What is the greatest airline lounge in the world?

[Quickstatus]

What is the greatest airline lounge in the world and why?
Describe your criteria for "greatness"

 

[encryptededdy]

The Red Room in JAL's Haneda First lounge is still my favourite general lounge space. Never crowded (in my experience anyway) and the decor with all the aviation memorabilia is just great. Too bad the bar is upstairs and not connected though.

Love the chess sets although I've never bought a friend into that lounge to play the chess with

 

[Foreigner]

I've never been to the Manaia lounge in Queenstown but am a regular at the Christchurch one, the staff are always friendly and I love the gin of the month concept (plus JQ with QF status gets access!).

I was in that lounge yesterday and the two staff appeared to be overwhelmed. Still, they were cheerful. Good food options, self service alcohol. Somewhat crowded for two QF flights (BNE and SYD) as well as EK to DXB.

 

[henrus]

I was in that lounge yesterday and the two staff appeared to be overwhelmed. Still, they were cheerful. Good food options, self service alcohol. Somewhat crowded for two QF flights (BNE and SYD) as well as EK to DXB.

A few months ago I was on the JQ to OOL the only QF/JQ flight at the time and as a result the group of the three of us were the only ones in the lounge. It can get crazy before the EK A380 but quite frankly CHC airport isn't setup for the full passenger load of an A380 and once you add in a couple of 737s queues start to form everywhere.

 

[Duffa]

There is a distinct lack of mentions for the QF Pub at HBA...

Haha.
First time ever a couple of weeks ago. Sunday pm. Totally chockers!

What an experience!

 

[kookaburra75]

Haha.
First time ever a couple of weeks ago. Sunday pm. Totally chockers!

What an experience!

It was quite the place to be 30 years ago, but sadly it hasn't changed since then - well maybe they've replaced the sandwich toaster a couple of times

 

[Frequent Frier]

What is the greatest airline lounge in the world and why?
Describe your criteria for "greatness"

The old Lufthansa First Class lounge in Frankfurt.
It had everything you could need in a lounge - to drink, eat, enjoy, bathe or sleep. Then, when it was time to depart, a Porsche SUV picked up passengers individually and took them out on to the tarmac, to head up a spiral staircase directly on to the plane. Perfect.

 

[Seat0B]

It was quite the place to be 30 years ago, but sadly it hasn't changed since then - well maybe they've replaced the sandwich toaster a couple of times

Yeah, nah, it wasn't even that good back in the 1990s when I had a big contract with Defence and travelled to Hobart every couple of months. Even then, it was really crowded before a flight. I know it hasn't expanded since, so it must be worse still, but honestly, it was never good!

 

[shane2603]

Lufthansa First terminal in Frankfurt
Thai First Lounge,dining and Spa
The old Singapore Private Room
And best Business lounge to turkish in Istanbul

 

[ayebee]

The OP asked "What is the greatest airline lounge in the world and why?"
but the discussion looks more like "Which lounge did you like?"

Other criteria could be an airline with major / global impact - eg Pan Am with commitment to Boeing creation of the B747 ?

 

[Quickstatus]

discussion looks more like "Which lounge did you like?"

It's the AFF off topic allowance

A couple of contributors have mentioned TK Lounges. Interesting. Any details?

 

[clifford]

It's the AFF off topic allowance

A couple of contributors have mentioned TK Lounges. Interesting. Any details?

Well I have a few thoughts (maybe not "details").

The 2 lounges at IST are pretty much the same (one J class, one FF), and are of a quite good quality, modernish (but with some retro features), and quite large with several different seating areas. The free wi-fi is OK. The food is generally quite good and appropriate to the time of day, with freshly cooked items at various cooking stations around the lounge (staffed by professional cooks). Finger food (Turkish style) is available throughout the lounge

However, IMHO, the lounges are a little let down by the quality of the (self-pour) alcohol, there being only one (as far as I could see) brand of beer (Efes) and only local wines (some of which aren't too bad). There were also some basic spirits such as JW Red and Smirnoff vodka.

I've also visited the Turkish lounge at BKK, just to check it out. I wasn't impressed at all, as it was small, pokey, without any tarmac views, and had a poor selection of cold food items and a tended bar which was unattended. I won't be going there again, but as a Star Gold I wanted to compare it with the other Star Alliance offerings at BKK (it made the TG lounges look quite reasonable!).

My most recent visit to these lounges was just a few weeks ago.

 

[shane2603]

I loved the Lufthansa First terminal for the rubber duck bath, food selection, best choices of Whiskies and Bourbons I have ever seen, the passport process and the choice of vehicles to take you to your aircraft.

 

[ayebee]

It's the AFF off topic allowance

A couple of contributors have mentioned TK Lounges. Interesting. Any details?

oops - I just reread my own post ...
I mentally registered "what is the greatest airline in the world" omitting "lounge" .... doh.

