Stansted Airport reopens Fast Track passport control and The Escape Lounge

If you are flying into London Stansted in the near future, you may be keen to hear that the Fast Track lane at passport control re-opens on 27th July.

The cost is £7 per person.

I would normally consider such a service to be poor value for money, especially as it is possible that you could walk into the arrivals hall to find no queue at all.

In the current circumstances, however, it may be £7 well spent. If there is a risk of facing a 2-3 hour wait to get through passport control, which is not unlikely once Amber List travel resumes next Monday, it could be a good investment. I will be flying into Stansted on the 27th July, as it happens, so I may well give this a go.

Fast Track passport control at Stansted can be booked here.

The Escape Lounge is also reopening

An extra piece of good news from Stansted is that The Escape Lounge is scheduled to reopen next Tuesday.

The lounge website here is accepting bookings. You can also use Priority Pass or other lounge club cards.

Our latest review of The Escape Lounge is here. It isn’t the greatest lounge in the world, but Stansted’s main concourse isn’t hugely enticing either.

Cash bookings, from £19.99, can be made here.

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.