Just plonk and crisps at rip-off airport lounges

AIRPORTS’ pay-as-you-go lounges have scored an average rating of just 2.4 out of five in a study.

Inspections of 20 lounges – which charge up to £50 – found many offer no more than a glass of cheap wine and a handful of crisps, according to magazine Which? Travel.

Southend Skylife Lounge promises to let passengers ‘live the high life’ but had the lowest score of just one out of five. Aspire runs more than a dozen UK lounges, but none of the ones visited were deemed worth the money.

The foyer at Aspire Edin-burgh was described as ‘dingy’ with ‘bland’ food.

Inspectors advised passen-gers should only visit the two- out-of-five-rated lounge if they had secured a discount on the £33 walk-up fee.

The No1 lounge at Heath-row Terminal 3 was ranked the best overall with a score of four out of five. Reviewers praised its cinema, compli-mentary a la carte menu and L’Occitane toiletries.

Which? Travel editor Rory Boland said: ‘In many cases, you might be better off with a pie and a pint in the airport pub.’ An Airport Operators Association spokesman said: ‘Airports work with the inde-pendent operators of paid-for lounges to ensure passengers have a range of options to step away from the busy terminal.’