Priority Pass Has Added A Restaurant To Their Lounge Network

Pp lounges are much better outside the US than here.

But can you imagine people buying refundable tickets just use a lounge? I think you should an article about it. You will find people of all races being compete cheap ass thieves.

It's not the first restaurant either. There's one in Singapore too.

Also can you use the PP pass after canceling the credit card? I can't imagine the credit card company being very good at notifying the PP that the issued membership has lapsed.

I think if they did this at more US airports where there are no PP lounges, it woupd make PP more competitive against UC membership, Admirals Club membership etc. Places like ORD T1, SFO T3, DTW, CLT.

I was at LGW-South last week and it was a mess in terms of congestion. They recently juggled airlines and it has resulted in a total mess when it comes to buying anything at the airport. I wanted to pick up a sandwich but the lines were insane - 20 minutes or more to pay. Plus, there was nowhere to sit. The lounge was turning people away. I think this is just a way of creating a new option for people at this airport while there seem to be capacity issues.

I have a chase sapphire PP with unlimited guests - I wonder if turning up as you could still charge for say 4 guests and therefore get GBP60 credit even when only 2 of you there

The only time I was trying to use PP at LGW, the lounge was packed and turning everyone away.

Since you are charged 27$ for using the Amex Hilton Priority Pass per visit, paying 27$ to get 15 GBP seems like a waste. Why not just walk in to the restaurant.

Read this post while waiting in line at another restaurant in the Gatwick Terminal and immediately went to Grain Store to confirm. Great timing!

This is not the first time they are doing this. Its similar in Goa, India. What they call a lounge there, is actually a regular restaurant that lets you choose one snack and one drink.

I hope (at least at current exchange rates) that no one pays $27 for an Amex Platinum Priority Pass guest to get a 15 GBP credit.

Great idea!

I sincerely doubt that Priority Pass compensates at £15 per visit. The restaurant has a mark-up so it could easily support a £3-5 reimbursement knowing that most passengers will go over. Similar concept as Restaurant.com certificates.

I'd prefer to go into a lounge with limited access than a public restaurant with a F&B credit, but if PP at Gatwick is always jammed, then this seems a reasonable alternative.

If it became the norm then the value of Priority Pass would be greatly reduced.

I suspect this may be related more to serial overcrowding at the LGW lounges, but I'm quite curious to see if this concept spreads to more airports. Perhaps at airports that don't have lounges, or where you can only access the lounge if flying out of specific terminals, as someone else suggested. $15 or $20 per person isn't going to get you a lot at an airport restaurant, and in general I prefer the quieter atmosphere of lounges. But it would be nice to, say, have a couple of drinks at the CRU Wine Bar before hopping on a Southwest flight from DAL.

It's not that LGW is over crowded per se it's more to do with the fact that BA and VS have swapped terminals in the last couple of weeks and everything has been rather disorganised regarding lounges as a result. The BA lounges have only just soft-opened this week (late so another reason to bash BA) - not even to all passengers yet which has probably put extra stress on the No1 Lounge. That said sometimes PP access can be limited. Also the original Grain Store restaurant is a well regarded non-chain restaurant (i.e. proper restaurant - not fast food) in Kings Cross which is extremely successful. I appreciate for many Americans LGW may not figure that highly in the general consciousness and no I can't imagine Lucky ever flying out of there which is probably just as well.

PriorityPass already had The Green Market at SIN, and the deal there is even better since it's basically free. It's not a new concept.

LGW - particularly the South Terminal has been crowded for the last couple of years during the morning. The only way to use PP at the lounge has been to book ahead. The North Terminal has 3 PP lounges, so that has always been better

Personally, I'm quite happy that BA have moved to the Sth Terminal, and that they now have a JFK flight - amazing how that was scheduled once Norwegian started flying transatlantic from LGW.

BTW, There is one thing worse that PP lounges in the US - the PP lounges in Australia. The Reef lounge in the Cairns International Terminal hasn't been renovated since Qantas abandoned it after changing all their Japanese flights to Deathstar. There have been another two lounges opened recently in Brisvegas International Terminal (Plaza - so if up the standard in Asia should be good), and Darwin (but only for international flights).

Writing from the Grain Store right now. Imho this is an much better than average airport bar/restaurant. Good layout, friendly servers; the only negative thing I noted is the elevator muzak playing on the system. Did not try the food, but the drink selection is far better than the No. 1 Lounge, which I also think is perfectly fine for a PP lounge (although i can imagine it being very unpleasant when crowded). For my situation today, in which I cleared security with 35mins to go before boarding, it was more practical to come here than check into the lounge.