Tag: airport lounges

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Where to Smoke, Drink and WiFi When Flying Out of Nassau

Where: Nassau, Bahamas
February 9, 2012 at 1:45 PM | by | Comments (0)

Work on the new international arrivals hall at Nassau's Lynden Pindling International Airport is still underway—but the departures areas are looking pretty nice and, as far as we could tell when flying out on Monday, functioning faster than they did in the past.

One improvement you may be interested in if you like a cigar or a stiff drink before waving goodbye to the Bahamas is the Graycliff Divan Airport Lounge.

This spinoff of the Graycliff hotel, restaurant and cigar company opened its double lounge—one smoking, one non-smoking—last spring opposte Gate C41 in the US departures terminal.

You may not realize it's an airport lounge at first because it looks like a tschotske-filled boutique—and in fact it is. To register for access to your lounge of choice, you must enter through the gift shop.

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Inside the New Cathay Pacific Lounge at San Francisco International Airport

Where: San Francisco International [map], San Francisco, CA, United States
December 21, 2011 at 9:35 AM | by | Comments (0)

Finally. Finally! Cathay Pacific has finally opened a lounge of their very own on US soil, at San Francisco International's International Terminal. This is huge news for frequent flyers on Cathay to Hong Kong, but even for design buffs as the lounge includes the specially designed Solus Chair, first introduced at their Cabin lounge at HKG.

Because Cathay actually enjoys making their lounges somewhere you want to hang out, we'd recommend getting there early enough before your flight to relax in the fresh space. It opens up four hours before the first Cathay departure. All in all there's several seating areas, three shower rooms, seven private workstations (with printer), a snack center and noodle bar. Plus free WiFi of course.

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Inside the Virgin Australia Lounge at Brisbane Airport

December 15, 2011 at 9:36 AM | by | Comments (0)

From repainting planes to overhauling terminals, Virgin Australia has had their plates full trying rebrand their entire operation, while changing the image from an all-economy service to a full-service airline. From the looks of things, the livery is flying all over Australia with more planes to come and re-Virgin-ized airport spaces. This goes for new airport lounges in major cities.

We took advantage of the fact that Virgin allows lounge access to Gold and Platinum Velocity Rewards members without actually flying, and checked out the Brisbane lounge for lunch. Yea, we went to the airport just for lunch. On first impression, the design is slick and the check-in fast and friendly, as expected from the brand.

One thing worth mentioning are the new staff uniforms, done up in a sultry, yet professional, red with Virgin-purple color pops in the form of neck scarves. So super glam.

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Inside the United Business Class Lounge at Tokyo-Narita Airport

Where: Narita International Airport, Tokyo, Japan
October 28, 2011 at 4:27 PM | by | Comments (0)

Everybody's talking Tokyo, and with good reason. The country is psyched to begin restarting tourism, autumn over there is magical, and the ANA 787 Dreamliner just completed her maiden revenue flight out of the city. So when you do take that dive and head to Japan, you'll likely spend some time in Narita International Airport. If you're flying United and holding a Business Class, ticket or Star Alliance status, then you'll want to know about the United Business Lounge.

We recently spent some time here after bumping ourselves up to Biz, and gave the sizeable lounge a good once-over:

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Inside a Day Room at Tokyo's Narita International Airport

Where: Tokyo-Narita International Airport, Tokyo, Japan
October 21, 2011 at 12:05 PM | by | Comment (1)

You've had a long flight, or maybe you're about to have a long flight, or maybe—horror of horrors—both. You've got some sizeable layover time at Tokyo-Narita Airport and you're desperate to have a shower, take a nap or work in peace and comfort—or all three things. If you're flying economy you don't have the option to crash in a lounge, but luckily Narita is a large (and awesome) enough airport to offer Shower rooms and Day Rooms, and we just tried them out!

Our story involved a long flight to NRT from Bangkok, an 8-hour layover and another long flight back to the States in economy. Typically we'd enjoy the airport like an amusement park, but we were under the weather and sleepy. Although the day rooms may be reserved online up to one month in advance, we just walked in and plonked down our credit card for five hours in a single room.

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Everybody in the Delta SkyClub Getting Tipsy...on Top-Shelf Booze

October 19, 2011 at 9:20 AM | by | Comments (0)

Last time we were hanging out in one of Delta’s SkyClubs, we were enjoying a little bit of premium tequila, and now it looks like more of the top shelf stuff is coming to an airport lounge near you. All the booze that has been free will remain complimentary in the clubs, but there are some new fancy drinks and upgraded spirits that will now set you back some extra cash; better find a buddy with an expense account, and quick!

The rollout of what Delta is calling the “Luxury Bar” has already begun, and the plan is to have the new booze available in New York—both JFK and LGA—as well as Boston, Newark, Palm Beach, Seattle, and Washington. They promise that the offerings are coming to other airports sooner than later, so don’t worry if you call Los Angeles or Atlanta home.

