Start your holiday at the airport by booking into a lounge

This might come as a surprise, but airport lounges are not just for the rich and famous, they’re also available for the likes of you and me.

That's because the global average price for a lounge is a bargain £37.32, markedly less than the £60 an average person will spend at an airport before boarding – and cheaper than you might have imagined.

So, before you next trip, take a look at our map below, and consider booking yourself into a lounge.

Find out why an airport lounge could be for you

Think of an airport lounge and what comes to mind? Diamond-encrusted ice buckets chilling champagne? Velvet cordons? Maybe just those mysteriously dark doors and 'Members only' signs that might as well be a 30ft-high barbed wire fence. Well, if you're one of the many who think of airport lounges as pricy and exclusive, you might just be surprised.

We know the common perception is that airport lounges are for the rich and powerful. But we wanted to see if that's really the case. So, we decided to crunch the numbers to see how much airport lounges really cost, and what you get for your money. Then we used the data to put together an interactive map of lounges from 149 airports around the world so that you can see at a glance what you can expect to pay where, and what you'll get. Every lounge is open to the public, as long as you're willing to pay the entry fee.

Treat yourself for under a tenner

Despite the common perception that lounges are expensive, we found that the average cost of a lounge worldwide is £37.32. The priciest one on our list is in Dubai International Airport – it'll set you back £300, but you do get a private transfer to your plane.

The cheapest is in Ninoy Aquino International Airport in the Philippines, where you can get into the Wings Transit Lounge for just £7.11. For under a tenner you get access to 24 reclining chairs, 17 sleep capsules, snacks and even a massage room.

Asia had the biggest variation in price. For example, while you can book a lounge in Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport for £7.40, in Singapore you can expect to pay £211.95 for the most expensive lounge at Changi airport – though that's from a total of 11 lounges across four terminals, with the remaining 10 costing under £30.

But we also wanted to know what those costs mean for the average traveller. So alongside this we surveyed 2,000 UK travellers to find out how much they spend while waiting for their flight, how they feel about air travel and what their views on public airport lounges are.

The average cost in Europe came out at £28.98 and the average price in the UK was £34.76. The most expensive region to book yourself into a lounge was the Middle East, with an average price of £100.12.

So why aren't we all doing it?

Despite the surprisingly reasonable price of many airport lounges, 87% of UK travellers have never booked one. Our survey respondents cited three main reasons for not booking a lounge: they thought it would be too expensive (40%), only for members (23%) or they just didn’t know how to do book one (20%).

Why an airport lounge could be worth it

We found that the average passenger spends £58.77 while waiting for their flight, most of which goes on food and drink. Weigh that against the average cost of £37.32 for a lounge and consider that the most common lounge amenities worldwide were premium food, inclusive drinks and Wi-Fi, and the cost could be justified.

Add in that nearly two thirds (66%) of those surveyed said that they found airports stressful, and the extra relaxation you can get could be the clincher. Browse the map to help decide whether a lounge could be worth a go on your next trip.

To find the ideal airport lounge and all your essential extras for your next trip visit here.

Airport Lounge Map

Start your holiday at the airport by booking into a lounge

Find out why an airport lounge could be for you