The pro’s & con’s of an airport lounge
Airport lounges are supposed to be a relaxing and indulgent way to start your travels. Promising less noise, comfier seating, device charging facilities and other perks such as unlimited food and drinks, and showers, airport lounges should be a great way to spend that pre-departure time.
However, with hundreds of different lounges on offer at airports across the world, they undoubtedly vary in their standards, offerings and procedures.
We recently departed the U.K. for the start of our travels in Africa and decided we should use our annual airport lounge passes…
Did you know that Trusted Housesitters provides 2 x global airport lounge passes per year for premium members?
Sign up using our link and code HHH25 and get 25% off your membership!
We’d never used these passes before as we try to travel to our housesits overland and have reduced our flying as much as possible even though we are digital nomads and fully nomadic.
We knew that this would be the only flight we’d be taking this year with an eligible lounge and also felt that the occasion was momentous and deserving – we were leaving the country for 9 months after all, to take our travels and housesit adventures to Africa.
So, we contacted Trusted Housesitters, gave them our flight details, and they booked us into the lounge for free. They sent us a booking confirmation and document to show the lounge staff on arrival at the Plaza Premium Lounge at London Heathrow Terminal 2.
Having put in similar details on their website – a Friday night, 2 hour lounge access from 7pm for 2 people, it showed that this was worth over £85. We were chuffed that we’d be using the facilities for free through our Trusted Housesitters membership.
Their website also showed the facilities they offer. It appeared that showers and some drinks would occur additional charges, but other than that everything was included.
Our experience:
We arrived at the lounge almost bang on 7pm ready to relax before our 10:30pm flight to Cairo - the second last flight of the day.
On arrival there were queues at the door and we were worried we’d have to wait to enter, but when we showed the staff our pre-booked pass that Trusted Housesitters had provided, they let us straight in.
The lounge was busy when we got there and we got one of the last seats in the nicer seated area. Once we’d sorted ourselves out, plugged in our devices, and relaxed, we felt better. It was busy and a little noisy, sure, but nowhere near as busy as the departure terminals were outside.
We connected to the free wi-fi with no issues and Tom went to the bar to get our first drinks. It appeared that draught house beer and house wine were free of charge, as well as house spirits and all soft drinks, including tea and coffee.
We had a few drinks each and then went up to get some food. There was lots of food on offer – from vegetable curry to Spanish chicken, with sides of rice and vegetables. There was also a hot pasta dish and soup which was vegetarian too. Hot bread rolls and butter were available, and several other snacks such as cheese and crackers, crisps, and fruit. There was also a dessert section with mini-trifles and chocolate brownies.
We went up to get several small portions of food and definitely ate too much, but it’s all part of the experience, right?!
After 8.30pm the lounge began to get quieter and quieter until there were only around 20 people in there with us. That was when we really relaxed – we appreciated our time in the comfortable seats and complete quiet. The lounge shuts at 9.30pm each day, which was perfect for us and our 10.30pm departure.
I was so full after the lounge experience that I had to decline my on-board meal once airborne – something I’ve never done before!
PROS:
- Includes unlimited food and drinks (including alcohol)
- Offers more comfortable seating, charging points and free unlimited wi-fi
- Allows you to escape busy departure terminals and relax more before your flight
CONS:
- Not all lounges are the same – they can vary massively and this is shown in reviews online – do your research before you book
- You never know how busy they’ll be before you arrive, and you get a completely different experience if they are quiet versus if they are full
- Airport lounges can be expensive
All in all we’d recommend using an airport lounge before a flight if you want a more relaxing experience and you will make use of the unlimited food and drinks on offer.
At £42.50 per person (according to the quote I did on their website directly) it feels a little expensive and we’re not sure whether we’d pay for a lounge if we didn’t have it included as Trusted Housesitters members. We are frugal travellers, after all!
Having said that, now we’ve experienced a taste of the high life, I don’t know if we can travel without it. We certainly capitalised on the unlimited food and alcoholic drinks.
Have you visited an airport lounge? Message us to let us know your experiences and whether or not you’d recommend it!