OK, so one I enjoyed the most, was way back when I was bumped from BA's 747 flight LHR - IAD, and they switched me onto the Concorde service leaving an hour later, so I had the Concorde lounge to myself for at least 45 minutes.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I've also visited the Turkish lounge at BKK, just to check it out. I wasn't impressed at all, as it was small, pokey, without any tarmac views, and had a poor selection of cold food items and a tended bar which was unattended. I won't be going there again, but as a Star Gold I wanted to compare it with the other Star Alliance offerings at BKK (it made the TG lounges look quite reasonable!).

My most recent visit to these lounges was just a few weeks ago.

Oh! I went to the turkish lounge in BKK just before covid… it was great! hot pide and 15 minute massage!

 

[Michaelargy]

Not suggesting it's the greatest by any means, but the QF lounge at HKG was always a favourite of mine - spacious and light-filled, with good food and drinks and friendly staff. I understand it's re-opening after the Covid closure - would love to see what they do with it now.

 

[Foreigner]

Not suggesting it's the greatest by any means, but the QF lounge at HKG was always a favourite of mine - spacious and light-filled, with good food and drinks and friendly staff. I understand it's re-opening after the Covid closure - would love to see what they do with it now.

Had a soft opening this week

Post automatically merged: Apr 27, 2023

Had a soft opening this week

Oops, wrong pic

 

[Scarlett]

TK IST. Has everything.
Actually I take that back, for some reason, sometimes, they don’t have a left handed golf stick(s) at the lounge golf simulator. Half a mark off.


Honourable mentions to:
QF Flounges, EY F AUH.
NZ regional lounges.
NZ international lounges.
SQ lounges, but only when serving roti prata & curry.
AY F HEL.
Quite like most LH group lounges too.

 

[Ausbt]

Eithad First Lounge in Abu Dhabi

My recollection was I lobbed in there as a VA Plat even though I was flying Y. I recall scoffing quite a few scallops and half a bottle of Billecarte. Good times.

'Best' is of course subjective and as mentioned what you need on the day. I've spent a lot of time in the VA CBR lounge. In fact one day I took over the computer room and ran a 4 hour meeting in there ...and I wasn't even flying that day. I always found the staff there to be really welcoming and accommodating.

 

[2infinity]

Greatest airline lounge in the world is going to be highly subjective as,
a) Everyone's wants and desires and the way they experience life is going to be completely different
b) No-one has been to every lounge in the world to know which one is the best (and then refer back to a)

So really, it's just to provoke this exact discussion about our individual experiences.

I don't think any domestic lounges would make the mark, accept refer to a), so I'll talk about international lounges I've been to only. I have limited international experience in lounges because of a variety of reasons, however, i have been to a few:

• Brisbane International QF - Food options are certainly better than the domestic lounge (not a hard achievement) but not really anything spectacular. Would say it's a fine lounge but covering all your needs and a retreat from the terminal.
• Brisbane International EK - Probably my favourite lounge that I've been in. Was plenty of room, food options were fantastic, drinks were self serve but a little limited imo, but quite adequate and direct access from the lounge to the top deck of the A380. Didn't shower, because i was flying F and planned to shower on board
• Tom Bradley One World LA - was a while ago so memory is vague, but good bar, good food, a little bit busy, long wait for showers, but being the first lounge i'd been to outside of Australia, i really liked it (at the time).
• Auckland QF - Probably similar to the QF Brisbane International. Bit outdated. Really should have checked out the EK lounge lol.
• Dubai F Terminal 3 - This lounge takes up an entire floor of the terminal and has direct access to the A380 (kind of, more convoluted than direct access from Brisbane). A la carte dining, massage, bar, showers, cigar room. But why. There must have been like 6 people in the whole lounge, it was like being in a ghost terminal. The massage was cough imo. A la carte was nice, had a steak, but limited menu in the morning. For EK flagship F lounge, i was disappointed.
• Dubai J Terminal 3 - Almost the same as the F terminal, but no a la carte or massage. Lots more people.
• Dubai J Terminal 1 - What a bucket of cough - pokey coughty lounge with a long shower wait.
• Escape Lounge Stansted EK partner lounge - the worst lounge I've been in outside of Australia. No toilets (you need to leave the lounge and use the terminal facilities), terrible food options, even worse drink options. The were rationing ice ffs. no more than 2 cubes per drink. Emirates has a section cordoned off for EK F & J passengers with champagne available.
• Am off to Singapore later this year, so will get to try the QF Sydney International business lounge and Singapore QF lounge (might go for a walk to the EK and BA lounges too to check them out)

 

[scaredeycat]

The view was the only remarkable thing about this lounge...