Norwegian drops lounge access for flyers in the Norwegian Premium cabin

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Norwegian has quietly removed lounge access for the majority of its Premium customers.

As posted by a HfP reader yesterday, it turns out that the rules were changed on 21st December.

Norwegian Premium loses lounge access

From that point, only customers booking refundable PremiumFlex tickets have had lounge access included in their ticket. This will presumably cut the number of lounge visitors by about 80%.

Here is the current list of perks by seat type from the Norwegian website:

The timing is odd. The new My Lounge at Gatwick South, which I reviewed yesterday, is heavily branded ‘The home of Norwegian’ but will now have very few Norwegian customers using it.

Norwegian is saying that anyone who booked a Premium ticket before 21st December will still get lounge access, but you will need to visit a check-in counter to pick up a paper invitation. Hand-baggage only customers cannot simply turn up at the lounge and gain access.

Whilst this is understandable given Norwegian’s financial issues, it removes a key point of difference between Norwegian Premium, Virgin Atlantic Premium and British Airways World Traveller Plus.

I would still recommend Norwegian Premium, purely because you get a bigger and better seat but the other perks seem to be withering away.

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.

james says:

15 Jan15 January 15:08

Yeah, I did it online, using my same full name and ‘other’ as relationship. When I tried adding it to my app account, it asked me for new phone number and all those new details, making me suspect it is supplementary rather than an A.C. The card doesn’t have A.C either on it – What does the card look like on the app? On mine it says ‘The Platinum Supplementary card’
Alex says:

15 Jan15 January 16:15

OT – if I refer the Gold credit card from a Platinum account, do I receive 9k or 18k points?
- Anna says:
  
  15 Jan15 January 16:30
  
  If you refer from Platinum, you will get 18k points for each accepted referral regardless of which card is applied for, up to your yearly 90k limit.
- Alan says:
  
  15 Jan15 January 16:53
  
  18k – is the card referring from that counts.
Tom says:

15 Jan15 January 16:39

Virgin Money just emailed me to beta test an app for the Virgin Atlantic credit card.
Spaces limited so check your email and sign up if you wish to take part, iOS first then Android after.

Long overdue, lets hope Apple Pay follows this.
- tom1 says:
  
  15 Jan15 January 22:01
  
  Haven’t received an invite, but would love to try it.
  Having said that, I have been using Yolt for iOS recently (an aggregator) so that somewhat makes up for the lack of Virgin app.
Roger* says:

15 Jan15 January 17:56

About Uber’s price increase (aka ‘clean air fee’), Uber’s ‘London’ is the whole area within the M25!

At least the Mayor only taxes us for the area within the Inner Ring Road (Park Lane/Euston Road/Marylebone Road-Kennington Road/Tower Bridge etc) and my car at least is exempt from the Ultra Low Emission Zone tax. Uber’s area is many, many times the size.

OK, many journeys will be within central London. Those travelling in the leafy suburbs, or beginning/ending their journeys there, may well be surprised to see this 15p per mile price increase.
tom1 says:

15 Jan15 January 21:54

o/t T5 with PP and Amex Plat.
Seem to remember some negative reviews recently, but is Plaza Prem still better than Aspire?
Tks
- Alan says:
  
  15 Jan15 January 22:32
  
  Absolutely miles better! Definitely go for Plaza Premium.
  - Tom1 says:
    
    15 Jan15 January 22:57
    
    Thanks!
JA says:

15 Jan15 January 22:12

Way OT: does anyone know whether ‘refer a friend’ for Amex works for both parties if the ‘friend’ uses the Amex eligibility checker? Will Amex refuse the referrral bonus because the ‘friend’ has already made an enquiry? Thanks everyone!

JA
- tom1 says:
  
  15 Jan15 January 22:31
  
  its usually the last referral that counts… so as long as your friend clicks your referral link last before registering that should work.
  If you are worried, ask your friend to use Private/Incognito mode or clear cookies, then click your referral link again.
  - JA says:
    
    16 Jan16 January 00:35
    
    Thanks Tom. Private browsing sounds like a plan. Good thinking.
Alan says:

16 Jan16 January 18:31

Don’t they charge booking fees? They do for UK ones although appreciate may make up a larger percentage of the ticket cost in that situation.
Mark says:

17 Jan17 January 22:05

Anyone stayed at the new holiday inn on bath road?
- Rob says:
  
  17 Jan17 January 23:38
  
  Not sure it is open? The Staybridge Suites attached to it IS open and has been for a few weeks.