Review of No1 Lounge at London Gatwick’s South Terminal

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This is our review of the No1 Lounge in the South Terminal at London Gatwick Airport.

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

EDIT: You can read a later review of the No1 Lounge at Gatwick’s South Terminal here.

It is now just over four months until the big terminal switch at Gatwick. On 25th January 2017, British Airways will move overnight from the North Terminal to the South Terminal. easyJet will move across to the North Terminal, consolidating their entire operation under one roof for the first time.

British Airways is building a brand new lounge complex in Gatwick South for status and premium passengers.

If you are travelling in economy without BA status, you won’t be getting in. The good news is that No 1 Lounges opened a brand new facility in Gatwick South in February. You can get access to this using a Priority Pass (with American Express Platinum or bought outright) or Lounge Club (two free entries with American Express Gold) card. You can also buy passes directly on the No1 Lounge website.

Last week I went on holiday to Croatia to spend a week on the gorgeous island of Vis (I will spare you a review of my independent 2* hotel, with a bed so bad I spent one night sleeping on the floor).

Flying Norwegian from Gatwick South to Split, we decided to give the new No 1 Lounge a try. We bought access for cash and No1 Lounges was not involved in this review in any way.

The No 1 lounge is located upstairs next to Dixons. You need to walk along a hallway to reach the reception desk.

The first thing you notice is the size – this is substantially bigger than the old No1 Lounge at Gatwick South – and different sitting arrangements.

The middle bit is the restaurant:

…. and next to the table area is the bar where you can order drinks and food.

There were nuts, apples and cakes for self service. All other food had to be ordered from a menu at the bar.

There were two coffee machines and a good tea selection in the lounge.

At the far end of the lounge were very comfy sofas.

The lounge also has a meeting room where kids under the age of 12 are not allowed.

This is the TV room.

The work area in the No1 lounge has got two desktop Macs:

Food

The food menu very good and the dishes were freshly prepared. If you have got enough time, this definitely makes for a great lounge experience. However if you are under time pressure you may find the wait annoying – during busy times you will need to wait 10-15 minutes for your food.

As our flight was delayed (good old Norwegian) we had enough time to try almost the whole menu ……

The spinach and ricotta pasta shell was delicious, but the portion size was more starter than main.

…… that’s why I also tried the superfood salad mezze with quinoa. If you like healthy food, this is my recommendation.

Here is the full food menu (click to enlarge).

Conclusion

The No1 lounge at London Gatwick’s South Terminal is a great way to start your holiday. The atmosphere was very calming and relaxing and the food quality was great. I think British Airways passengers without lounge access will be pleasantly surprised by what they find here after 25th January.

The only thing that could get annoying when the lounge is busier is the queue at the bar and the time you have to wait for your food to arrive. In order to make the most of it the lounge, I recommend arriving at least 90 minutes prior to departure.

You can find out more, and buy entry passes, on the No1 website here.

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.

Category

General

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

Luke edwards says:

16 Sep16 September 09:06

Excellent review as always, just wondering whether there is any news on when the BA lounge will be opening at Gatwick South?
- Rob says:
  
  16 Sep16 September 10:33
  
  I am hoping the same day as the switch! Or chaos will ensue …..
Guy G says:

16 Sep16 September 09:35

OT apologies. Anyone know of converting Quatas Reward points to Avios, or a way of buying Reward Saver flights with them?

Thanks
- Ben says:
  
  16 Sep16 September 09:51
  
  No you cannot do this. You can book BA flights with Qantas points though, it just requires more Qantas points than Avios generally.
- fbrj says:
  
  16 Sep16 September 13:03
  
  You can book QF using avios on the BA site. Generally I’ve found that using avios for J is excellent value. For economy flights cash is good value if booked on QF website. I’m about to book MEL-BNE-ADL-MEL all on QF (not Jetstar etc) for £500 for 2ppl.
  
  I’ve 2 J QF flight MEL-PER for 20000 avios and £9/per head for 4hr flight.
  - AndyR says:
    
    16 Sep16 September 19:57
    
    But the OP doesn’t have Avios he has Qantas miles.
Ben says:

16 Sep16 September 09:48

I’ve been in this lounge several times and I think both your photos and review paint it in a much nicer light than it actually is. It is always packed to the rafters (I was denied entry at 2pm on a Wednesday because it was full) and while the fitout is reasonably high end, there’s rarely a free seat and the tables are usually covered in dirty dishes. I do agree the runway views are excellent though. The one free menu item is whatever can be made for the lowest cost and slapped onto a plate by a kitchen hand. The buffet food is reasonably substantial but again, its what can be made for the lowest cost, ie dense cake. At the bar, wine is poured into a metal measurer and then slopped into the glass (can they really not teach/trust the staff to pour a glass of wine? How hard is it?
As Gatwick quickly grows they really need another lounge in this terminal – full service airlines like CX are starting to add extra flights there as a Heathrow alternative and this lounge is not up to standard for premium pax on a premium airline. As much as people bash Heathrow, if you are flying out of T2 or T5 both the terminals and lounges are excellent.
In terms of non-Heathrow UK PP lounges Ive been much more impressed with the Escape lounge in Stanstead. Even when its full it doesn’t feel crowded, bright, fun, airy design, hot food options which is unusual for a PP lounge, plenty of healthy salads instead of dense carbs and the staff there are absolutely incredible – bright, bubbly, genuine, and they will even escort you to a seat and help get you settled (again, unusual for a PP lounge!). Even at 6pm on a Friday which I assume is one of the busiest hours of the week the staff were handling the lounge well and everyone was happy. I actually quite like Stanstead given its not nearly as big or as many people as Gatwick, and this lounge.
- John says:
  
