PremiAir is opening on 21st October at Manchester Airport

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I still find it hard to believe, but the new VIP terminal – open to everyone for a modest fee – is actually happening at Manchester Airport. The launch date is set for 21st October.

Called PremiAir, it is near the Runway Visitor Park. It looks like this:

It can be used by anyone travelling on BA, Qatar Airways, Ethiopian, PIA, Finnair, TAP, Oman Air and Hainan Airlines, irrespective of your class of travel. Other airlines, most noticeably Virgin Atlantic, have not yet signed up.

For departing passengers, there are two options:

For hand baggage only passengers, you can pay £50 per person and check in at PremiAir. You will clear immigration and immediately be driven across the airport to your departure gate in a shared vehicle. You only need to arrive 60 minutes before departure.

For passengers with luggage and/or who want a private lounge, you can pay £100. You will check in and clear immigration, and then be able to use the lounge in the terminal before being driven across the airport directly to the steps of your aircraft in a private vehicle.

There is also an arrivals service, as well as the ability to book a private suite for your party on arrival or departure. You can find out more on on the airport website here. Note that pre-booking is required.

This is clearly something that HfP needs to check out, so expect a review in early November.

Before that, however, Rhys will be trying out the £660 Signature Private Jet Terminal at London Gatwick before an upcoming easyJet flight.

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.

Tom Cook says:

1 Oct1 October 16:18

OT – had an issue is CE to Palma where no food was loaded so I lodged a complaint. British Airways have offered 5000 avios per person on the booking (there were three of us). Not bad I guess to get 15k.
- Shoestring says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 16:45
  
  yep 5000 would have been OK by me as well, there are plenty of calories in booze so more than one way to load up
- xcalx says:
  
  2 Oct2 October 15:15
  
  Check the 5000 Avios get deposited in you accounts. Same happened to us on a flight MAD-LHR email stated the avios had been deposited. It was about 4 months later I noticed no Avios had been added.
GRIMZ says:

1 Oct1 October 16:54

OT, Is there a way keeping me and my Partners Avios in my BA household account and using the other Avios I have in my household from the other members of my household account? I do not have an Iberia account as yet but I could open one.
I was able to do this with my Avios.com account but that avenue has closed.
- Shoestring says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 17:38
  
  avios.com still going, eg AerClub, so you can switch out your Avios, use up the rest, then switch yours back
- Rob says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 17:40
  
  No it hasn’t.
  
  Open an Aer Lingus or Vueling Club account for you and your partner. Move your Avios to avios.com using your Lingus or Vueling number. Make your redemption from BAEC. Move back.
  - Grimz says:
    
    1 Oct1 October 19:48
    
    Unlike Iberia these accounts do not have to be open for 90days?
Munch says:

1 Oct1 October 17:00

OT I have nearly completed my spend on the IHG credit card to achieve Spire Elite. When does the upgrade of status expire? I don’t have any IHG stays planned so was thinking of keeping my points under the threshold until early next year when I will have planned stays so maximising the length of the Spire Elite status.
- EwanG says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 17:16
  
  Your points will reset at the beginning of the calendar year.
  The status you achieve this year will run for the remainder of the current year and all of the next year.
  Don’t keep your points under the Spire threshold this year otherwise you will have to start from scratch in 2020, so do whatever spend you need now (and before your December statement date) to hit Spire in 2019, and keep it to the end of 2020.
  - Munch says:
    
    1 Oct1 October 19:05
    
    Thanks for the tip. Didn’t realise the points reset at the start of the year.
  - TGLoyalty says:
    
    1 Oct1 October 21:19
    
    Will also lose out on the 25k bonus.
    
    Spire is earned as soon as the points hit your IHG account.
The Savage Squirrel says:

1 Oct1 October 18:39

£660 Private Jet Terminal -> Easyjet I’m sure was done deliberately; the humorous touches that add personality like this are what I love on this site – make Rhys slum it in Ryanair as the joke works even better :P.
Ian says:

1 Oct1 October 18:48

The article on the VIP terminal at Manchester is factually incorrect. Departing passengers do not “clear immigration” at UK airports, immigration controls only apply to arriving passengers. Check-in staff checking you have a passport valid for your journey is not an immigration control.
- Anna says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 21:32
  
  We spotted that at 6 am!
Shoestring says:

1 Oct1 October 20:14

Good point from Simon Calder re: passports. We already know that if no-deal Brexit happens on 31st October, UK passports must immediately comply with the rule that says no passport can have more than 10 years’ validity, therefore passports expire 10 years after issue (and any extra months added on from the previous passport are void) – plus to travel to the EU, UK passports must have 6 *VALID* months remaining on entry.

However – SC notes – children’s passports are issued for 5 years, so if you have extra months added on from the previous passport, they are still valid months as the passport never had anything close to 10 years’ validity.

This helps my daughter, who has about 6 months extra on her 5 year passport 🙂
- BJ says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 20:35
  
  Am I understanding this correctly then: my current passport which has 10y + extra months is only valid for travel to the EU in event of no deal for 9y plus 6m from the date it was issued regardless of the stated expiration date?
  - Shoestring says:
    
    1 Oct1 October 20:43
    
    Correct.
    - BJ says:
      
      1 Oct1 October 20:54
      
      Thanks Harry
      - Anna says:
        
        1 Oct1 October 21:38
        
        I’m traveling to Vienna in December and will need a new passport in the event of no deal, even though it is currently valid till the end of May next year! I’m reluctant to chance it and wait till October 31st as there may then be a mad rush of people renewing.
David D says:

2 Oct2 October 12:30

Email received from Manchester Airport regarding PremiAir now includes 32 airlines from opening date on the 21st October.
- Rob says:
  
  2 Oct2 October 12:42
  
  Still no Virgin Atlantic! Although I think US immigration rules are part of the problem.
  - David D says:
    
    2 Oct2 October 20:42
    
    I’d agree if it was not for American and United are available to choose. I can imagine they will have some form of provision for US security procedures though it would be interesting to see if it is.