Manchester airport lounges: how to choose in Terminal 2

The Escape Lounge is the terminal's general-purpose lounge, with a hot and cold buffet and a reading corner with international newspapers; entry is barred to minors except children under 3, and it is open to those with Priority Pass or DragonPass as well as a paid day pass. On the upper level, instead, is The Executive by Escape Lounges, which took over from the former 1903 lounge and has become the go-to spot for premium passengers of airlines such as Cathay Pacific, Qatar Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Etihad and Singapore Airlines: a decidedly more selective profile than the general-purpose lounge downstairs. The two lounges share the Escape brand but not the type of audience, and it's easy to confuse them by reading only the name without checking who they're actually reserved for.On the Swissport side there are two almost identically named lounges that aren't interchangeable. The Aspire Lounge in area C is the older of the two and remains the only one to accept Priority Pass. Its newer sibling, the Aspire Lounge in area D, was instead created as a larger replacement designed to ease the crowding of the original one, with seating for over 300 people: here entry is paid only, with no Priority Pass. Those holding that card need to remember to head towards area C and not area D, even though the latter is the newer one and probably the first one found when searching for information online. Those flying with Emirates finally have a brand-new lounge, opened with a significant investment as the airline's first lounge of the new concept in the United Kingdom: live cooking and a menu combining Manchester specialities with Emirates' usual international offering. Entry is free for those flying First or Business and for Skywards Platinum and Gold members, even if their actual travel class is Premium Economy or Economy. It is therefore one of the few Manchester lounges where status with the airline matters more than the lounge card you hold.

The choice at Manchester therefore depends mainly on who you're flying with and which card you hold: with Priority Pass the right lounge is the general-purpose Escape Lounge or the area C Aspire, never the area D one; those flying with one of the premium partner airlines should look to The Executive by Escape Lounges; those flying Emirates, especially with a high Skywards status, have their own dedicated lounge. It's worth double-checking the exact name, given how similar they are to each other, especially since lounge names often change from one site to another.