Top 20 best value airport lounges in the world

Head to an airport lounge and get free Wi-Fi, inclusive drinks and premium food for under £50, according to a new survey.

Airports can be stressful experiences, even for the calmest of travellers. From uncontrollable delays and immeasurable queues, to strict suitcase weight limits and expensive food options, there’s plenty to get people agitated.

And it’s more commonplace than you might expect, with new research from Netflights.com revealing that 66% of UK travellers find airports stressful.

To ease – or intensify – this stress, the average person will spend £58.77 in the run up to boarding their flight. Most of this cash goes on food (53%), hot drinks (44%) and alcohol (28%).

Almost half of respondents (46%) also admitted to purchasing items they didn’t even need – as something to do before jetting off.

To help avoid these airport blues, Netflights.com has taken a sneak peek into airport lounges around the world, to see if your time can be spent being less stressed and more travel happy.

Collating data from 149 lounges around the world, it has uncovered what you can expect to pay where, and what you'll get.
The amenities in each lounge were weighed up against its cost and applied some data science magic to give you a score showing whether it could be worth booking.

And with the average cost of accessing an airport lounge only £37.32, with free Wi-Fi, inclusive drinks and premium food all available, there’s plenty of reasons to be more chilled out than wound up.

Scoring the number one spot in our ranking of best-value lounges is the Al Ghaza Lounge in Abu Dhabi International Airport – it’s low-cost, exuberant interior and efficient amenities mean it topped the list of lounges worldwide. The best value in the UK are located in Manchester and London Heathrow Airport at £40 – however their cheapest lounges start from £25, but you won’t receive the same top-notch amenities for your money. London Gatwick’s best value offering is £50.

Despite these low prices, the research revealed that 87% of travellers have never booked themselves or their families into a lounge as they thought it was too expensive (40%), only for members (23%), or they just didn’t know how to do so (20%).

Here are the top 20 best value airport lounges, to help you plan your next trip:

Al Ghazal Lounge by Plaza Premium Lounge Terminal 2, Abu Dhabi International Airport: £21.45 / $28.76
Strata Lounge International Terminal, Auckland Airport: £28.15 / $37.72
Lounge @ BTerminal 3, Dubai International Airport: £28.86 / $38.67
1903 Lounge Terminal 3, Manchester Airport: £40.00 / 53.60
Plaza Premium Lounge (Arrivals) Terminal 2, Rio de Janeiro Galeao International Airport: £24.42 / $32.72
BGS Premier Lounge Terminal 2, Beijing Capital International Airport: £21.46 /$28.76
Loyalty Lounge Terminal 2, Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport: £22.20 / $29.75
Plaza Premium Lounge (Lounge B) Terminal 3, Indira Gandhi International Airport: £19.98 / $26.77
Clubrooms North Terminal, London Gatwick Airport: £50.00 / $67
SkyTeam Lounge Terminal 4, London Heathrow Airport: £40.00 / $53.60
Neptuno Lounge (AENA VIP Lounge) Terminal 4, Madrid Barajas Airport: £26.40 / $35.38
Pacific Club Terminal 3, Ninoy Aquino International Airport: 18.50 / $24.79
SkyTeam Lounge Terminal 1 (International), Sydney Airport: £39.22 / $52.55
Bidvest Premier Lounge International Terminal A, Tambo International Airport: £24.76 / $33.18
The Club at LAS, Terminal 3, McCarran International Airport: £28.86 / $38.67
Marhaba Lounge Terminal 2, Melbourne Airport: £35.85 / $48.04
Premier Lounge International Terminal, Ngurah Rai International Airport: £17.76 / $23.80
Star Alliance Business Class Lounge Terminal 1, Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport: £30.34 / $40.66
dnata Lounge Terminal 3, Singapore Changi Airport: £28.12 / $37.68
Plaza Premium Lounge Terminal 1, Toronto Pearson International Airport: £25.90 / $34.61