Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: Priority Pass

Budapest Airport : Platinum Lounge (Schengen)

This lounge visit was before my flight on Wizz Air from Budapest in Hungary to Athens in Greece and it’s located near to gate A8. There was a friendly welcome when I entered, although the lounge looked very busy and I wasn’t sure if I’d get a seat when I first looked around.

The lounge got much quieter quite quickly as it emptied out when all of the 06:00 flights were announced.

I sat here initially before finding higher seating around the corner, although there was someone playing TikTok videos loudly from his phone for around half an hour that I pretended not to be annoyed about. I put my own headphones on so I couldn’t hear him. Without sounding old and grumpy, this situation about a quiet space being invaded by noise is becoming more common and I can’t say that I particularly like it. Although on a Chiltern Railways train the other day, a passenger told another passenger in the quiet coach to please shut up and I was quite impressed at his bravery. Anyway, I digress.

This is nearing the perfect breakfast that I can expect in a lounge, the cold meats were rich in flavour, there were cubes of roasted chicken, thousand island dressing, pasta and numerous other items. There were other displays with croissants, cereals and other similar items. I’d add that the croissants were flaky, buttery and delicious, perhaps hotel companies such as Travelodge could cast their eye over their offerings.

This was most welcome first thing in the morning. I didn’t look at the alcohol section as it was early morning, but there was a coffee machine and a selection of juices. It was a little odd that you have to go behind the bar area to help yourself to these things, but there is clear signage that this is how it works.

The staff were helpful and the lounge was spotlessly clean. There were several power points available and different types of seating to suit all tastes, with no music playing other than that of a loud customer on his phone. There was only one male toilet and one female toilet which was a little inadequate at times, although a fair few lounges don’t have any provision at all and so I think we’ll all cope as my friend Julian says. The on-line reviews for this lounge are pretty terrible, which I don’t quite entirely understand but perhaps I must have visited at the right time. I was in soon after the lounge opened which would have helped with the cleanliness, but I thought that the staff were rather engaging although others don’t agree….. I was quite happy with my two hours here and I used my Priority Pass to get in for free.

March 2, 2025
Evening Meal in Warsaw, Breakfast in Rome and Lunch in Guildford (Wizz Air Multipass)

Firstly, I didn’t quite intend this odd way of getting back to the UK, but I had gone to Warsaw for a few days and needed to get back for something. I’ve been using my relatively new Wizz Air Multipass, which I’ll post an update about soon as I’m rather pleased with it, and the only way of getting back was via Rome.

So, I started yesterday evening from Warsaw’s central railway station.

There’s the flight at 20:40.

Always a delight to be in the Preludium lounge, which is the Schengen lounge so it’s one I’ve only been in a couple of times over the years (and I think one of those was because of Covid and they only opened a couple of the lounges). Thanks to Priority Pass for this.

Boarding.

I had been randomly given an aisle seat, but a cabin crew member came over to me and said they were looking for an English speaker to sit by the emergency exit door. It’s always odd this, a Hungarian airline flying from Poland to Italy, but I was an ideal choice I decided. I certainly had enough space and the flight was less than half full.

Safely into Rome and there was a little collection of artefacts to look at.

I was genuinely impressed at Rome Fiumicino airport, it’s been well designed, it’s spacious, modern and functional. I have been to Rome before, but this reminded me that I haven’t been in several years and I must go back.

I found a seating area and I thought it was interesting that the police checked the passports of most people in the seating area. The airport says that only those with tickets can stay overnight, so perhaps this is their way of checking someone isn’t there rather too frequently. The police were very polite and the time passed quickly.

I went through security at 03:00 and it remained quiet in the non-Schengen zone for some time after that.

A rhino.

There are a range of times for the Plaza Premium Lounge and most suggested that it opened at 05:00. I meandered nearby so I knew where to go, but it seemed open at 04:40 and I asked about the opening time and the friendly staff member said I could come in immediately. Thanks once again Priority Pass.

I didn’t have any of them, but the hot food options.

Just delightful. I’ll write a fuller report of this lounge, but this is very much the sort of breakfast I was hoping for.

And then pastries came out, and they were delicious.

And a double espresso to keep me awake. Rich and decadent. With several meringues (I kept getting more) to provide the sugar boost.

