This isn’t the ideal thing to see when arriving at an airport lounge, although it is in keeping with my comments a few days ago about how busy these areas are becoming. However, modern travel does like to introduce little tests of character before granting access to the crisps, so I’m quite patient with these matters.
Fortunately, there was a wait of only around five minutes, and the staff were being proactive at getting customers in, so the situation never developed into full lounge-based civil unrest.
I was asked if it would be OK if I sat at the high seating at the rear where there was more space. This wasn’t just OK, this was positively optimal. There were lots of power points, seats and space, this was one for the win and all that.
It was much better than all that low down seating.
This is the other end of the lounge and I took this photo on the way out when this area became quieter.
I tried not to be greedy, but I struggled to control my chorizo consumption if I’m being honest.
Later on, they brought out pizza, which I thought was most agreeable, as there are few travel problems that cannot at least be partially improved by the sudden appearance of carbohydrates.
There were five different beers available, and I tried them all in the interests of research, although none troubled my Untappd high scoring section. But there are definitely worse ways to wait for an aircraft than with bread, chorizo and beer.
Oh, and cheese, crisps, olives and pastries because apparently I had accidentally embarked on a full Mediterranean grazing strategy. But this is what happens when I’m left unattended and not supervised.
The entrance to the lounge was much quieter than when I arrived. With that, it was time to go and hunt for my gate. My flight was half an hour late, something which the staff member told me on entry but which wasn’t updated for some time on the screens, and I could have stayed in the lounge for longer but I still had to go through border control.
The lounge doesn’t get the best of reviews, but I liked it and thought that it seemed well managed. When it was very busy they were getting a little behind, but they soon caught up with cleanliness and food restocking, with the choice of food and drink being agreeable. Walk-up entrance would be £38.50 which feels rather high, but isn’t entirely unreasonable given that the lounge is comfortable and the dining options are acceptable. I used my annual Priority Pass card as usual so I didn’t have to dwell on the value for money arrangement.