Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: Priority Pass

Luton Airport – Efficient Priority Pass Service after Big Smoke Overcharge

The title of this post sounds rather tabloidy, but there we go, it’s 04:00 in the morning at Luton Airport and I’m going to take what excitement I can. One thing that I’ve discovered is that Big Smoke are one of the first outlets to open airside at the airport, being open at 03:00 which is earlier than their advertised time and an hour ahead of many other venues. That at least was handy.

The service was friendly, but the restaurant was in something of a state. The sauce bottles had a not inconsiderable amount of dried up bits of sauce on them and the menu was so sticky that it was hard to open. The surfaces had also not been cleaned the night before, nor had the floor, which felt an odd situation. But, it was early and I was content. I was using Priority Pass which gets me £18 to spend and I specifically mentioned, as I always do, that I had zero guests.

However, almost immediately I received an e-mail confirming that Priority Pass had helpfully charged me £18 for my guest, the one that I didn’t have. I queried this and the staff member insisted that was right and I should have been charged. It evidently wasn’t and I showed him he had typed two guests. After some faffing about he came back and told me to make a claim with my bank. This is a ridiculous way of doing it, that would be a chargeback for Priority Pass, as well as a heap of paperwork for them and the bank. So, I asked for someone else and the manager, who really didn’t seem that engaged either way, came over.

The manager repeated the poor advice and I queried what happened if Big Smoke said there were two people and not just one? They said that they couldn’t do anything, so I asked if they could just note on a receipt that there was just one guest. The manager didn’t show any interest and she didn’t do that, she just ignored the situation. Fortunately, I discovered that Priority Pass have a 24 hour call centre and so I phoned it, at 03:30 in the morning which I thought was rather decent. After some internal querying what to do, Priority Pass said that as I was still at the restaurant they were willing to refund the extra guest as it was a mistake.

No-one came over to check on this situation, so I meandered off. It’s hardly the issue of the century, but I’m not keen on managers shifting responsibility to other people and causing others a heap of work when they could have easily dealt with it. Moan over….

June 26, 2025
Wizz Air (Warsaw Chopin to Dortmund)

Today’s early morning flight was from Warsaw Chopin to Dortmund and since I was at the airport soon after the security area opened, it was certainly a quiet airside. Although I accept that’s because normal people don’t arrive at airports as early as I do……

The corridors weren’t yet bustling.

The restaurants not yet packed.

I went to inspect the gate for my flight, which was scheduled to leave at 06:05. I realised that this meant I had time for a flying lounge visit, although it only opened at 05:00 so it wasn’t going to be a lingering one.

A little queue had formed for the lounge.

The excitement of it all….

As usual, I was eyeing up the chocolates (in that basket on the right of the photo).

And a breakfast of a Greek salad, blackcurrant juice, Fanta and a hot chocolate. I soon added chocolate, a banana and two shots of espresso. It transpired that I had twenty minutes in the lounge until they called customers to go to the gate, but that was sufficient time to get enough food and drink. Fortunately, my lounge pass is unlimited as I wouldn’t have paid for such a short visit.

The boarding process was efficient, although it was a bus gate which is never entirely ideal. The seating Gods had given me a middle seat, but it’s only a short flight and I was asleep for nearly all of it anyway. The route from Warsaw to Dortmund (and back again) has only just been launched but it was a nearly full flight. This is the exciting thing for airlines such as Wizz Air and Ryanair, they can open new routes and have a near guarantee that people will want to travel between the two locations.

The aircraft was 9H-WBZ, an Airbus A321 which has been in the fleet since October 2022, which I don’t think that I’ve been on before.

Safely into Dortmund and it was a little warmer than Warsaw.

Dortmund Airport is, if I’m being honest, bloody awful. The terminal was built in 2000 and designed for many fewer passengers, so it’s struggling to cope with the current higher volumes. There aren’t enough toilets, it’s not clean and it didn’t feel very well maintained. There was limited seating, the signage was confused and the on-line reviews are appalling, they desperately need an entirely new terminal. I can’t say that I’m looking forward to flying out of the airport in a couple of days.

Anyway, it was in my eyes a successful flight as it cost me under £9, it was on time and everything seemed well managed and organised.

June 13, 2025
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
Tallinn Trip – Camden Bar and Kitchen

As I get £18 discount on my meal here with Priority Pass, it was where everyone agreed to meet. Well, it’s where I said to meet, but that’s the same thing.

Ross isn’t being anti-social, we had just moved to a bigger table and he was waiting for his food to arrive at the one he had ordered to. Bev was in good form, she didn’t need accessibility assistance on this trip. Steve rather enjoyed pushing her around last time in her wheelchair as it meant he got through everywhere faster in the airport.

Latte. Rich, tasty and only lacking in the JD Wetherspoon option of having free refills. The ordering process here is a little convoluted, Ross ordered on-line and found it easy, I had to order at the bar and found it easy although time-consuming, Susanna ordered at the bar and found it easy, Steve ordered at the bar and had a long wait, whilst Bev ordered on-line and spent five minutes moaning about how difficult it was. It boded well for the week, although when Bev is around the air often hangs thick with the scent of indecision and confusion.

This is the small breakfast and I heard that one customer was annoyed they wouldn’t make substitutions to his breakfast in the way that chains such as JD Wetherspoons might. I feel the pain for the restaurant, I’ve heard swaps from customers in other places such as “no beans, add a couple of sausages” or “no tomato, add two rashers of bacon” which don’t seem entirely in keeping with a smooth stock control system and ease of service. I can’t say that I’m too enthused by mushrooms and I would have rather have the bacon burnt a bit more, but it’s not a bad little arrangement here. The service time was reasonable, the staff were friendly, the venue was clean and Bev didn’t complain too much.

October 15, 2024
Katowice Trip – Escape Lounge

Continuing with my run of posts with just one photo, this is because I hadn’t expected to get into the Escape Lounge with Priority Pass as I thought it would be pre-booking only. Anyway, I did, which was very fortunate as it made my three hour period before the flight rather more pleasant. However, I’ll rectify this lack of photographs omission in future posts as otherwise my two loyal blog readers don’t have much to look at. The lounge was probably at around 75% occupancy, so I’m not sure that they had many more seats to play with to allow walk-ins.

The breakfast options are cereals, pastries and some hot options, as visible in the only photo that I evidently bothered to take. As hot options go, they were fine, with the sausages being meaty, the bacon being slightly crispy, the potatoes having a firm exterior with a fluffy interior, whilst the tomato tasted like a tomato. The beer is Cruzcampo, which is generic rubbish if I’m being honest that is about as premium as Netto.

I’ll limit myself to simply noting here that I didn’t have any wait to get into the lounge and so it’s worth checking if there is availability. I always have low expectations of getting in, but I shall no doubt witter on about this several more times over the next year. More on this lounge in future posts.

October 2, 2024