Second flight and I was fortunate to have an aisle seat again, with no-one in the middle seat.

Into Gatwick Airport.

A quick coffee stop in Redhill.

And then Wetherspoons in Guildford.

All really rather lovely, but longer reports to follow for my two loyal blog readers.

January 20, 2025
Berlin Trip : Tegel Airport Lounge (Berlin Brandenburg Airport)

I’ve mentioned, several times (so I’ll be quiet on the matter now), that I don’t like this airport, but I will say that I like its lounge even less. This is a third rate airport lounge, poorly designed, too small and with a limited selection of food and drink. My two loyal blog readers will soon get tired of this negativity, but there we go…..

I will say that the coffee tasted OK though. The beer is the Franziskaner Premium Weissbier which is light and pleasant, slight edge of bananas and it was on self-service draft pour, I’ll give them credit for that one.

The rice and chilli, in fairness, was entirely acceptable although it wasn’t going to win many awards for the depth of taste. I took all the grapes that were left, my bunch of three grapes is visible in the background.

The rice and chilli was pretty much the entirety of the food options for those who didn’t want dried up salad or sausages.

This is the aforementioned sausage selection and some other stuff to try and take the taste of them away. I didn’t go near it.

The dessert option was apple something or other with some other stuff. I didn’t go near that either.

The second beer option was Becks on draft which is a third rate beer that tasted as I expected, like flavoured water. It’s on self-service draft and it was fobbing heavily, so the waste was quite high, although there’s a valid argument that if a beer is going to be wasted it might as well be this one.

There was one thing that I did very much like in the lounge and that was the chocolates and sweets. I put these in various places in my bag and then, like an excitable squirrel, I uncovered them over the next few days. I was quite pleased with myself with that arrangement.

I found the staff here polite and helpful, but the lounge was at near constant capacity and it’s just too small. It was hard to find somewhere to sit (and I had visited at what appeared to be a relatively quiet time for the airport) and it took me a while to find somewhere with a power point. The surfaces were sticky and dirty, the floor was dirty, the self-service area was dirty and the range of food and drinks was limited. I would have been very disappointed if I had paid the walk-in fee of €36, although the temperature was warm and once I had found a suitable seat it wasn’t uncomfortable. But there were plenty of people coming into the lounge who couldn’t find seats and I’m confused why at a new airport they’ve hamstrung the lounge by not making it that bit larger.

December 20, 2024
Berlin Trip : NU Made with Love (Berlin Brandenburg Airport)

There are two locations at Berlin Airport that are accessible from Terminal 2 that I can use with my Priority Pass card, namely the Tegel Lounge and the NU Made With Love restaurant (there’s also a dessert option, but it’s not reachable from Terminal 2). I went to the latter first and was, to be honest, confused what to do. There’s a takeaway section and a restaurant area, but it felt like somewhere that you needed to be seated. I waited there for a while and then thought perhaps you had to order at the counter and then be seated.

The menu options, it all looked exciting and interesting.

Card holders get €23 to spend here on whatever food and drinks they want. There was then something of a situation, which is that the customer in front of me was also using his Priority Pass card and was being shouted at by the team member with some force. The team member was saying “this isn’t a lounge, why don’t you understand?”, but I think the customer in front was fully aware of that, he was asking for help on how to use his card. He walked off, slightly wounded, and I did feel sorry for him as he just looked confused. The team member was pre-annoyed when I told him I had the same card, but I mentioned I wasn’t sure where to stand for the best and matters improved immediately and he was helpful and personable. I ordered the chicken skewers and a beer, but he said that I could get a pretzel as well for the money. I asked the team member if they had any power points and he helpfully walked around to show me the best place to sit, so I found him agreeable in the end. I suspect that he was feeling a little guilty for shouting at a random passenger as well, but a lot was likely lost in translation.

Served after around seven minutes, the chicken skewers had a pleasant flavour with the sauce, but the texture of the chicken itself seemed odd. The pretzel though tasted good and the Tiger Beer was served in a clean glass with the drink being at the appropriate temperature. It’s not cheap for what was just under €23, but it looked well presented and the chicken was at the appropriate hot temperature.

