when it is time to depart. If you are travelling with luggage, it will be checked in on your behalf.
The service can also be booked in reverse, with passengers collected directly from an aircraft and driven to the Jet Centre for immigration and customs formalities. Slightly bizarrely, they offer to then drive you to the car park (no valet service here) or drop you at the DLR station. You can also arrange for a taxi or Uber to pick you up at the Jet Centre which they describe as “carrying on the VIP experience”.
To be honest, whoever wrote the text on the website clearly has no insight into the mind of the potential users of this facility. I’m not sure lines like this:
Light refreshments, catering, hot and cold drinks are all available from our First Class Lounge. However, if there is a special request to enhance your experience, remember you’re a VIP, don’t hesitate to ask.
…. inspire much confidence either! Business Traveller implied in an article yesterday that they do not even offer hot food at the moment.
Further details can be found on the London City website here.
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.
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