Airport priority pass useage.

[robbeech]

Wasn’t sure whether to put this in ‘other transport’ or here. A colleague of mine is doing a fair bit of flying / airport pickups for others flying and is considering one of these passes. It looks to be surly good value if they are travelling frequently using multiple airlines. One specific question they did have however is using lounges when not flying. Say for example they go to Heathrow to collect someone from a flight, would they be permitted into, for example the lounge in arrivals in T2 if they were not / had not flown but were there to collect a colleague that may or may not be arriving into T2 but is arriving in the airport. The arrivals lounge there is said to be ‘landside’
I have no idea where any of these lounges are so I am unable to work out if it’s even physically possible.

 

[AlterEgo]

Wasn’t sure whether to put this in ‘other transport’ or here. A colleague of mine is doing a fair bit of flying / airport pickups for others flying and is considering one of these passes. It looks to be surly good value if they are travelling frequently using multiple airlines. One specific question they did have however is using lounges when not flying. Say for example they go to Heathrow to collect someone from a flight, would they be permitted into, for example the lounge in arrivals in T2 if they were not / had not flown but were there to collect a colleague that may or may not be arriving into T2 but is arriving in the airport. The arrivals lounge there is said to be ‘landside’

I have no idea where any of these lounges are so I am unable to work out if it’s even physically possible.

You generally can’t get into an airport lounge without a boarding pass. That includes arrivals lounges.

 

[robbeech]

I did assume this would be the case, looks like they'll have to arrive closer to the time and stand with everyone else then.
They look good value does anyone have experience with them. I don't fly enough to warrant one but if i did it looks useful.

 

[AlterEgo]

I did assume this would be the case, looks like they'll have to arrive closer to the time and stand with everyone else then.
They look good value does anyone have experience with them. I don't fly enough to warrant one but if i did it looks useful.

Yes, I use the prestige tier on Priority Pass. They’re a great investment if your travel pattern means you fly all over the place and with different (or low cost) airlines. As a minimum, the lounges will have somewhere to charge your phone, get a drink, and be away from the terminal (which can sometimes be a bit of a zoo).

At bigger airports there’s access to some very good facilities indeed, like Plaza Premium, or No1 Lounges. Even the Aspire ones are pretty good in Britain.

The number of times I’ve managed to avoid paying for a hotel breakfast, or a lunch in an airport cafe, or for food onboard just through having access to lounges with food and snacks is huge.

 

[robbeech]

Yes, I use the prestige tier on Priority Pass. They’re a great investment if your travel pattern means you fly all over the place and with different (or low cost) airlines. As a minimum, the lounges will have somewhere to charge your phone, get a drink, and be away from the terminal (which can sometimes be a bit of a zoo).

At bigger airports there’s access to some very good facilities indeed, like Plaza Premium, or No1 Lounges. Even the Aspire ones are pretty good in Britain.

The number of times I’ve managed to avoid paying for a hotel breakfast, or a lunch in an airport cafe, or for food onboard just through having access to lounges with food and snacks is huge.

I shall certainly pass on those comments to my colleague who is considering this. In my opinion, and it is likely due to the nature of the work i do, the responsibility, the long hours, the potential stress, I often cannot put a value on just a bit of peace and quiet away from it all when i can. I frequently travel first class on trains where the increase of cost to most would be unjustified, because i know it will be less busy and i can relax after a tedious few hours / days, regardless of whether i get a meal, or a beer, or crisps, or wifi. If i flew as much as i used to i wouldn't hesitate to have something like this card.

 

[Mojo]

Depends on the quality/availabilty of food and the purpose of visit, time of day, so it’s hard to say normally whether it’s worth it.

It’s worth noting that quality and service can vary exceptionally at different lounges, even those run by the same company. No 1 Lounge Gatwick North I used to rate very highly but last time they were rationing food to one item per customer.

They might want to consider perhaps getting one of the cheaper (or even free with certain credit cards) passes that involves paying per visit. There are also Dragonpass offers available with certain newspapers and some employers offer them too. If they consider it to be worth it then perhaps moving forward they could get a pass with free visits.

Last summer we flew from Stansted and paid nearly £30 two dinners and two drinks in the rowdy Wetherspoon after having eventually found a table. I normally pay between £15 and £18 per person for Airport lounges so in retrospect the two of us would have been better in the lounge with more unlimited food (albeit not as substantial) and drinks as well as improved ambience. On the other hand if it’s a flight at a time of day where we wouldn’t need a big meal or from a good airport with lots of stuff to do then I probably don’t bother.