The surroundings felt modern and on-trend, so it was a comfortable environment. There weren’t many other customers, although the poor guy that had been shouted at obviously had another go as I saw him meekly appearing into the seating area with a beer. If I come back to Berlin again, I will likely come here again, the seating area was really peaceful and comfortable, although I might go for a different food option.

December 20, 2024
Berlin Trip : Manchester Airport – Escape Lounge T3

With just my usual element of incompetence I didn’t get many photos of this lounge as it was so busy, so I’m using a promotional photo to add just a little colour to arrangements. I got into the lounge earlier than the three hours they allow before the flight and I noticed that there was a sign saying the lounge was full, but you could join their on-line waiting list. This has worked well for me at Stansted Airport and so I signed up to patiently wait and as there wasn’t an estimated waiting time I went to ask at the reception desk, but she kindly said I could come in immediately as I was on my own. Most lovely and there were no issues with using my Priority Pass card.

Another promotional photo…. There’s no charge for alcoholic drinks, other than a surcharge for Prosecco, but it’s all bar service.

I found a power point that worked to charge my ailing phone and it might be evident that this isn’t a promotional photo taken by the lounge. The food selection was actually surprisingly good, there were a range of different sandwiches and I very much liked the stew and dumplings. The beer is the John Smiths Extra Smooth and my friend James would have been proud of me for choosing that. The stew had a depth of flavour and the dumplings had just the right firmness to them, they were the best part of my airport visit to be fair.

More stew and dumplings with some rice added to the mix, alongside a Guinness this time as well as a coffee.

The lounge remained very busy and for about twenty minutes the entire Manchester United youth team came in, although they didn’t eat or drink much, so I’m not sure if there was much value to that. And this lounge is expensive, just shy of £40 for walk-ins, although cheaper rates are available for advance purchase. Despite how busy it was, I thought that the staff were doing really very well to keep up and they remained friendly throughout. The lounge is unusually highly rated, so there must be an element of the excellent customer service shining through there.

When writing about the terminal in my last enthralling post, I mentioned that it was used nearly entirely for Ryanair and British Airways passengers. Most of the angry reviews are from customers of the latter, not least this:

“In thirty years of traveling and using lounges all over the world, tonight I encountered something for the first time: no seats. Not just crowded but not one single seat available. A small, shabby looking lounge to begin with has outdone itself. So ahead of an 11-hour flight, I now have to stand around until boarding. Shame, BA.”

There are a few angry BA passengers out there…. The signage is initially just a little unclear as it points two ways for the Escape Lounge, but it appears that they have a second area. It was all closed off when I was there, but I suspect it’s opened up during busier periods of the year, as otherwise this lounge must be regularly at near capacity. Anyway, I was very pleased with this lounge visit, I left with sufficient power in my devices, a couple of beers and more than enough food. What more could I want from life?

December 9, 2024
Poznan – Poznan Airport Business Executive Lounge

With a couple of hours to kill, I popped into the airport’s business lounge using my Priority Pass card.

It wasn’t overly busy by any means, there was a couple in the lounge who were sitting at the far end. There’s a range of seating areas with a choice of high and low seating, although some areas of the lounge felt just a little dark. There were plenty of power points and since it was so quiet, I opted to sit near the food. I do that quite a lot actually….

It’s not a hugely decadent selection, primarily a few baguettes, some slightly unexciting cold cuts and quite a lot of chocolate.

And biscuits. Those chocolates are lovely incidentally, they appear a lot in Polish lounges.

Even I wasn’t going to have a beer at 08:00 in the morning (well, not today), I instead went for coffee and orange juice. And an overly sweet, but still tasty cookie type thing, and a fair few chocolates alongside a yoghurt.

For walk-ins there would be a charge of just under £20 for entry and that’s towards the lower end for what lounges charge. That’s not actually that bad compared to restaurants at the airport, you could have had a few drinks, some light snacks, coffees and the like for that money, so it’s not unreasonable. I’m not sure it’s worth that in the morning, which explains perhaps why it was nearly empty during my visit, but since I’ve got an unlimited pass it doesn’t make much difference.

The reviews are broadly quite poor, people aren’t thrilled by the lack of food choice, but the lounge isn’t really ever offering anything like that, they describe their offering as:

“Passengers will be able to take advantage of the catering offer, which includes hot and cold drinks, sandwiches, sweet and salty snacks, and a wide selection of alcoholic beverages.”

