LoungeKey Airport Lounge
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One airport lounge visit through LoungeKey costs £24 per person if your card is a Monzo Premium or Monzo Max account, or £18.50 per person on a Barclaycard Avios Plus. Walk up to the same kind of desk without a card behind you and Which? found UK lounges charging £38 to £43 in advance and up to £48 on the door in its most recent round of visits. On a family of four, that gap is most of the price of the flight seats.
LoungeKey is run by Priority Pass Limited, a London company that has been trading under one name or another since 3 July 1992 and now sits inside the Collinson group at 3 More London Riverside. Collinson is family-owned, registered in England and Wales as company 11141096, employs more than 2,500 people across 19 locations and runs five businesses, of which airport experiences is the oldest. Its better-known sister brand, Priority Pass, reaches 1,900-plus lounges and airport experiences in over 600 cities and 143 countries. LoungeKey is the same machinery sold a different way.
You cannot buy LoungeKey. There is no membership page, no annual fee and no checkout — it only reaches you attached to a payment card, and the bank that issued that card, not LoungeKey, decides what a visit costs you, how many visits are free and whether guests are included. If you are shopping for a lounge pass you can buy outright for one trip, this is not that product, and the card comparison is where the decision actually gets made.
| Operated by | Priority Pass Limited, company 02728518, incorporated 3 July 1992 |
|---|---|
| Registered office | 3 More London Riverside, 5th Floor, London SE1 2AQ |
| Parent group | Collinson, company 11141096, 2,500+ staff in 19 locations |
| Cheapest UK card rate found | £18.50 per person per visit (Barclaycard Avios Plus, £20 a month) |
| Typical UK card rate | £24 per person per visit (Monzo Premium and Monzo Max) |
| Guests | Charged the same per-person fee, and must enter with you |
| Pre-booking | Extra where a lounge offers it — Monzo quotes at least £6 on top |
| Contract dated | Conditions of Use effective 28 June 2023, governed by English law |
| Complaint window | Six months from the visit, to LoungeKey rather than the lounge |
| Sister brand | Priority Pass — 1,900+ lounges, 600+ cities, US$99 to US$469 a year |
What a visit costs, and who sets the number
LoungeKey publishes no price. Its Conditions of Use say only that lounge and merchant visits are “subject to a per-person, per-visit, charge”, and Mastercard's own Airport Experiences FAQ, which runs on the same programme, says you will be charged “the prevailing lounge visit fee” without ever printing one. The figure lives in your card issuer's terms, so that is where to look.
Two UK issuers publish theirs plainly. Monzo says holders of Monzo Premium and Monzo Max, and their guests, get into around 1,100 lounges worldwide “for a flat fee of £24 per person, per visit”, with pre-booking adding at least £6 on top where a lounge offers it. Barclaycard puts the Avios Plus rate at £18.50 per lounge pass per person across more than 1,000 lounges, on a card costing £20 a month. For comparison, HSBC prices its Premier credit card's lounge benefit — the sister Priority Pass programme rather than LoungeKey — at £24 a visit for the cardholder and £24 per person for guests, while the Premier World Elite Mastercard gives the cardholder unlimited access and still charges £24 a head for anyone they bring.
Some cards include a number of free visits before the fee starts. Those are the issuer's, not LoungeKey's: the Mastercard FAQ confirms complimentary visits run from 1 January to 31 December, are set by the card issuer, and that “unused visits are not transferable and cannot be carried over to the following year”. Whatever you owe is debited later to the card on file rather than taken at the lounge desk, so no payment is made at the point of entry and nothing is signed except the record of how many people walked in.
One brand, two registered companies and a parent
The contract names its counterparty precisely: “LoungeKey means Priority Pass Limited of 3 More London Riverside, London, SE1 2AQ, Company No. 02728518.” That company is active at Companies House, was incorporated on 3 July 1992 under the name Assistsolve Limited and took its present name 24 days later, files as an activities-of-membership-organisations business and last made up accounts to 30 April 2025.
