Review: the refurbished Spitfire Lounge at Southampton Airport

This is our brief review of the refurbished Spitfire Lounge at Southampton Airport.

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

The Breeze Priority Lounge at Southampton Airport is no more.  Following refurbishment, the lounge reopened last week and is now called the Spitfire Lounge.

Reader Stuart popped in and kindly sent us an update.  I have also added two extra pictures from reader Matthew.

The lounge has not moved and has not got any bigger, so it remains a relatively small square room with a maximum capacity of around 65 across two rooms.

It is located on the first floor (lift available), past the Olive Tree restaurant and along two corridors.

This is the ‘official’ image from the airport website here:

and here is one from Stuart:

The view remains the Royal Mail distribution centre next door!  This is not a lounge for a plane spotter.

The new furnishings look impressive although there is a strange lack of power points.  Stuart estimated that only a third of seats had direct access to a socket.

and

The real improvement is in the food and drink options.  You can see the menu in the images here (click to enlarge):

and:

However, on Stuart’s visit only the burger and soup were available from the hot options.  Prosecco is available but needs to be paid for.  Stuart did rate the mini burgers:

This is a shot of the hot breakfast offerings sent in by Matthew, which he rated highly:

Overall, there is clearly nothing to get over-excited about here but the lounge does seem to be brighter and more modern with improved food and drink.

You can access this lounge using several different lounge passes, such as Lounge Club (two entry passes free with an American Express Gold card) or Priority Pass (free with American Express Platinum, or buy one directly) membership.   Dragonpass and Lounge Key are also accepted.  Alternatively, you can book direct online via Lounge Pass which is cheaper than the walk-up rate and cheaper than the airport website.

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.