So been saving for a year and finally get to say we’ve paid off the holiday to Walt Disney World in Florida!! So this year we get to fly from Newcastle with TUI (affilliate) to the most Magical Place on Earth and have a blast.

While I would have loved to fly Premium Economy, the budget would just not stretch that far. So, we’ve upgraded to Extra Legroom which only cost £75 for 2 people return and sneakily bagged ourselves lounge passes into the Aspire Lounge at Newcastle Airport. All in all, not quite as good as Premium, but not far off!!

How did we do this? I took a wee tip from Money Saving Expert‘s Martin Lewis. By applying and being successful for an Amex Preferred Rewards Gold Card which is no fee for the first year, you are given 2 free airport lounge passes. There’s loads of info on the site about doing a soft search first to make sure you are eligible so that it doesn’t affect your credit score if you aren’t and its really important to either not spend on the card if you are just using it for the airport lounge passes like we are (hefty interest charges) or to cancel it before the second year as there is a £140 fee after this date.

The article also advises you to check which lounges are covered by the free pass so you can make sure you will be able to use them.

Entrance to an airport lounge is a luxury as its around £26 per adult for the Newcastle Aspire Lounge, so bagging entry for free is a win! Just make sure you read the entire Money Saving Expert article to find out if its the right thing for you before you decide to hit that Apply button!!!

And never fear, if you don’t qualify or don’t want to apply for the AMEX card, then there is a brilliant site that looks up all the best deals for airport lounges, parking and more. It’s Trusted Travel (affiliate) and they do the hard work for you. Just put in your dates, tell it what you’re looking for and it will scour the web for the best deals.