One of the benefits of premium credit cards is access to airport lounges. While some times it is debatable if sitting in a crowded lounge is more enjoyable than finding an empty gate to yourself, I still enjoy checking them out. I mean I’ve already paid for the access with the annual fee, so I should utilize the benefit. Currently, we have Priority Pass and AmEx Platinum lounge access.
While the Priority Pass access via credit card has infinitely expanded the number of lounge seekers, there have been a lot more complaints about the usefulness. In our travels, it has still been a nice benefit. There have only been a few incidents when we were put on a waitlist. Typically in Charlotte, and the wait time is usually much shorter than they tell us. It was a heavy few weeks of travel for me, so I figured I would try and give a quick take on the lounges I have visited recently.
My pet peeve of the AmEx lounge access is when it only allows for one person. Sure, if you spend $75k, you can unlock the guest privilege, but typically don’t spend that much and have other sign up bonuses to earn so have to spread the spend. 99% of the time I am flying with my wife and while she does allow me to ditch her and enter the lounges to check them out, it completely ruins any enjoyment or relaxation entering that lounge. They need to come out with a couples credit card rather than a business card.
Charlotte
Departing Charlotte, we made our usual stop at The Club CLT. It can fill up pretty quickly and it is not incredibly large. It has hardly any food for vegans. Toast/bagel and sunflower butter with some jelly and a banana. Coffee and beer (Juicy Jay and OMB Copper I believe). They don’t even carry Coke Zero. I typically like to grab a can Coke or Sprite for my travels in the fridges hidden on the backside of the coffee island. It’s nice for a quick drink before departure.
Boston
We had a 3 hour layover before our flight to Athens, so we walked most of the airport. The Air France lounge only allows Priority Pass members until like 1:30 pm. We were there right about 1:30 so got to look around quickly, so can’t report much other than they had no vegan food. We were flying Delta this trip so I was able to access the Delta Lounge prior to departing with the AmEx benefit.
The Delta Sky Club in Terminal E was one of the better lounges I have entered. Ridiculously spacious. I forget what beer was complimentary but I tried to get a small pour of the Maine Beer Company on draft, but was told that would be a charge. They did have a nice buffet spread with a few decent things I could eat like roasted green beans, carrots and potatoes. Tasty enough. But again, it was so spacious. The bathroom in this place was top notch as well. Not all lounges have worthwhile or any bathroom facilities.
Athens
Our flight from Athens to Rome was a little delayed so we had a little extra time to check out the 2 lounges in terminal B. The Goldair Handling Lounge (Intra) across from B13 was one of the most accommodating lounges in terms of vegan options. It felt pretty spacious and had a qr code to scan to double check ingredients on all their food. We had spinach pies, dolmas, hummus, and veggie wraps. The most options I’ve seen in all our travels. Unfortunately, they brought out one of the vegan soups right before we were leaving. For some reason, the veggie with herbs is not vegan per the nutrition sheet. They also had a nice selection of grab yourself everything from water bottles, soda (Coke Zero), beer and even pour your own wine and liquor. Bold move.
We were initially in the other Priority Pass lounge SkyServ Melina just down the hall. It didn’t feel quite as nice and there were not any food options for vegans. The only other thing I recall is they carried Pepsi products.
Rome
The day before departing Rome we received a troubling email from American Airlines saying we should arrive like 10 hours before our flight due to new Entry/Exit System (EES). Apparently the transition has not been going well. It was kind of annoying to have to do the old boarder control upon entry routine before departing. It really added a bit of time to the already long travel day. Luckily, ours wasn’t too terrible and we arrived early as suggested which meant we had plenty of time to lounge in the lounge. The Plaza Premium Lounge was large and actually had some vegan food options (thankfully, since American Airlines effed us again by not having our meal on our 9+ hour flight). The minestrone soup was the standout for me. It was annoying that the pasta arrabbiata was not vegan, but they had a bit of this and that on the cold salad bar. Pineapple, hummus, veggies, just enough to get by. They had a coffee bar at the bar which made the bartenders busy serving coffee or maybe they were baristas busy serving alcohol. Either way, they seemed busy yet didn’t really care that people were there.
Fort Lauderdale
The Escape Lounges – The Centurion Studio Partner between gates E and F at the Fort Lauderdale airport was a solid little stop for me. I think I was the only one going through security that day and my flight was actually later than I thought so I had plenty of time to get comfortable at the bar. This was a rare solo trip so the AmEx single person access was acceptable. The only vegan option at the food bar was chips and salsa. The chicken noodle soup was labeled vegetarian so I didn’t put much faith in their labels for anything. They would make you whatever cocktail with no preset menu, only charging for a certain shelf of booze. This little peach puree and tea concoction was exactly the cocktail I didn’t know I wanted.
Overall, the best lounge I’ve ever experienced was the Chase Sapphire Lounge in Philadelphia. It was very spacious, had an arcade for ‘kids, good beer, nice bathrooms and clearly marked vegan options. Here are a few photos from that Chase lounge.
In this latest flurry of travel, the Delta Sky Club was the only one that came close to offering a similar sense of actual elite lounge vibes.
A little shout out to the lounge in Costa Rica several years that had really tasty vegan empanadas. It was one of the best vegan lounge foods we have come across.
Overall, I’m just happy when I can get a snack with free beer, water or soda in airport lounges while killing time at the airport. Even better if they have nice bathroom facilities.