And I thought that the lounge delivered on that.

One customer a few weeks ago was far from impressed….

“It really is one of the worst if not the worst lounge I have ever visited. Basically there is nearly nothing there, no food, some candies, nothing is replenished by the staff who just walks around and pretends there is nothing to be done. Coffee machine was broken, wine tap broken, sandwiches ran out, toilets were dirty and wet. I could hear people paying for the at the exit and seriously they paid for nothing. This place demands a clear fix from the bottom up to the staff itself”

I wouldn’t go that far, I liked that it was very clean if nothing else. The team members looked a little bored, but they were friendly and I can’t imagine that they had a great deal to do. And they would have had to get up very early to come here to work, so they were probably exhausted already. I think there has to be some recognition that Poznan isn’t that busy an airport, so a lounge here is inevitably going to have limitations in what it can offer. Anyway, a positive experience and I appreciated having a little quiet spot to sit for a couple of hours.

December 8, 2024
Gdansk Trip – Avalon at Luton Airport

This week’s arrangement at Avalon thanks to Priority Pass. I didn’t try and buy this much, but once again the staff members suggested topping up my purchases to get the maximum benefit. I’m not sure that the scheme is designed for this, but that’s what they offer and so that’s what I had. The mango and granola thing was delicious, although veering on being slightly healthy. The BLT sandwich is quite heavy on the tomatoes and the bread gets quite soggy, it’s an interesting arrangement. There are also smoothies, coffees, cakes and toasties available at the outlet, which only has around eight tables although the turnover is quite fast.

Without going off on a tangent, I find customer behaviour quite intriguing. Avalon is one of the first food outlets that is visible airside and the number of customers I’ve seen here who say something along the lines of ‘here’s a coffee place, let’s sit here’ is much higher than I might have expected (not that I’d given it much thought in advance). My customer behaviour (when not bouncing around lounge options) is to meander around, find the best value and then check Google Reviews about the matter. I don’t think that I could live my life with the amount of jeopardy of “let’s sit here” without weighing up all the alternatives. I accept that some customers are not price conscious, are tired and don’t have time to faff about, but I’ve once again digressed into irrelevance.

September 19, 2024
Gdansk Trip – Big Smoke at Luton Airport

Thanks to my new Priority Pass card, I started my time at Luton Airport with a visit to Big Smoke. After last week’s little debacle, I was seated at a more traditional table and the team member kindly found me one which was near a power point. I felt that the service was always efficient, but I suspected before they ordered food that they were going to have trouble with a customer who was seated nearby.

The chicken tenders, they’re a little expensive at nearly £10, but that keeps me under the £18 Priority Pass budget. Tender with a crispy flavour, they’re perfectly competent efforts, although I accept unlikely to send the venue into the Michelin Guide.

The beer is the Medicine Man from Big Smoke Brew Co, it was hoppy with a tropical edge, but the flavour didn’t much linger.

Anyway, to add to the excitement of my meal, the customer next to me got her meal and she then called a team member over as she wanted vinegar. Then she called them over again as she wanted salt. Then she called them over again as the chips were cold. Replacement chips in a bowl were brought over promptly. Then she called them over for vinegar for the new chips. Then she called them over saying they had left her with the original cold chips, so the team member said he’d bring another bowl. She then asked how she was expected to eat her meal half off a plate and half out of a bowl. The team member said he’d bring a plate. She said she didn’t want two plates. The team member asked what she did want. She wanted the manager. The manager came off and was initially beautifully direct about the situation, but then the customer told her to shove the meal and the manager thought she’d better be polite. The manager said she’d replace the whole meal. The meal came over. The customer called the team member over for vinegar. I left at this point, I had seen enough drama but could I just give a comment of great thanks to everyone working in the hospitality industry.

I like this venue, it’s clean, comfortable and fast. It’s not really the greatest value going, but airports aren’t cheap and it seemed competently delivered. I’m very pleased with my £18 dining credit with Priority Pass every time I visit, I will eventually work through most of the menu I suspect (well, the bits that won’t involve me going over £18).