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Inside the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse at SFO

Where: San Francisco International [map], San Francisco, CA, United States
October 7, 2011 at 3:14 PM | by | Comments (0)


There are airport lounges, and then there are Virgin Atlantic Clubhouses—the type of lounge that makes you pray for a flight delay. Happily, when we scored access to the Clubhouse at San Francisco International Airport the other week, we were early for our flight. Unhappily, it left on time. Here’s what we found.

The room is bright and airy, overlooking the runway like most lounges. But unlike most, it’s sexy. Take the vast bar, for example—it’s colored an icy blue, and takes up about half the length of the (lengthy) room. Propping up the bar is even more appealing when there’s a shelf of travel guides to flick through, too. Over by the window, facing the bar, is a row of armchairs.

There aren’t many snacks scattered around—just a plate of fruit and cookies at the bar—but, instead, the end section of the lounge works as a restaurant, with a cluster of TVs to watch while you wait for your table service, and pictures of pinups if you’re bored by the telly. By the window down that end are sofas, which also get table service. Windows have blue and pink-tinted filters over them, which is weird at first but quite soothing.

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Inside the Virgin Holidays V-Room Lounge at London's Gatwick Airport

Where: Gatwick Airport, London, United Kingdom
September 8, 2011 at 2:49 PM | by | Comments (0)


It’s not often that we fly business class these days so it’s not often that we get the chance to hit up an airport lounge. But when we flew to Vegas last week, we were on a package with Virgin Holidays – the UK package company that’s part of the Virgin group. And Virgin Holidays is all about the little people – so it has its own lounge for economy passengers at Gatwick airport, the v-room.

Any Virgin Holidays customer can purchase a pass to the lounge for £20 (£12 for kids). For that price, you get free food, WiFi, seating, newspapers, a games room and telescopes to gawk at the runway (the floor to ceiling windows help with that too). Or, if you’ve booked a package staying in one of their Platinum (premium) hotels, your access is free.

We toured the v-room when it opened a couple of years ago, and were very impressed – so we were looking forward to seeing how it’s withstood the test of time. The answer? Extremely well.

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Inside the American Airlines Admirals Club at San Diego Airport

August 19, 2011 at 10:22 AM | by | Comments (0)

It’s been a long time coming, but British Airways has recently added to its American destinations with its Heathrow-San Diego route which started June 1. When we flew it recently, what we were most interested in was what they were using as a lounge because, for all its faults, BA usually does lounges pretty well.

Turns out they’re using the American Airlines Admiral’s Club at SAN. Would it live up to its BA step-siblings? Only one way to find out.

The lounge is just through security in Terminal 2; as in, tucked away discreetly to the side behind security, so it’s a little confusing to find. Discreet is also the word for the doorway; there’s just a tiny plaque announcing its presence under the bell, and advising you that “proper dress” is required for access.

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Guzzling Some Avion Tequila During Delta SkyClub's Thursday Happy Hours

August 9, 2011 at 9:38 AM | by | Comments (0)

To celebrate the arrival of Avión Tequila at Delta SkyClub airport lounges, Delta and Avión have been hosting happy hour shindigs from 5pm to 7pm on Thursdays. We just happened to be in the neighborhood last week, and we’re already looking forward to another layover filled with agave spirits.

While killing some time in Atlanta we made our way to the SkyClub in the center of Concourse A near the Chili’s—after stopping at Chick-fil-A obviously. We got there a little early and warmed up with a glass of Sweetwater Pale Ale and waited for 5pm to arrive.

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Inside the Delta SkyClub at Miami International Airport

Where: Miami International Airport [map], Miami, FL, United States
August 5, 2011 at 10:00 AM | by | Comments (0)

We recently found ourselves at Delta’s SkyClub at Miami International Airport, and we have to admit we were pretty impressed—at least when comparing it to other domestic lounges. This place is clean and comfortable, but it’s got nothing on some of those swanky overseas lounges we’ve been lucky enough to visit.

Delta has been remodeling its clubs slowly but surely—like the one in LAX—but the club at MIA has it’s own unique style that sets it apart from its SkyClub siblings since it hit the scene in 2009. The architecture—think wavy ceilings—is featured in the club just like in other portions of the terminal, and the tying together of elements wasn't lost on us. Plenty of soft seating surfaces look a little more chic and cool than the usual office furniture placed inside an airline lounge, so we say thumbs up for that.

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Kids Traveling Solo Now Have Their Very Own Delta Lounge at Atlanta Airport

July 14, 2011 at 8:34 AM | by | Comments (0)

Traveling with children can sometimes be a pain, but Delta’s got a new idea that might make things a little better. For right now it’s only for unaccompanied minors traveling without Mom or Dad, but maybe eventually it’ll be open for all the little ones to swing by and blow off some steam.

The Delta Sky Zone is open in Atlanta on Concourses, B, C, and E, and it’s available to those little ones connecting all by themselves—or with a little help from Delta employees. Inside, kids have access to brand new furniture to bounce all over, XBOX 360s, and unfortunately some kind of educational materials. We’re thinking that there’s got to be some soda and chips thrown in their too, or at least a little tap water. Video games during a layover would definitely make us thirsty!

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