Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

British Airways closes its Amsterdam lounge

Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission.  See here for all partner links.

I’m not sure if this was already officially confirmed or not, but London Air Travel (which seems to be written by a senior BA employee who has access to internal documents) has now reported the formal closure of the British Airways lounge in Amsterdam.

The closure was already informally announced. When the Singapore lounge reopened a few weeks ago, British Airways said that ‘all of our lounges are now open again’.

Since Amsterdam was still closed at that point, the inference was clear.

EDIT 2024: The British Airways lounge was turned into a oneworld alliance lounge which we reviewed here

British Airways closes its Amsterdam lounge

The British Airways lounge backs onto the Aspire lounge at Schiphol, so it is possible that the two will be knocked through to create a bigger space.

BA passengers have been using the Aspire lounge, which has effectively blocked this lounge for Priority Pass users since it is now at capacity for much of the day.

There are now just three British Airways lounges in Europe, at Geneva (review here), Milan Linate and Rome Fiumicino.

Heaven knows what sort of strategy is at work here, especially as Amsterdam is one of the busiest British Airways destinations and it is up against KLM and its massive Crown Lounge, reviewed here.

PS. If you are not a regular Head for Points visitor, why not sign up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters? They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and will help you travel better. To join our 65,000 free subscribers, click the button below or visit this page of the site to find out more. Thank you.

Getting airport lounge access for free from a credit card

How to get FREE airport lounge access via UK credit cards (April 2025)

Here are the five options to get FREE airport lounge access via a UK credit card.

The Platinum Card from American Express comes with two free Priority Pass cards, one for you and one for a supplementary cardholder. Each card admits two so a family of four gets in free. You get access to all 1,500 lounges in the Priority Pass network – search it here.

You also get access to Eurostar, Lufthansa and Delta Air Lines lounges.  Our American Express Platinum review is here.

You can apply here.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for the first year. It comes with a Priority Pass card loaded with four free visits to any Priority Pass lounge – see the list here.

Additional lounge visits are charged at £24.  You get four more free visits for every year you keep the card.  

There is no annual fee for Amex Gold in Year 1 and you get a 20,000 points sign-up bonus.  Full details are in our American Express Preferred Rewards Gold review here.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard gets you get a free Priority Pass card, allowing you access to the Priority Pass network.  Guests are charged at £24 although it may be cheaper to pay £60 for a supplementary credit card for your partner.

The card has a fee of £290 and there are strict financial requirements to become a HSBC Premier customer.  Full details are in my HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard review.

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard

A good package, but only available to HSBC Premier clients Read our full review

Got a small business?

If you have a small business, consider American Express Business Platinum which has the same lounge benefits as the personal Platinum card:

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

You should also consider the Capital on Tap Pro Visa credit card which has a lower fee and, as well as a Priority Pass for airport lounge access, also comes with Radison Rewards VIP hotel status:

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

PS. You can find all of HfP’s UK airport lounge reviews – and we’ve been to most of them – indexed here.

Category

British Airways and Avios

Comments (47)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Wally1976 says:
    21 Jul21 July 07:09

    Pedant alert – “There are now just three British Airways lounges in Europe” – surely the UK lounges are in Europe too!

  • JandeW says:
    21 Jul21 July 07:19

    Yet another reason for not using BA Club Europe on this routing, if you don’t have status.

    • ChrisC says:
      22 Jul22 July 00:49

      What?

      If you are in CE with no status then you still get access to the aspire lounge.

  • Charles Martel says:
    21 Jul21 July 07:21

    Any chance it becomes a shared Oneworld lounge for American, BA, Cathay, Finnair, and Qatar or has this idea been dropped?

    • Nick says:
      21 Jul21 July 10:07

      Finnair and Iberia would struggle, given they fly to Schengen destinations. Without then, the volume of flights falls significantly.

    • Marcw says:
      21 Jul21 July 16:52

      Problem wit oneworld in Europe is that Finnair and IB are in Schenghen. The whole oneworld business lounges, for a small alliance like oneworld, its very difficult.

  • Paul says:
    21 Jul21 July 07:26

    Moving passengers from their own lounges to third party lounges isn’t good for customers. Since BA shut the lounge in Manchester and pushed passengers to the airports Escape lounge, I’ve been denied entry a number of times due to the lounge reaching capacity. This has been when travelling in Club Europe or in economy just on status. Brushed off the first couple of times as maybe teething troubles but then complained to BA as it kept happening, to be told lounge access can’t be guaranteed etc etc. It’s not good enough.

    • Lady London says:
      21 Jul21 July 10:22

      BA needs to stop marketing lounges as provided for status and with Business Class tickets then, if this is going to continue.

      • meta says:
        21 Jul21 July 12:59

        Just take them to MCOL for breach of contract, even if it is for £30. I did once send LBA when refused access on CE ticket. We agreed that 2000 Avios was a good settlement.

        However, this was at the time when BA used to be very good at customer service and recovery. I remember the times when post-flight survey was sent after every flight. Whenever I filled and complained, I would almost immediately get a phone call from BA with an apology and some Avios thrown in.

  • T says:
    21 Jul21 July 07:36

    Do these companies not employ PMO these days?? I mean, every single release they do is absolute shambles in delivery! Surely a go live has” and it will work” set as an objective?

  • sxparkin says:
    21 Jul21 July 08:52

    Passed through the airport recently in last 2 weeks- the sign in the BA lounge alluded to ‘working to improve the lounge’ eg it was being refurbished – BA logos/signs etc were still there – may that has changed and it is now really closing ? The Aspire lounge was dreadful no seats, no one wearing a mask (personal choice I know), Priorty Pass folk being declined entry as per article, found a nice quiet spot in Starbucks downstairs with recliner seats overlooking the runway !

  • Dubious says:
    21 Jul21 July 09:34

    I don’t have an Amex Platinum, it my Amex Gold is showing minimum £100 spend get 12% off…at Swetty Betty…

  • Howard0181 says:
    21 Jul21 July 16:52

    We have two Platinum Business cards because we are both Over 70 and key issue is travel insurance. Was hoping the dining offer would launch on business Platinum!!

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

New to Head for Points?

Welcome!  We’re the UK’s most-read source of business travel, Avios, frequent flyer and hotel loyalty news. Let us improve how you travel. Got any questions? Ask them in our forums.

Get 25,000 Avios with the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

GET A SIGN-UP BONUS OF 18,000 VIRGIN POINTS!

Latest Forum Posts

Get 80,000 bonus points (worth 80,000 Avios) and £400 of dining credit with The Platinum Card (Offer ends 27th May)

Check reward flight availability instantly for free!

See a whole year of reward seat availability on one page at SeatSpy.com

Get up to 10,000 bonus Hilton Honors points

Booking a luxury hotel?

Our luxury hotel booking service offers you GUARANTEED extra benefits over booking direct. Works with Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, The Ritz Carlton, St Regis and more. We've booked £1.7 million of rooms to date. Click for details.

SME? GET THE ONLY FREE SMALL BUSINESS CREDIT CARD WHICH CAN EARN AVIOS

Get points worth 30,000 Avios with 'first year free' American Express Gold (ends 27th May)

The UK's biggest frequent flyer website uses cookies, which you can block via your browser settings. Continuing implies your consent to this policy. Our privacy policy is here.

Got it!