Lounge news: Birmingham Aspire to open, photos from the new Leeds Bradford Airport lounge

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Lounge news in brief:

Aspire to re-open one of its Birmingham Airport lounges today

Aspire Lounges has announced that its older, original lounge at Birmingham Airport will re-open today.

This is the North lounge, situated down by Gates 1-20 which tend to be used by low cost airlines.

Our last review of the Aspire North lounge at Birmingham Airport is here. It found the lounge to be totally acceptable but, for choice, the writer preferred the No 1 Lounge instead. This was written before the new Aspire South lounge at Birmingham Airport opened. At present, however, No 1 remains closed so Aspire North is your only option!

Opening hours will be initially restricted to 4am to 4pm.

You can get access via the usual lounge access cards, or book via the Aspire website.

Some pictures of the refurbished Yorkshire Lounge at Leeds Bradford Airport

As we covered the other day, the Yorkshire Lounge at Leeds Bradford Airport is back open for business.

The airport has taken advantage of the closure to undertake a refurbishment, including new furniture, new lighting and a decent coffee machine!

Our review of the Yorkshire Lounge at Leeds Bradford Airport in its previous form is here. However, the airport has released a few pictures of how it now looks. They appear to have been taken by a two-year old given the camera angle!

and

You can book entry for cash via the airport website here. You can also access it via Priority Pass (free with Amex Platinum) or Lounge Club (two free one-use passes with Amex Gold) cards.

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.