British Airways returning to Stansted Airport means there must be a BA business class lounge right? Not exactly…
Visiting soon? Check out our Complete Guide To Stansted Airport Security for invaluable tips on how to make your trip a lot smoother.
Is there a BA lounge at Stansted?
Short answer, NO.
Although British Airways is pitching their Stansted service at the budget market, their planes will still have a Club Europe section. And one of the perks of business class is lounge access before a flight.
Currently Stansted Airport only has one lounge for use by BA passengers: the Escape Lounge. Your Club Europe boarding pass will secure you free access. But…
The Escape Lounge is publicly accessible to anyone willing to stump up (a frankly ridiculous) £34.99 per person for a very basic offering. And that entry fee increases as spaces fill up…
The lounge will certainly not impress anyone travelling Crown Class on Royal Jordanian – or BA Club Europe. It doesn’t even impress us when we manage to score free access through a credit card offer or similar. It is unclear whether business class travellers have a guaranteed space – or whether people pre-booking either Escape Lounges directly get to ‘jump the queue’.
Top tip: You can get access to the Escape Lounge for £24 per person if you are a member of Priority Pass. If you have an American Express Gold card or a Revolut Metal plan, you already have free Priority Pass membership (worth $99 USD).
Bonus tip: £24 is probably still over priced for the Escape Lounge at Stansted.
WARNING! The Escape Lounge is quite small and frequently full. The only way to guarantee entry is to pre-book – which means you won’t be able to get a discount rate or use your Priority Pass membership without paying an uplift.
Loyalty hack: You can pre-book access to the Escape Lounge via Expedia.com. Every dollar spent will earn OneKeyCash, helping you towards reaching a higher status (and bigger discounts) in the Expedia loyalty plan.
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Where is the business class lounge at Stansted airport?
The not BA lounge at Stansted is tucked away below the main shopping area and dining area:
- After security, walk through the all of the duty free shopping areas and across the main Departures waiting area.
- Go down the corridor between Coast to Coast and Pret A Manger restaurants and head towards the public toilets
- You will see the entrance to the lounge on the right hand side – use the stairs or lift to reach the lounge which is located on the floor below.
Top tip: You can reduce the cost of visiting the Stansted Escape lounge with a Priority Pass membership.
In addition to reduced lounge access fees, Priority Pass provides some additional subscription benefits (not all available at Stansted):
- Complimentary WithU membership, a premium fitness app (via the PriorityPass App)
- Pre-booking of airport lounges to avoid disappointment (via the PriorityPass App)
- Complimentary drinks and snacks and select restaurant entitlements
- Entitlement to a variety of well-being packages with Be Relax Spas before a flight (via the PriorityPass App)
- Gaming spaces at select locations
- Pre-order take-out from cafes and restaurants across the US and UK and pay-as-you-go food and drink takeaway options before a flight (via the PriorityPass App)
- Pre-book private airport transfers (via the PriorityPass App)
- Access car rental locations with bookings at preferential rates (via the PriorityPass App)
Good news for Emirates travellers
Anyone travelling business class or higher on Emirates is in for a treat. The UAE-based airline has opened their own luxury lounge at Stansted Airport – which means they won’t have to fight for space in the Escape Lounge.
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And now here’s the background to the story about BA lounges at Stansted Airport:
British Airways Makes A Return
First, British Airways has announced they are returning to Stansted Airport in 2024. The short haul subsidiary BA CityFlyer will be offering flights to Florence (Italy), Nice (France) and Ibiza (Spain).
Although these destinations are already well-served, I am hopeful that BA uses this as a launchpad to expand their network from Essex. Given that British Airways fares aren’t that different to Ryanair‘s (once you add on ‘extras’ like luggage and seat selection), it will be good to see some competition back at Stansted. Plus the opportunity to earn some Executive Club tier points from our local airport.
Notably, British Airways is was the only airline offering business class services from Stansted Airport, until…
Royal Jordanian Touches Down At Stansted
In something of a surprise move, Royal Jordanian has announced they will be operating 4x weekly flights between Stansted and Amman (Jordan). How popular this route will be remains to be seen, but if the fares are low enough, it might be tempting to hop on a city break to visit Petra.
Royal Jordanian also offer ‘Crown Class’ on all their aircraft too. Which puts a dent into BA’s claim to be the only business class offering at Stansted.
Personally, I hope BA sees enough success in their Stansted offering to encourage further investment. It would be brilliant to have an affordable, full-service alternative to Ryanair from our local airport. A BA/oneworld co-branded lounge would be great – but they would need to significantly expand their flight schedule to justify that outlay.
Notably, Emirates now operate a twice daily Stansted to Dubai service. They have recently opened a new passenger lounge in satellite Terminal One, so there is potential for other airlines to follow suit.
Stansted Airport recently received planning permission to extend the terminal building by 30%. This would create plenty of space for lounges should BA and Royal Jordanian services take off (sorry, awful pun).
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