Take a look at Luton Airport’s refurbished Aspire lounge

Links on Head for Points may pay us an affiliate commission. A list of partners is here.

The Aspire Lounge at London Luton airport re-opened yesterday after what was a slightly longer than anticipated refurbishment program. This is the second recent refurbishment, after the one in 2016. It must get heavy use.

The lounge originally closed in January and was supposed to re-open in March, although clearly that didn’t happen.

HfP reader Neil was first in the door yesterday morning and managed to get these photos:

Catering is currently limited, although Neil was happy with the sausage sandwiches on offer for breakfast.

It is accessible with Priority Pass (buy one here, or get one free with American Express Platinum) or Lounge Club (get two free passes with American Express Gold).

Remember that Luton Airport has a second independent lounge, Clubrooms, which is part of No1 Lounges. Rob reviewed the Clubrooms lounge at Luton last year – click here – although it has yet to reopen.

Clubrooms is positioned as a more upmarket option, although it remains to be seen how the new Aspire lounge compares. We are hoping to do a full review in the coming months.

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.

Tariq says:

5 Aug5 August 06:54

Is there more seating now though? As it used to be the only lounge at LTN, yes it did get a lot of use! And ‘we’re full’ was a perennial problem.
- Lady London says:
  
  5 Aug5 August 10:44
  
  Of all the lounges famous for turning away Priority Pass customers, this was the worst.
  
  It doesnt actually look that different in the photos. I hope they kept the bathroom area with the same level of amenities – it was adequate, but only just matching demand when busy before. There were a couple of showers for an extra charge too.
  
  A welcome Oasis at a hellhole of an airport
  - Gringo says:
    
    5 Aug5 August 14:22
    
    I managed to use my PP and Lounge Club cards there multiple times, never once had an issue.
Jay says:

5 Aug5 August 09:31

Not the best lounge in the world for celeb spotting but I did invite Maggie Gyllenhaal into my booth there when the La Compagnie flights were running. Probably led to a strained conversation with her agent after the trip to Luton and a sloping bed. “Don’t worry Maggie it’s a business-only airline – you’re practically flying private!”
Alex M says:

5 Aug5 August 11:23

Question on Luton airport itself – when are they going to finish reconstruction and build railway link to it – does anyone know?
- Aeronaut says:
  
  5 Aug5 August 12:59
  
  Construction of the Luton DART – ‘Direct Air-Rail Transit’ – is very much well under way, and it is scheduled to open next year.
  
  https://dart.llal.org.uk/
Anya says:

5 Aug5 August 23:03

I’ve used the lounge via priority pass a significant number of times, although usually flying rather early in the morning – not been turned away yet. Probably gets full mid-morning or during school holidays… Saying that it has been one of the weakest pp lounges I’ve experienced, worth it simply because Luton airport is dreadful for seats/comfort. But then I guess that’s what I get for being cheap, not living close to Heathrow, and preferring to travel by train rather than car to the airport. If only easyJet didn’t have useful flight times for me! <_<
Danilo says:

5 Aug5 August 23:56

Can we just acknowledge that these company level of customer service is going lower and lower? Perks like priority pass or lounge access with premium tickets and or credit cards perks is just reaching rocket bottom.
Before pandemic they were overcrowded and started charging for anything from G&t to hot food. And now limited access, extra fees to pre book or to redemption fees.

Maybe it’s time to ditch the Amex &co companies that pretend to offer perks but rely only on old fashion status?
- Don says:
  
  7 Aug7 August 18:13
  
  Status is no different. Whats the value of status with closed lounges, reduced or nonexistent onboard service, reduced frequencies or altogether cancelled routes, plus who wants to fly for leisure with a mask on all the time and the fear of death by Covid.
  
  Status is even more worthless than the paid credit cards. It just feels crapper for you because the market in the UK and Europe was already rock bottom.