Club Aspire at Gatwick North is the quieter, smaller alternative to No1 in the North Terminal lounge corridor. It is operated by Swissport’s Aspire brand — a separate entity from No1 Lounges, though both businesses share common ownership through the Collinson-Swissport partnership that controls much of the UK independent lounge market. The lounge opened in 2018 and accepts Priority Pass, LoungeKey, DragonPass and cash walk-ins. Unlike its South Terminal counterpart, it operates through to late departures, making it viable for afternoon and evening flights — not just the morning window that limits Club Aspire South. It will not be the most impressive room you have sat in, but it does the basics without drama and is consistently the least crowded Priority Pass option in a corridor that can get very busy at peak times.
At a Glance
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Terminal | North Terminal — lounge corridor left of security/duty free, follow under escalators, turn right |
| Priority Pass | Accepted — pre-booking recommended at busy periods |
| Amex Platinum | Accepted via Priority Pass |
| Cash walk-in | Variable; check and pre-book via Lounge Pass website |
| Opening Hours | Early morning to late evening; tracks the departure schedule — verify at loungepass.com before travel |
| Food | Hot and cold buffet throughout the day |
| Bar | Staffed; wine, beer, spirits and soft drinks included |
| Showers | No |
| Children | Welcome |
| Natural light | No — interior room with no airfield or external views |
| Workspace | Tables available; no dedicated working area; limited power sockets |
| Wi-Fi | Complimentary |
Location & Getting There
All independent lounges at Gatwick North are in the same corridor and are straightforward to find once you know the route. From security, turn left and follow the signs for Gates 45–55 and 101–113 through the duty free area. Do not take the escalators — follow the corridor that runs beneath them, then turn right. At this point all the lounges — Club Aspire, No1, Clubrooms, My Lounge, Emirates and Plaza Premium — are signposted together. Club Aspire is on the corridor level itself. No1 and My Lounge are nearby on the same level; Clubrooms and Plaza Premium require a lift.
Access Routes
Priority Pass cards issued by American Express — including the Platinum Card — are accepted at Club Aspire Gatwick North. Pre-booking is not mandatory but is worth doing at busy morning periods to guarantee entry. Unlike No1, the pre-booking fee here does not bundle fast-track security. If fast-track is a priority, book No1 instead (the £6 No1 pre-booking fee includes fast-track) or purchase it separately from Gatwick.
| Route | Detail | Guest Policy | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Priority Pass | All Priority Pass variants accepted, including Amex Platinum-issued cards. Pre-booking available and recommended at peak times. | Guests per card terms | Free with card; pre-booking fee may apply |
| LoungeKey | Accepted — LoungeKey is the business-facing equivalent of Priority Pass, often issued with premium bank or corporate travel cards. | Per card terms | Free with card |
| DragonPass | Accepted | Per card terms | Free with card |
| Lounge Pass / cash walk-in | Available to any departing passenger. Pre-book via loungepass.com for the best rate; walk-in subject to capacity. | N/A | Variable — check loungepass.com |
| Amex Centurion card | Accepted via Priority Pass benefit | Per card terms | Free with card |
| Airline business / first class ticket | Not accepted — Club Aspire is an independent lounge with no airline partnerships | — | N/A |
| Frequent flyer status | Not accepted — status alone does not grant entry | — | N/A |
The Lounge
Club Aspire North is a mid-sized, single-level space that opened in 2018. The interior is functional and cleanly finished — a staffed bar counter running along one side, a buffet station, and a mixture of armchair clusters and table seating — but the room lacks any distinctive design character. There are no airfield views, no natural light, and no feature element that anchors the space. It is presentable without being memorable, and reviewers who have visited across multiple years tend to say the same thing: it gets the basics right without doing anything interesting with them.
Compared to No1 next door, Club Aspire is smaller and — at most times — noticeably quieter. No1’s size and PP popularity attract bulk airline bookings and high walk-in volumes; Club Aspire tends to run at lower occupancy and is more reliably accessible at busy periods. The tradeoff is a more limited buffet range and a room that does less with its space. Compared to the Clubrooms, Club Aspire is less polished on every dimension: service level, food quality, décor and finish. The Clubrooms costs £15 more on top of Priority Pass, but delivers a genuinely different experience — à la carte food, a staffed cocktail bar, and an adults-only environment that the Clubrooms manages to make feel exclusive rather than merely small.
There is no dedicated workspace. Tables are available for laptop use but power sockets are limited and unevenly distributed across the room — if charging is critical during a longer wait, plan accordingly or consider No1, which has sockets more widely available. Wi-Fi is complimentary and generally adequate.
Food & Drink
A hot and cold buffet runs throughout the operating day, rotating between breakfast and all-day savoury options. The selection is adequate for a lounge at this tier — hot dishes, cold items, pastries and snacks — without being expansive. Food quality is broadly neutral to positive: not a compelling reason to choose Club Aspire over No1, but not a deterrent either. The bar is staffed rather than self-service, which is a small but noticeable improvement in tone. Standard wine, beer and spirits are included. Premium spirits and champagne may incur a supplement — confirm on arrival.
How Club Aspire North Compares
Within the Gatwick North lounge corridor, Club Aspire sits in the middle of the stack. Plaza Premium on the fourth floor is the most visually impressive independent lounge in the terminal — natural light, premium finish, a former Virgin Clubhouse — but requires Amex Platinum or DragonPass and does not accept standard Priority Pass. Clubrooms is the premium tier within the PP ecosystem, with à la carte service, a cocktail bar, and adults-only calm, at a £15 supplement on top of PP. No1 is the largest and best-resourced standard PP lounge, but also the busiest. My Lounge is the budget option — industrial aesthetic, early opening (4am), the most basic facilities. Club Aspire sits between No1 and My Lounge: better finished than My Lounge, quieter and less variable than No1, but without the character of either.
For travellers with a standard Priority Pass and no appetite for the Clubrooms supplement, the practical choice at Gatwick North usually comes down to No1 versus Club Aspire. If No1 is at capacity or requires pre-booking, Club Aspire is the natural fallback. If the priority is buffet range and a cooked breakfast with more variety, No1 is the better room when accessible. Unlike Club Aspire South, which closes around 1pm, Club Aspire North operates through to late departures — a meaningful advantage for the afternoon and evening flights that dominate Gatwick North’s schedule of leisure carriers.
Functional, quiet and reliably accessible — the key virtues of Club Aspire North are exactly the things that No1 next door sometimes fails to deliver. It has no airfield views, limited sockets and no showers, and the interior design has all the flair of a regional business hotel meeting room. But as a calm place to eat and drink before a Gatwick North departure it does the job without complaint, and the all-day hours give it a clear edge over its South Terminal equivalent. Use it deliberately when crowd avoidance matters more than choice of buffet; use it as a fallback when No1 is full. For £15 more, the Clubrooms is a substantially better room — but Club Aspire does not pretend to be that.
