Review: the Yorkshire, White Rose and 1432 Runway Club lounges at Leeds Bradford Airport

This is our review of the Yorkshire, White Rose and 1432 Runway Club (renamed Aero Club since this review was originally published) lounges at Leeds Bradford Airport.

This article is part of our series of reviews of airport lounges across the UK.  You see all of the reviews here.

We recently asked for your help in completing our series of UK lounge reviews for airports that we are unlikely to fly from. The three lounges at Leeds Bradford Airport were missing, and reader James has very kindly let us tick off all of them at once.  We can now find out which is the best lounge at Leeds Bradford Airport.

The Yorkshire, White Rose and 1432 Runway Club lounges are all owned by the airport.  There are no airline-run lounges and nothing from No 1 Lounges, Aspire or Plaza Premium.

Over to James:

“Leeds Bradford Airport recently moved their lounges to a new location and expended the options.  There are now three lounges, each with different levels of comfort and service. Depending on your access method, you will be directed to either The Yorkshire Lounge, The White Rose Lounge, or The 1432 Runway Club. You’ll find the entrance to the lounge “complex” near gates 4 & 5.

All lounges are open from 05:00 to 20:00, with a three hour maximum stay.

In general:

• The Yorkshire Lounge is aimed at leisure passengers
• The White Rose is aimed business passengers
• 1432 Runway Club is their premium lounge

For brevity, I’ll use the abbreviations YL, WR and 1432 throughout the rest of this article.

Leeds Bradford lounge access rules

All three lounges offer paid access and the rates are ~£5 less when booked in advance via Lounge Pass. Booking ahead also guarantees entry, whereas walk-up entry is subject to availability. Advance purchase is available until the day before arrival; if you forget to pre-book early enough and you’ll pay extra for walk-up access (like I did… doh)

The advance rates are £25.95 for the Yorkshire Lounge, £30.95 for the White Rose and £35.95 for the 1432 Runway Club.

Since there are no third party or airline-run lounges, passengers with airline status or travelling on a business class ticket are directed to one of two lounges. British Airways and KLM use the White Rose Lounge whilst Aer Lingus and Flybe offer access to the Yorkshire Lounge.

You can also access one or more of the lounges with Priority Pass, DragonPass, Institute of Directors membership and Amex Gold‘s Lounge Club. Annoyingly, the airport’s website doesn’t mention Lounge Club, so I didn’t take my membership card with me and paid the full price.  All four passes offer access into the Yorkshire Lounge, whilst the White Rose lounge is only open to Priority Pass and Lounge Club holders.

It’s possible to upgrade from YL / WR to 1432 for £10 on the day, subject to availability. The airport’s website only mentions the upgrade option in respect to customers with access via their airline but the staff on reception told me this is also available to those entering on a lounge membership.  I wasn’t able to verify this myself.

Facilities and service

One immediate benefit over the old location is that all three lounges now offer natural light and apron / runway views (1432 and WR more than YL). The lounge complex also has its own toilets, so you no longer have to use the main terminal facilities.

The differences between the three lounges are style and design, service, food and beverage options, and the views.

The Yorkshire Lounge

The cheapest and most basic of their lounges is also the largest of the three. Despite this, it has the smallest window, with somewhat restricted apron and runway views: the jet bridge for gate 5 obscures the view.

Alcoholic drinks are served from a staffed bar, as was the case in the old “leisure” lounge. There aren’t any premium spirits available.

The food selection at the time of my visit (just before midday on a quiet Friday) was quiche, salad, pasta salad and a few jacket potatoes, as well as crisps, cakes, and biscuits.

The White Rose Lounge

The White Rose is their “middle tier” lounge. The differences between the Yorkshire and the White Rose are significantly better views and slightly more stylish furniture. The food and beverage options seem wider than the Yorkshire, although, as I visited the lounges on different days and at slightly different times, that may not be the case.

and

Reader Rachel, who uses the White Rose Lounge on a regular basis, is far less excited the food and sent HfP a couple of recent pictures of her own – make up your own mind.  See:

and

As for me, I did like the large and very striking image of the Yorkshire Dales that completely fills the end wall:

1432 Runway Club Lounge

This is the airport’s premium lounge. It offers the best views ….

…. as well as table service (the lounge hosts were really friendly and efficient), more stylish furniture, premium spirits (all drinks self-serve), and a better buffet, which includes cold cuts and pork pie:

and

The most significant difference is cooked-to-order food options. But don’t get too excited: this is no Virgin Clubhouse. I didn’t find the options especially inspiring.

From opening until 11am the lounge serves cooked-to-order full English. From 11am until close, the lounge menu consists of jacket potatoes, soup of the day, a variety of paninis / toasties, a hot turkey roll or turkey served in a Yorkshire pudding with gravy and a jacket potato as well as a daily special.

At the time of my visit I was the only passenger in the lounge. Despite this, the food service was a little slow as the chef was on a break.  I ordered a ham and cheese panini and it was on a par with what I’d expect at a Starbucks or Costa Coffee.

Conclusion

The three new airport lounges at Leeds Bradford Airport are not life-changing, but they do the job.

I’d say it’s worth paying the £10 upgrade for the 1432 lounge if you’ve already had free entry to the more basic lounges. It’s more comfortable and stylish, has slightly better food and drinks, and the service is good. I didn’t have chance to sample the cooked-to-order breakfast, but the lunchtime / dinner options were disappointing. They could easily improve the appeal of the 1432 by a slightly more imaginative menu, which would really differentiate it from the other two lounge offerings.”

Thanks James.  You can access selected lounges at Leeds Bradford Airport for free with a Priority Pass (which comes free with American Express Platinum, or you can buy one separately), as well as the DragonPass and Lounge Club card (two free entry vouchers with American Express Preferred Rewards Gold).

As we noted in the main review, all lounge passes offer access into the Yorkshire Lounge, whilst the White Rose lounge is only open to Priority Pass and Lounge Club holders.  There is no way to get free entry to the 1432 Runway Club – you need to pay the £10 supplement.

You can find out more about the lounges, and pre-book entry, on the airport website here.

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How to get FREE airport lounge access via UK credit cards (January 2024)

Here are the four options to get FREE airport lounge access via a UK credit card.

The Platinum Card from American Express comes with two free Priority Pass cards, one for you and one for a supplementary cardholder. Each card admits two so a family of four gets in free. You get access to all 1,300 lounges in the Priority Pass network – search it here.

You also get access to Plaza Premium, Delta Air Lines and Eurostar lounges.  Our American Express Platinum review is here. You can apply here.

If you have a small business, consider American Express Business Platinum instead.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for the first year. It comes with a Priority Pass card loaded with four free visits to any Priority Pass lounge – see the list here.

Additional lounge visits are charged at £24.  You get four more free visits for every year you keep the card.  

There is no annual fee for Amex Gold in Year 1 and you get a 20,000 points sign-up bonus.  Full details are in our American Express Preferred Rewards Gold review here.

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard gets you get a free Priority Pass card, allowing you access to the Priority Pass network.  Guests are charged at £24 although it may be cheaper to pay £60 for a supplementary credit card for your partner.

The card has a fee of £195 and there are strict financial requirements to become a HSBC Premier customer.  Full details are in my HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard review.

PS. You can find all of HfP’s UK airport lounge reviews – and we’ve been to most of them – indexed here.