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Heathrow Gets A New £340 Luxury Lounge – But It’s Not Actually At The Airport
DiamondAir is due to open a rather different type of airport lounge on 1st October. Unusually, it isn’t actually inside the airport. Instead, you’ll find the lounge at World Business Centre 3 on Newall Road, overlooking Heathrow’s northern runway and T2/T3.
Lounge access costs £195 per person, but departing passengers must also book the £145 meet-and-assist service, bringing the total to £340 + VAT. You can also use the lounge as an arrivals lounge for £195.
The service targets business travellers, frequent flyers, and families. DiamondAir already looks after premium customers and works with major travel and financial brands, including American Express and Visa, so I expect the lounge will be popular.
The lounge has capacity for just 30 guests and offers:
- À la carte dining and full table service (e.g. oak-smoked salmon blinis, salt beef Reubens, heritage tomato and burrata salads)
- Free-flowing drinks including Veuve Clicquot, Pouilly-Fumé, cocktails, coffee, and soft drinks
- Treatment rooms with pre-bookable massages and jet-lag revival treatments
- Shower suites
- Floor-to-ceiling runway views
- Meeting rooms
- Discreet work areas with high-speed Wi-Fi
- Private relaxation areas
- Remote check-in and baggage collection, including the option to have your baggage collected from your home, hotel, or another location.
To get to your flight, DiamondAir uses electric vehicles for terminal transfers. Its meet-and-assist service then takes you through check-in, Fast Track security and onwards by buggy to the gate.
You can leave the lounge up to 50 minutes before your flight. That does sound slightly too close for comfort, but DiamondAir has multiple lounges and concierge services worldwide, so hopefully it’s enough time! Transfer time is under 5 minutes to T2/T3, 10 minutes to T5 and 15 minutes to T4.
Although £340 + VAT isn’t cheap, DiamondAir sits somewhere between conventional lounge access plus concierge assistance and a full private-terminal experience such as The Windsor. The latter includes more VIP services, including your own private terminal, dedicated security and immigration, luggage handling, and a chauffeur-driven transfer directly to or from the aircraft. The £340 price tag is considerably lower than The Windsor, which starts at £4,060 for up to 3 people, and requires Business or First class travel.
The VIP sector is growing at Heathrow, and DiamondAir is filling a gap in the market and will no doubt become a popular option.
Hilton Black Diamond: The New Top Tier Status???
Speculation is growing over whether Hilton will launch a Black Diamond tier after the name appeared in internal training materials above The Honours Society, Diamond Reserve, Lifetime Diamond, and Diamond.
While Black Diamond may be for training purposes, it looks very similar to what happened last November, when the new tier Diamond Reserve suddenly appeared before an official announcement from Hilton.
Hilton added a new Diamond Reserve tier to the Hilton Honours loyalty programme in January and lowered the qualification requirements for Diamond and Gold Hilton status.
Something similar happened with The Honours Society, which appeared in Hilton materials before the name surfaced in a marketing campaign.
Interestingly, Hilton CEO Chris Nassetta has already hinted that Diamond Reserve may not be the end of Hilton’s plans for its highest-spending guests. Speaking to The Points Guy in June, Nassetta explained that Hilton now has millions of Diamond members, making personalisation difficult.
We already know Hilton has been considering how to better recognise its most frequent and valuable travellers. Could Black Diamond be the next step?
More intriguingly, when asked about an invitation-only tier above Diamond Reserve, Nassetta said:
“Maybe there’ll be something beyond [Diamond Reserve]. Maybe some day there’ll be something that we don’t really publicise.”
If Black Diamond does become the new top tier of Hilton status, it would be an even more exclusive tier for the highest-spending guests. Will this also be invitation-only? Diamond Reserve already requires a minimum of 80 nights or 40 stays, plus $18,000 in qualifying annual spend.
Benefits include:
Another theory circulating is that Black Diamond was the earlier name for Diamond Reserve before it was changed and announced publicly. However, this does not explain why Black Diamond appeared separately above Diamond Reserve.
If Black Diamond is another published tier, will it have an even higher requirement? Or will it be invitation-only? Marriott has Cobalt, Hyatt has Courtesy Card, and Accor has Limitless, all of which are invitation-only without published thresholds.
We will keep you updated if details are announced!
Avios.com Offers
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Top offers this month include:
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Accommodation
- IHG – up to 15 Avios per £1 (was up to 3)
- Agoda – 10 (was 6)
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- Premier Inn – up to 5 (was up to 1)
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- The Clermont Hotel – 12 (was 4)
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Shopping
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- Pets at Home – 4 Avios per £1 – Up from 2
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Check Avios.com (or a shopping portal from another airline) before making any purchase to see whether you can earn extra Avios.