A second active company, Lounge Key Limited, number 08792537, was incorporated on 27 November 2013 at the same address with the same filing pattern, and it is the one the Conditions of Use send written data-protection requests to. The portal footer, meanwhile, reads “Copyright © 2025 LoungeKey Ltd”. The privacy notice on loungekey.com identifies the data controller as nothing more specific than “LoungeKey … a company registered in England and Wales, at 3 More London Riverside”, giving an email address but no company number, which leaves a reader who wants to know which legal entity holds their travel data with two candidates and no way to tell from the page itself.
Behind both sits Collinson, which also owns Priority Pass and Airport Dimensions, the business that builds and runs lounges rather than selling access to them. Which entity actually processes your payment depends on where you fly: the Conditions of Use name seven merchants of record by region, with Priority Pass Limited covering Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Priority Pass, Inc. covering the Americas outside Peru, and separate companies for Asia Pacific, mainland China, India, Peru and Taiwan.
Card, boarding pass, ID — and a seat that might not exist
Entry is conditional on three things together: a valid means of access, a valid boarding pass, and any further identification the lounge asks for, which can include a passport, national identity card or driving licence. A photograph of your card will not do, and neither will reading out the card number — the contract rules both out by name. You tell the desk you are entering on LoungeKey, staff read the card or digital code electronically, and they enter the number of guests, who have to register and walk in at the same time as you.
Two limits catch people out. Lounges inside a Schengen-designated pier are only reachable if you are travelling between Schengen countries, which quietly removes a slice of the European network from a UK departure. And your issuer may cap how often you can use the benefit in a period or at the same airport; where it does, the contract makes the issuer responsible for telling you, and expressly disclaims LoungeKey's liability if the issuer does not.
Nothing about the visit is guaranteed. The lounges belong to third parties, access is “subject to capacity restrictions”, and LoungeKey accepts that it has no control over whether you are admitted, how many people are let in, what is on offer, the opening hours or how long you are allowed to stay. It undertakes reasonable endeavours and no more. That is a normal arrangement for a distributor, and it is the reason a busy Friday evening at a single-lounge airport can end with a card that works and a door that does not open.
What Which? found inside 20 UK lounges
The trade has no ratings agency, but Which? runs the nearest thing to one. Its researchers visited 20 UK airport lounges anonymously between February and September 2024, scored each between one and five stars on facilities, quiet and family space, runway views and the food and drink, and published the results on 26 October 2024. Only five of the 20 managed three stars or better. Prices quoted alongside the scores were for an 8am Saturday entry booked through whichever of the airport's or the lounge's own site was cheaper.
Value was the recurring complaint. Lounges averaging £29 to pre-book in 2019 were reaching £40, a rise of 37 per cent, while made-to-order food and spa treatments were quietly withdrawn. The two one-star scores both went to Heathrow: Plaza Premium Terminal 5, at up to £47.50 on the door or £43 in advance, where the coffee machine was broken, and the No1 Lounge at Terminal 3. Plaza Premium Terminal 2 charged £48 at the door for two stars. At the other end, Gatwick My Lounge South and Edinburgh Plaza Premium both scored four, at £38 and with a children's area that keeps the noise away from the bar. Showers, where they exist, cost an extra £20 to £28 on top of entry.
Read against the card rates, that survey is the strongest argument for using a card benefit rather than paying at the desk: the £24 or £18.50 buys the identical room that somebody beside you paid £48 for. It is also a warning that the room may not be worth either figure, and the card fee buys no influence over which lounge you end up in.
The clauses that decide what happens when it goes wrong
Price changes reach you indirectly. LoungeKey may amend lounge or merchant charges “at any time on providing 30 days' notice”, but where the benefit came through a card, the notice goes to the card provider, who “is responsible for advising Customer”. Refusing a change means giving 30 days' written notice to the bank, not to LoungeKey. A separate clause reserves the right to increase fees of any kind on 30 days' notice.
Membership is held on a short lead. LoungeKey “reserves the right at any time in its sole discretion and without notice to revoke Programme membership or terminate Programme”, and may cancel without refund any membership it finds in breach. If your card is cancelled or moved to a product outside the programme and charges are left outstanding, the contract says it may pursue legal action to recover them — and any lounge entered on an invalid card, guests included, is charged to you.