September 19, 2024
Belgrade Trip – Business Club Lounge at Belgrade Airport

With some time at the airport given my penchant for early arrivals, I thought I’d use my new Priority Pass card to pop into the airport lounge. There is a more decadent lounge next door which is operated by Air Serbia, but this is the general lounge that anyone with a lounge card type thing can get into.

The staff member at entry was polite and efficient with me, but she was having altercations with several other entrants to the lounge who asked questions. She spent most of the time talking loudly to people on the phone and I’m not sure she realised just how many lounge customers she was evidently annoying judging by their reactions when they entered. One customer already in the lounge told her to shut up, not in a way that was intended to be heard by the receptionist, but I think it cheered the soul of the lady who said it.

The bulk of the food choices were the cold meats and salad items. They were passable, but I was amused by the plastic plates provided that don’t hold the weight of more than about three slices of cucumber. I suspect this is deliberate to avoid piling up of food, there are reviews stretching back some time about this matter.

The drinks selection in the fridges. There were plenty of signs warning customers not to take anything from the lounge.

The coffee machines and the quality of the espresso was decent.

The signage said these were ham, but it transpired to be tuna which I was convinced that I wouldn’t like. However, after trying it rather than wasting it, it wasn’t entirely disagreeable.

Beer. It’s not exactly a wide selection of craft beers, but it could have been worse. It wasn’t the cleanest lounge and there was the air of despair about the whole proceedings, not helped by the lack of natural light. I suspect that at some stage in the near future that it might be wise to update and modernise this lounge.

The lounge was basic, and it’s badly reviewed by any real measure. For my purposes, this was a handy lounge with plenty of power points, snacks and drinks, so it worked well. If I had paid £25 or so for the visit, I think that I might have been rather less surprised and delighted. Anyway, after two hours of excitement of listening to the receptionist tutting at customers, it was time to board the Wizz Air express back to London Luton Airport.

September 17, 2024
Belgrade Trip – Luton Airport and My Lounge

This is only a short post (with poor quality photos), as I didn’t really mean to visit My Lounge. I used to visit this lounge a few years ago, but it has been modernised and updated now with a new ground floor reception area. I had assumed that the lounge would be fully booked, but I went and asked if they usually allowed Priority Pass walk-ins. He said that it was normally fine and so I thought I might as well pop in and wait for my flight. You find your own table here, unless you’ve pre-booked, and there weren’t many left, but I found a quiet corner out of the way. Incidentally, note the healthy banana I acquired here. There really is no end to my healthy eating.

I’ve written before about the odd situation with lounges in the UK, and it is mostly the UK, where they are less business lounges and more ‘all you can drink before your flight’ rooms. This is why, I suspect, Priority Pass has had to come to an arrangement with some dining options at the airport, as otherwise there isn’t enough capacity. I can hardly comment on what other people drink (I mean, look at the state of https://untappd.com/user/julwhite…..) but I watched several customer groups here trying to get their value for money by constantly visiting the bar and I think they achieved their aims. I opted for just one beer, not least as it was Birra Moretti, which doesn’t surprise and delight me.

This is a bit hopeless as a photo, but I hadn’t intended to spend much time here, but I was trying to show that the surroundings are comfortable and tasteful in their decoration. I’m not sure that’s evident at all from the photo, but luckily I’ve just written it, so that’ll do instead. It did feel relaxing to be fair and there were plenty of charging points dotted around, with everything feeling clean. There were plenty of staff and so empty plates and glasses were being cleared promptly.

I did like their nachos, but the food offering was highly limited here. It was effectively jacket potatoes or nachos, which is sufficient as a snack, but the usual entrance price here is £32 and that’s a punchy price point. So we get into the situation where some customers will try and get their value from the alcohol, which means the lounge has cut back in other areas to facilitate that. For someone who doesn’t drink alcohol, I’d suggest that it’s probably better value to go to one of the restaurants at the airport rather than visit the lounge.

Although the staff member on the door said that Priority Pass customers are usually accepted, I’m not entirely convinced that’s anywhere near guaranteed judging from the reviews. But, I’ll pop in again if I get chance to try and get some better photos than the random rubbish I’ve managed to get here. I was going to get them during this visit, but then I noticed that the gate for my flight had been called.

September 10, 2024