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Is there a second contender for ‘Smallest Priority Pass Airport Lounge in the World’?

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Back in July, we brought you some pictures of the Priority Pass lounge at Iguazú Falls airport in Argentina.  Reader Graeme had been passing through – see his report here – and believed it was a strong contender for the title of ‘Smallest Priority Pass Lounge in the World’.

Here are a couple of shots of the Aeropuertos VIP Club.  You can see Graeme’s point:

iguazu falls vip lounge seating 2

and

iguazu falls vip lounge seating

Let’s be honest.  Many of us have more seating at home.  Sadly the lounge has now left Priority Pass so your chance of trying it out has gone.

However, it turns out that there is a new contender for the ‘Smallest Priority Pass Lounge’ prize, and it is a lot nearer than Argentina.

Welcome to the Ireland West Executive Lounge in Knock.

Click on any picture to enlarge – not that there is much else to see.

Ireland West lounge Knock Airport

Nominated by reader Paul, he reckons that capacity is around eight.

Cunningly, you can only get in by inputting a code on the door which is only available from the airport information desk landside – so if you have already cleared security, you’re stuck.  It is one way of keeping down capacity I suppose.

From the outside, it looks substantially more impressive:

Ireland West lounge Knock Airport

Of course, with only a handful of departures per day on average from Knock, you’re unlikely to hit rush hour anyway.

But is any good?

Ireland West lounge Knock Airport

“Sadly the coffee was all instant, the food selection a bit dull, and the room somewhat hot.  Given how relatively empty and relaxed Knock departures was, it didn’t add much for me than a quiet place to get on a couple of calls.”

If you can find somewhere smaller, let us know.


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:

American Express Platinum card Amex

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.

Nectar American Express

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.

Comments (43)

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  • Felix Flyer says:

    I nominate Tanger, Morocco. Should be there again in 2 weeks time so will try and measure it!

  • Mike says:

    I’ve never know Knock departures to be ’empty and relaxed’. It’s usually quite the opposite in my experience.

    The departures hall has capacity for 2-300 people, tops. If you’re unlucky enough to be there when there are two flights departing close together then it’s pandemonium!

  • Ian says:

    If you’re travelling BA, even in First, Tel Aviv has an abysmal lounge called Dan Plus (there’s also a Dan without the plus) which is a couple of small rooms. Thankfully the details have faded from my memory but there was probably hot and cold soft drinks and maybe something to eat, but it’s a minimalist offering. Inverness is almost palatial in comparison.

    • Qrfan says:

      The good news is that security at Tel Aviv takes so long that you won’t have time for the lounge anyway.

      • Limor says:

        The good news is that once you are through the security in Tel Aviv you can be rest assured you are solidly safe. Furthermore, no liquids need to come out of hand luggage and no shoes or belts need to come off.

        • Qrfan says:

          That’s no consolation for us since they opened every bag, swabbed every surface and tested my other half’s shoes for explosive residue three times. That seemed pretty standard judging by what we saw ahead of us. Not sure the 20 minute grilling on a trip to Dubai did much for security either…

      • Ian says:

        Actually that wasn’t my experience. Having been told to arrive ridiculously early, I had to wait for check-in to open then I was through security in 5 minutes. YMMV.

  • Inna says:

    I can nominate Male! Not sure how many seats there were (around 8 seems right), but the food was repress by apples, oranges and coffee! Lovely staff though 🙂

    • Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:

      I’d say about a dozen seats at MLE but yeah it’s tiny!

    • C77 says:

      I assume you’re referring to Male Domestic terminal? The (only) lounge in the International terminal is somewhat larger with multiple seating areas and an ok (ish) buffet

  • Douglas Barrett says:

    The Smallest lounge I encountered is at Podgorica Airport. Very much like the lounge in Knock…

  • Quark999 says:

    Stuttgart, Eli Beinhorn Lounge. I think it’s been mentioned before – and STR is actually a fairly “mainstream” airport, with BA, Air France, KLM, Delta, Turkish among many others.

    • selfyj says:

      I’ve been to the Stuttgart lounge a few years ago with my young family and it wasn’t even as modern as priority pass app suggests it is now. Seating for 6-8 I reckon, 1 in an old massage chair!!

      • Kurt says:

        My kids always make fun of it. It’s horrible. I seem to have read it is closed for refurb now?

  • New Card says:

    I refuse to believe any lounge can be smaller than the one at Brno Airport…

    • Luke says:

      Brno actually has very decent lounge with table service and absolute privacy….smallest lounge winner for me is Goa airport – two tables coned off in the corner of the only airport bistro there

    • Louie says:

      I didn’t realise it actually opened. Always been closed the three times I’ve flown out of there.

  • DavidB says:

    Both of these micro lounges remind me of Air Canada’s old Maple Leaf Lounge at YQR (Saskatchewan’s capital Regina) which also required getting the door lock code from a check-in agent.

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