The swish-looking Escape Lounge at Manchester Airport (Image: Priority Pass)
Half term holidays are fast approaching and if you have booked a mini trip for your family, you might want to snap up this deal on airport lounges for a stress-free trip.
The battle for a seat in busy departure lounges and paying a high price for mediocre airport food can turn what should be an enjoyable experience into quite the opposite. Airport lounges are not just for VIPs and the wealthy, for £48 per person with a Priority Pass, you can slip into a luxurious sanctuary away from the crowds before takeoff.
Members can enjoy a wide range of benefits at over 1,700 airport lounges and experiences worldwide and the ones in the UK include Heathrow Airport, London Gatwick Airport, London Stansted Airport, London Luton Airport, Manchester International Airport and more. If you are visiting Vienna, you can enjoy a buffet at the Vienna Lounge at Vienna Airport which recently won the Priority Pass “Lounge of the Year” award.
With comfortable seating, quiet spaces and fewer crowds, it’s a welcome break from the usual airport chaos, as Ellie Kemp from the Manchester Evening News discovered when she tried one out.
Airport lounges typically offer complimentary food and drinks, including a variety of snacks, hot meals and beverages. This makes them a convenient and cost-effective alternative to overpriced airport cafes, allowing you to refuel and unwind without breaking the bank.
There were also a selection of muffins and pastries to tuck in to (Image: Ellie Kemp)
In an experiment, Ellie put the service to the test before her recent trip to Paris. Ellie stated: “Passengers usually pay a set price to access a lounge, in return for a selection of food and drink nestled away from the hustle and bustle of the Departures waiting area. Manchester Airport, which flies passengers to more than 160 destinations, has nine lounges across its three terminals.”
“The Escape Lounge promises ‘an oasis of calm’ and is the most economical option, priced at £48 per person instead of £69 with a £24 visit fee. Having never tried a lounge before, I decided to see if that really was the case at Terminal 1 – and I can’t believe I ever waited so long.”
After passing through security checks, Ellie compared the entrance process of the lounge to a hotel check-in.
Upon entry, after interacting with two staff members, she was free to partake in the buffet and order from the bar. Reflecting on her experience, she observed: “As I had arrived at 11.30am, the food was being swapped over from breakfast to lunch. A selection of sandwiches, tomato soup, two salads and some nachos were on one buffet bar, with pastries and cakes nearby.”
Ellie’s venture into the world of airport lounges transformed her travel experience, leading her to declare: “The trio of sandwiches – cheese, egg or chicken and mayo – looked freshly made and I was instantly drawn to them – which is unusual, as I very rarely fancy sandwiches. To begin, I went for a chicken sandwich and a portion of nachos with salsa and sour cream. The sandwiches really were as good as they looked; light, delicious and the perfect ratio of filling to soft bread.”
Ellie tucked into a chicken sandwich and prosecco (Image: Ellie Kemp)
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Her adventure did not stop there; on spying sausages, hash brown bites, curry, pasta, beef stew, and vegetable curry from a neighbouring table, she couldn’t resist commenting: “For my next course I opted for some hash brown bites, pasta and vegetable curry – which were all top quality, especially the curry, which admittedly I do still think about from time to time now.”
Two hours later, feeling serene – perhaps due in part to a cheeky glass or two of Prosecco – Ellie felt utterly prepared for her upcoming flight. She reflected positively on her lounge experience: “I fell asleep easily on the plane after my time in the lounge, so for longer-haul flights I would be looking forward to booking again. It’s changed my approach to travel for the better and just demonstrates that some pre-flight downtime – and a splash of luxury – ahead of a long day of travel does wonders for putting your mind at ease.”
Ellie scrutinised her spending at Manchester Airport’s Escape Lounge, which has an entry fee of £29.99 per person, by contrasting it with the costs at Giraffe restaurant located in Terminal 1. She remarked: “Overall, I drank two glasses of prosecco and strawberry juice at the lounge. Two 125ml glasses of Il Baco Seta Prosecco at Giraffe would have put me back by £17, while a cranberry juice would’ve cost £3.75. That’s more than a third of my lounge ticket already spent on drinks.”
“I had a total of two chicken and mayo sandwiches – which would be roughly equivalent to two lots of toast from Giraffe and would have cost me £6.50. The pasta, curry and hash brown concoction, and the portion of nachos and salsa, I would say is equal to the average cost of a ‘main’ restaurant meal – such as a Katsu curry or lasagne. So that would have been £14.”
“And for dessert, I enjoyed the muffin and pastry, which would have been worth around £6.50, or the equivalent to a cheesecake from Giraffe. All in all, I had around £47.75 worth of food and beverages at the lounge – saving me £17.76.”
For those inspired by Ellie’s savvy savings, there are even more discounts to be found for a stress-free departure from not only Manchester but also over 1,700 other airports worldwide. Priority Pass is currently offering a whopping 30% off their standard annual subscription, slashing the price from £69 to just £48.
Despite an extra £24 fee per lounge visit, this deal often proves cheaper than buying a one-off lounge pass. This is especially beneficial for regular travellers as the more lounges are used, the more cost-effective Priority Pass becomes.
One of the two buffet stations at the Escape Lounge (Image: Ellie Kemp)
To put potential savings into perspective, the first visit and sign up for a new Priority Pass customer would total £72 (£48 annual fee + £24 visit fee), with subsequent visits costing £24 each. Therefore, four visits over two trips abroad would come to £288.
Priority Pass lounges also offer a host of benefits depending on the location. These include the ability to pre-book airport lounges to avoid disappointment, access to a range of wellness packages with Be Relax Spas before a flight, and preferential rates at car rental locations.
For a comprehensive list of Priority Pass benefits, click here. Alternatively, one-time airport passes can be reserved at Heathrow Airport lounges starting from £37 with Expedia or from a variety of UK airport lounges at Holiday Extra for roughly the same price.