  16 Sep16 September 10:14
  
  Alot of that CX traffic might move across to the new BA lounge when it opens which may help out No1.
  - Leo says:
    
    16 Sep16 September 11:48
    
    I shall certainly be using the BA lounge if it’s open in time for my CX flight.
- harry says:
  
  16 Sep16 September 10:19
  
  there’s actually a reasonably good choice of free menu items http://i1.wp.com/headforpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/no-1-lounge-gatwick-south-food-menu.jpg (though normally only 1 free item per pax before you have to pay £4 for additional items, sounds like some people got lucky)
  
  I think No1 are normally pretty good except when they get swamped. I use No1 in T3 every few months and it has always been absolutely excellent.
- AndyR says:
  
  16 Sep16 September 10:45
  
  I agree with on the Escape lounge at Stansted airport, I think it is better than the PP options at LGW and definitely LTN which is crap. Only £2.50 for a Prosecco (more reasonable considering you have already payed to get in) which they ran out of so offered Champers as a replacement..
Stuart_f says:

16 Sep16 September 09:50

I still can’t believe that toast has to be ordered and counts as your complimentary item rather than being self-serve. Especially mad when you can have as much booze as you like but a second bit of bread is going to cost you!
Lewis Watson says:

16 Sep16 September 10:52

Is there a club rooms for first passengers?
- Rob says:
  
  16 Sep16 September 11:43
  
  There are Club Rooms at Gatwick South but, as BA will have its own First Class lounge, you will be sent there instead.
  - Lewis Watson says:
    
    16 Sep16 September 12:08
    
    So no more confusion sending first passengers to the club rooms and club passengers to the no1 lounge
    - Crow says:
      
      20 Sep20 September 07:52
      
      That arrangement is at North terminal whilst BA remains there without a lounge. This article is about South terminal where, once they move, BA will have its own lounges for premium and status passengers. As the article says, this No. 1 Traveller lounge at South will be an option for non-status and economy passengers travelling with BA after the move.
Genghis says:

16 Sep16 September 11:17

I’m surprised Harry hasn’t plugged this today…
RW says:

16 Sep16 September 11:25

OT

Does anyone have any experience buying/using a Visa pre paid gift card or one from pay.com?

I’m considering purchasing one to help with hitting a spending target and thinking further down the line, has anyone paid their council tax with one? Does it work just like a debit card in that sense?
- harry says:
  
  16 Sep16 September 11:30
  
  heh heh there are about 500 experts on this thread 🙂
  
  yes you could pay council tax (pay.com acts like a debit card) but have you considered just using Amex direct via Paypoint @ Co-Op stores? Most councils allow this (not all).
  
  your problem is the fee for buying the prepaid Visa in the first place, which can make it a costly exercise.
  - RW says:
    
    16 Sep16 September 12:20
    
    Thanks for replying.
    
    I tried to use Paypoint, however, currently my council doesn’t allow this method 🙁
    
    I’ll have a proper look at the fees for both before I make up my mind, but I think I’m leaning towards pay.com
    - Roger says:
      
      16 Sep16 September 12:51
      
      Why don’t buy supermarket giftcard to hit spending target?
      - RW says:
        
        16 Sep16 September 13:07
        
        That’s also definitely under consideration, I just want to explore other options that allow a little more flexibility. Further down the line, paying off the council tax using this method would be a great earner and probably secure the spend I need for an upgrade voucher.
      - John says:
        
        16 Sep16 September 13:33
        
        Can you top-up pay.com card from an amex card?
      - Roger says:
        
        16 Sep16 September 16:46
        
        don’t think so.
        As it is a prepaid card which AFAIK cannot be credited any further than initially loaded amount.
      - RW says:
        
        16 Sep16 September 17:51
        
        I think it can be topped up, it’s listed in the fees section of pay.com
        
        There’s no mention of amex however.
Rob says:

16 Sep16 September 11:47

Just out of interest, how do you pre-book the £7 glass of prosecco to get around paying the £5 reservation fee? Can’t find a way of doing it on the No 1 Lounges site.
- Brighton Belle says:
  
  16 Sep16 September 19:00
  
  Seems you go here
  https://no1lounges.com/reservations#/make-booking
  
  choose your time on the calendar, pick your free access lounge card, buy the champagne deal, the checkout sum is just for the fizz fee.
  - Rob says:
    
    16 Sep16 September 20:08
    
    Great, thanks
    - harry says:
      
      16 Sep16 September 20:29
      
      Please be aware that our lounges can reach full capacity and so in these instances, visitors without a reservation will unfortunately not be able to gain access.
      
      By paying a fee of just £5* per person, or by pre-booking any of our other services, you will be securing your entry to the lounge.