Review: the My Lounge airport lounge at London Gatwick’s South Terminal

This is our review of the new(ish) My Lounge at London Gatwick’s South terminal.

It is part of my new ‘HfP in Rio’ series which will include a review of Norwegian’s premium economy seat which I flew to Rio de Janeiro two weeks ago.  I have also written an overview of how I found Rio itself and why you shouldn’t believe any of the scare stories about this amazing city.

Norwegian provided us with a free Premium seat to Rio.  HfP paid for all of its other costs including transfers and accommodation.

My Lounge at London Gatwick’s South Terminal

Norwegian operates out of the South Terminal at London Gatwick, which is the same terminal used by British Airways.

My Lounge is the lounge that Norwegian uses for its Premium passengers, although free access is now only available to Premium Flex customers.  Premium customers on non-refundable tickets do not have a lounge entitlement, which is in line with premium economy products on other airlines.

I was not on a Premium Flex ticket which meant that I could not enter the lounge.  However, in order to show you what you would get if you were on a Premium Flex ticket, HfP decided to pay for access.  The cheapest way to do so is via this special Virgin Atlantic promotion, which is just £15 and comes with 200 Virgin Flying Club miles too.

The My Lounge at Gatwick South takes up the rear part of what used to be the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse. The other half is being refurbished as an Aspire lounge – this lounge is now almost a year late in opening but seems to be confident that it will open in mid September.

My Lounge is a brand owned by No1 Lounges which also runs the No1 Lounge and Clubrooms spaces in both Gatwick South and Gatwick North.

Access to all of the lounges at Gatwick South is on the same level as security.  Whilst most passengers will take the escalators down to the main concourse level, there is an access corridor to the left – see my photo below – which takes you to all the lounges.

My Lounge is reached through a further corridor.  Screens inside and out of the lounge make this clear that this is the ‘home of Norwegian’, although it can also be accessed via DragonPass and for cash:

My Lounge is the cheapest of No1 Lounges’ brands but that doesn’t mean that the company has cut costs on the design.  It looks very trendy:

….. and offered a relaxing environment to counter the otherwise chaotic Gatwick experience.

It is not huge, but an effort has been made to partition it into a variety of ‘rooms’, including one geared for children with a variety of video games.

There is also an outdoor terrace, although it is very small and doesn’t overlook anything.  It does allow smoking, which is a rarity.  Views from the lounge are towards jetbridges, although you can see aircraft in the distance.

There is a dining area towards the terrace …..

…. flanked on one side by the buffet:

The food options are limited but decent. I was there at breakfast time and hot food included ‘bacon bits’ (shredded bacon), baked beans and a spinach mushroom feta or ham egg frittata.

There is also a selection of pastries, fruit and cereals, as well as a pancake machine.

Drinks included a variety of juices, wines and spirits.  I made myself a Bloody Mary.

Connectivity seemed good. There were in-floor plug sockets in my section of the lounge, although I didn’t try them. Newspapers included i, New York Times and Daily Mail. Magazines included OK!, Sunday Times Travel and Grazia.

Conclusion

Given that you can get My Lounge access for just £15, which includes 200 Virgin Flying Club miles with this Virgin Atlantic deal, I wasn’t expecting much.  Nevertheless, I was impressed by how well the space had been divided to create a calm and attractive environment whilst also providing spaces for children and teenagers.

For £15 via the Virgin Atlantic promotion – less if you factor in the value of the miles you earn – My Lounge at Gatwick South is very good value and makes an otherwise noisy and rambunctious Gatwick experience far more pleasant.  You will get free access if you book Norwegian Premium Flex, but even if you are on a standard Premium ticket I would seriously consider paying £15 to get your holiday off to a good start.

You can find out more about the lounge on the No1 website here.

For me, the next step was my Norwegian plane and the beaches of Rio …..

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.