Best credit card that gives flight lounge Access as a perk

[Bald-Eagle22]

Gold Amex is probably your best bet , just. Just cancel after a year , be warned though you will only have access to cough cough inferior lounges .

Rule of thumb for flying don't bother with lounge acees or business class if your European short-haul. Three houf flights are just close your eyes and you arrive.

Long haul for me is a different story , slumming it at the back of the plane with the peasants and a quick coffee at Costa doesn't cut it anymore so I pay the extra and fly businesses class , it really is worth the extra if you can afford it.

Me slumming it at the Cathy Pacific lounge at LHR T3 last month, probably the worst lounge ge at Heathrow I've travelled though, oh no I forgot Turkish Air was a dump. I had BA gold status first a while , the Galleries lounge at T5 was epic , almost missed a plane to JFK once.

You can with some airlines pay for lounge acess so worth looking on the relevant website , Emirates charged me £150 in Dubai , work paid for that.

 

[EvilRob]

I recall the Cathay Pacific lounge having the reputation of being one of the best.

 

[Bald-Eagle22]

I recall the Cathay Pacific lounge having the reputation of being one of the best.

Old and gets really busy , especially at 8AM before all the American destinations leave.

 

[tangey]

Lloyds world elite card can be useful to have when not flying Biz. Gets you unlimited lounge access at many airports (It's basically priority pass, access using your credit card), and fast track at many (Not always both at the same airport). fast track has to be pre booked. So far I've used it for FT and lounge at STN, and Lounge at BFS and tenerife. STN is notorious for getting full so no guarantee.

Take out a supplemental card for your partner (no additional cost) and that gets him/her the same benefits, just carry both cards when flying for lounge access.

Also 0.5% CB on all spending, spend £15K in the year and you get 1% on the remaining spending that year.

Lounge access is great for a short haul weekend break, you can get a nice couple of drinks in there to start the break nice and relaxed.

 

[Rotty]

, the Galleries lounge at T5 was epic , almost missed a plane to JFK once.

Always though of T5 Galleries of one of the very worst, for me best at LHR is the Virgin Clubhouse

Elsewhere Al Mourjan in Doha is stunning (apart from the alcohol rules where you can't have a drink in the best bits of it)

 

[ShivP]

I believe I know most of the travel card options in the UK, and I believe your best bet would be either the Halifax or Lloyds World Elite cards. I've never had one of them; they are quite new on the market, but it does sound like for £180 per year the main cardholder and supplementary cardholder can both get in via Priority Pass for free. (The Santander equivalent is main cardholder only).

I'm quite sure the HSBC Premier World Elite mentioned in the post above is the next most economical option for two persons at £195 + £60 for supplementary. There are also unorthodox ways to qualify for Premier other than the most published methods.

(I can also think of an unorthodox method you could use with American Express which would get you completely free lounge access, but it's a fair bit of hassle on a regular basis, and would rely on you both having excellent credit ratings all of the time.)

Overall, the best option would be to find somebody you know well who could give you a supplmentary card on their American Express Platinum or SBS Platinum card; that would cost £285, and get you both in for unlimited visits plus £15 credit per person at The Grain Store restaurant in LGW. Would get you in to Priority Pass lounges, Plaza Premium, Centurion, and possibly Lufthansa (depending on your ticket). Those other lounges are generally better than Priority Pass, although Plaza Premium in LHR has been going downhill a bit recently. If you don't know such a person though, then it's not an option.

If none of the above can be made to work, then last resort really would be to get a Santander World elite each, for a total of £360 I think.

NB: I don't touch Natwest or Barclays with your bargepole let alone mine! Despicable organisations both in my personal opinion. I am vaguely aware that both have had lounge access options through cards/premier style accounts in recent times, but I don't know the details or if they're still going.

At the risk of bumping this thread a little, the Santander world elite CC is £15 a month, and allows the main cardholder and the up to 3 additional free cardholders access into lounges, and therefore IME is by far the best way into airport lounges.