Complaints have a clock on them. Anything arising from a lounge or merchant visit must be raised within six months, and it goes to LoungeKey rather than the venue that actually turned you away, on +44 (0) 208 865 0767 or by post to PO Box 815, Haywards Heath RH16 9LR. Cancellation, refunds and anything about the benefit itself go to the card provider instead. The Conditions of Use took effect on 28 June 2023, can be changed by being posted on the site, and are governed by English law with the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.
Where it wins
- A visit costs £18.50 to £24 per person against £38 to £48 paid at a UK lounge desk, for the same room
- No membership fee of its own — the cost sits in the card, and the lounge rate is the only extra
- Guests pay the same per-person rate as the cardholder rather than a penalty rate
- Around 1,100 lounges worldwide, with the sister Priority Pass network reaching 1,900-plus in 143 countries
- Nothing is paid at the desk: the charge goes to the card on file, and entry can be card-free with the digital membership card
- The counterparty is named and traceable — Priority Pass Limited, company 02728518, trading since 1992 inside a 2,500-person group
Where it falls short
- LoungeKey publishes no price anywhere: the contract says only “a per-person, per-visit, charge” and the FAQ only “the prevailing lounge visit fee”, so the cost has to be found in your bank's terms
- You cannot buy it — access exists only as a card benefit, and the fee, the free-visit allowance and the guest rules are all the issuer's to change
- Notice of a price rise is served on your bank, not on you, and it is then the bank's job to pass it on
- Membership can be revoked “at any time in its sole discretion and without notice”, and a membership found in breach is cancelled without refund
- Access is never guaranteed: lounges are third parties, entry is subject to capacity, and LoungeKey disclaims control over admission, hours and how long you stay
- Complaints must be made within six months and go to LoungeKey, while cancellation goes to your card provider — three parties, none of them the lounge
- One brand covers two registered companies at one address, and the privacy notice names neither company number
Common questions
How much does a LoungeKey visit cost?
It depends on the card. Monzo charges £24 per person per visit on Monzo Premium and Monzo Max, and Barclaycard charges £18.50 per person on Avios Plus. LoungeKey itself never publishes a figure — its Conditions of Use refer only to “a per-person, per-visit, charge” — so the number in your card's terms is the one that applies to you.
Can I buy LoungeKey membership directly?
No. LoungeKey is distributed only through card issuers and other organisations; there is no consumer checkout. If you want a pass you can buy outright, the sister brand Priority Pass sells annual membership at US$99, US$329 and US$469 depending on tier, covering 1,900-plus lounges and airport experiences in more than 600 cities.
Do guests pay the same as the cardholder?
Usually yes. Monzo applies the same £24 flat fee to guests, and HSBC charges £24 per guest even on its unlimited-access Premier World Elite card. Guests have to register and walk into the lounge at the same time as you, and the desk records how many people entered on your card.
What do I need to show at the lounge?
Three things: a valid means of access — an eligible payment card, digital membership card or code — a valid boarding pass, and any further identification the lounge asks for, which may be a passport, national identity card or driving licence. A photograph of the card or the card number read aloud will not be accepted.
Who do I complain to if a lounge turns me away?
LoungeKey, not the lounge, and within six months of the visit — by phone on +44 (0) 208 865 0767 or by post to PO Box 815, Haywards Heath RH16 9LR. Anything about the benefit itself, including cancelling it, goes to your card provider instead. The Conditions of Use are governed by English law.
Is LoungeKey the same as Priority Pass?
They are separate brands run by the same company. The LoungeKey contract defines the programme as being provided by Priority Pass Limited, company 02728518, and both sit inside the Collinson group at 3 More London Riverside. Priority Pass is sold direct to consumers as an annual membership; LoungeKey is sold to banks as a benefit to attach to a card.
Our verdict
As a way of getting into an airport lounge, LoungeKey is genuinely cheap: £24 a head on a Monzo Premium or Max account and £18.50 on Barclaycard Avios Plus, against the £38 to £48 Which? recorded at UK desks in 2024. As a product to choose, it barely exists, because you cannot buy it and every number that matters is set by whichever bank put it on your card. Compare the cards, not the programme — and check the lounge itself, because only five of the 20 Which? visited scored three stars out of five.
Figures were taken from each provider's own published terms on 21 September 2026. Variable rates can change at any time — confirm the current rate with the provider before applying.
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