My Lounge returns to Gatwick North as easyJet’s ‘The Gateway’ lounge rebrands

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• executiveclubber says:

  30 Oct30 October 05:02

  The one (and only) time I visited this place, it was nothing like Rob’s pics – filthy, overcrowded and full of kids. I am so grateful now to only fly from Heathrow, and never take the fast security or plethora of lounges for granted!

• Alan says:

  30 Oct30 October 06:42

  I’ve used this lounge once as a paid cash user. At for us just over £20 each I thought it was very good value. Had what I thought was a reasonable breakfast in a quiet area, we were in almost at opening.

• Bervios says:

  30 Oct30 October 07:27

  This was all boarded up in Mid October – I assumed they were refurbishing it?

• Greenpen says:

  30 Oct30 October 07:39

  Wood knives, forks and spoons! Paper plates! Doesn’t sound hipster to me, more cheap and nasty.

  • TimM says:

    30 Oct30 October 08:10

    KLM business class was all wood cutlery and cardboard crockery on my recent flights. In the guise of being environmentally-friendly, everything was single-use and disposable so quite the opposite.

    The boxes the meals came in had a very attractive design and when I asked if I could keep one, the design was explained to me and told it would only be thrown away.

• TimM says:

  30 Oct30 October 07:58

  “My only criticism is that there is a major lack of plugs in the lounge”

  We’re getting there, slowly. There are plugs and sockets. The former is termed male and the latter female. I am grateful we have been spared “plug sockets” (or indeed ‘socket plugs’). I think the criticism is about the scarcity of mains (or USB) sockets, or just ‘charging points’.

  Generally, perhaps the World has moved on and devices are expected to have a full day’s worth of battery capacity? I remember when Schroders’ IT department moved from CRT to LCD displays and it doubled their office space. Charging outlets are not so necessary any more. They have been given extinction notice.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    30 Oct30 October 08:26

    Unfortunately still required for laptops even if other personal devices could last all day.

    By the end of its 4 year replacement cycle my Dell work laptop would last about 90 mins under its own steam others reported 30 mins.

    I now have a new one but it’ll probably go the same way before it’s replaced. Though high powered USB C sockets would be enough for me and most newer devices.

    Most phone batteries go the same way over time and there are many people with older phones as they aren’t seeing the need to replace their devices as often as they did. No need to change my iPhone 14 as the only real noticeable improvement I might find useful is USB-C charging (but my AirPods are still lightening so not really)

    • TimM says:

      30 Oct30 October 09:19

      My almost 4-years old MacBook Air can still go all day but then I have been very gentle with her – she is normally in ‘clamshell’ mode working as my desktop so permanently plugged in. She is normally only on battery when travelling, and even then only until I set up ‘my office’ upon arrival. All rechargeable batteries degrade with use but Apple batteries are very expensive to replace.

      Changing charging connectors is another matter. I had a drive to go to 100% USB-C but failed. I have a bluetooth keyboard and trackpad which are Apple’s ‘Lightening’ connector, a portable blu-ray drive which is micro-USB and so on. I will have another go in a couple of years’ time.

      • TGLoyalty says:

        30 Oct30 October 10:33

        I’m sure there are plenty of better laptops out there but lots of us travelling have 0 choice on machine and when it’s replaced 🙂 use it 6-8 hours a day, 5 days a week and plugged in perhaps 50% of the time. Seems these old dell laptops killed the battery regardless of always being plugged in.

      • Lumma says:

        30 Oct30 October 16:20

        Macbooks made after 2020 have exceptional battery life. Even a relatively degraded one will likely outperform a brand new Intel powered laptop

  • daveinitalia says:

    30 Oct30 October 09:43

    The lack of plugs in the lounge was due to insufficient sockets.

    I disagree that power sockets have served their extinction notice, even if battery life is slowly improving people in an airport may have gone hours without charging. The BA lounges including the Concorde Room are often criticised for the small number of sockets available. When the BA lounges were designed people had featureless phones with massive battery life or if they were using a laptop they’d usually sit in the business centre. I think the average smartphone is still well away from the battery life these old Nokias had.

    • Rui N. says:

      30 Oct30 October 10:54

      You just have to pass by any socket at any airport with all the people surrounding it to see how ridiculous that claim is.

  • Alan says:

    30 Oct30 October 12:36

    I don’t know any lounge selling it on basis of plug sockets!

    • TGLoyalty says:

      30 Oct30 October 13:44

      It’s a genuine differentiated.

      I know my journey will be just that bit more comfortable and less anxiety. I do carry a power bank though so it’s really only an issue for laptops.

• HughM says:

  30 Oct30 October 09:29

  I think I’ve been in that lounge. I got in on my wife’s card, and polished off the Chilean red.
  Here, and also in airline lounges, my wish is not only for two adjacent plugs. For work reasons, I carry a desktop PC, but no peripherals, as my hand luggage. If I could borrow a screen, keyboard and mouse, I would spend my time in there more usefully.
  It’s an impossible request, isn’t it?

• TooPoorToBeHere says:

  30 Oct30 October 11:02

  Modern crapple stuff lasts all-day but in the PC world – which many people are confined to by corporate IT – pathetic battery life is still common.

  Even in the Apple world, the smaller and older phones – some of which, like the SE, are still sold – which your kids might well have, need frequent charging.

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