Tag: Airport Lounges

Airport Lounges, Reviews, South America, Uncategorized

Lounge Review: Centurion Lounge Buenos Aires Ezeiza Aiport

by milesforplaces1 Comment on Lounge Review: Centurion Lounge Buenos Aires Ezeiza Aiport
Lounge Review: Centurion Lounge Buenos Aires Ezeiza Aiport

Over the last few months, I’ve been quite fortunate to transit through airports that feature an AMEX Centurion Lounge. Ezeiza Airport in Buenos Aires, Argentina happened to be another one of those airports. Centurion Lounge access is complimentary for those holding an American Express Platinum card. You can read about the benefits of the AMEX Platinum card right here. Cardholders are also allowed to bring in two guests so my wife also benefited.

This lounge is located in Terminal C past immigration/customs and security. Take the elevator or stairs up to the second floor right past gate 15 and you will find the lounge entrance. entranceBA

Upon entering the lounge, the staff at the front desk will ask for your AMEX Platinum card and boarding pass. Once they have that verified, you’re good to go.

FoodBA

The food options were sweet croissants, wheat and white bread, cheese, pastrami sandwiches, and banana nut muffins with powdered sugar. Not quite the selection I’ve seen at other Centurion Lounges but certainly better than many non-Centurion Lounges I’ve visited. Fresh orange juice and apple juice were also available.

DrinksBA

The beverage cooler was fully stocked with soft drinks and adult beverages.

CommonArea
Common area

This lounge had plenty of seating and did not suffer from being overcrowded when I was there. Perhaps traveling on a Sunday which also happened to be New Year’s Eve had a lot to do with that.

DiningAreaBA
Dining area of the lounge

One thing I noticed and appreciated about this lounge was the attentiveness of the staff. They would check on tables every 2-3 minutes to make sure any dishes and soda bottles and cans were removed.

LoungeBA
Plenty of empty seats in the common area. Big time plus

I loved these seating areas that had pseudo curtains. Nice touch

 

Lounge3

The lounge was equipped with Apple iMac’s. It might be the first lounge I’ve seen featuring Apple. Being a long time Apple guy, I appreciated this.

MacBA

They had a room for the kids as well. Centurion Lounge is doing a hell of a job making their lounges kid friendly. I didn’t want to take pics in there while kids were there (that would be creepy) so I waited until it emptied out.  During my 2 hours there, it was certainly being utilized for most of that time.

playroomBA.jpg
Great job by AMEX for remembering the population that may become future AMEX Platinum cardholders.

 

 

SpeedTestBA

The internet speed was very solid. Fast enough for business travelers and certainly fast enough for casual browsing.  Great job AMEX.

Overall, I’d give this lounge a 4.5/5. It could use a slightly enhanced food selection but it scored well on everything else. Plenty of seats, spacious,  Apple iMac’s, playroom for children, and solid WiFi speeds. The staff was very friendly and really worked hard at keeping the lounge free of clutter. If you’re an AMEX Platinum card holder and you’re flying out of Buenos Aires (EZE), be sure to give this lounge a visit.

Airport Lounges, Reviews, USA

Lounge Review: United Club O’Hare Terminal 2

by milesforplaces1 Comment on Lounge Review: United Club O’Hare Terminal 2
Lounge Review: United Club O’Hare Terminal 2

IMG-8546

 

On my way back to Albany, NY, I had about an hour and change of free time at O’Hare International Airport. As a United Explorer credit card holder, United gives me two complimentary passes to the United Club lounge every year during my cardmember anniversary. Without the passes, I’d have to pay $50 out of pocket for a day pass. In essence, the two United Club passes make up for the $95 annual fee even if I never used any other benefit from the card. So I figured I’d give it a shot.

 

IMG-8529

The United Club lounge in Terminal 2 is located in the F concourse. Once you enter the lounge, the staff at the front desk will take your pass, verify your boarding pass, and direct you to the escalators that lead to the concierge. There are many factors that I’ll look at when evaluating any airline lounge. The most heavily weighted factor in determining how I’ll rate a lounge is food. If the food is good, it can make up for shortcomings in many other areas. It happened to be breakfast time so off I went to check out the offerings……

IMG-8536

 

As you can see from the pictures, cantaloupes, honeydew melon, grapes, yogurt, and oatmeal.

IMG-8537

Bagels, white bread, and whole wheat bread with cream cheese, butter, and strawberry jam or grape jelly.  The fresh fruit was pretty good. The bagels? dry with the texture of sandpaper. They also had an espresso machine (not pictured) which gave you a few different choices of latte’s, cappuccino, hot chocolate, and mocha. I had the latte and it was pretty decent. There was also orange juice and watermelon infused water. In terms of the food selection, it was nothing special and certainly nothing that was memorable. So let’s move on to other areas of the lounge…..

IMG-8534

 

The common areas were very spacious and the decor was pretty nice. The lounge was clean, perfectly lit, and didn’t suffer from overcrowding that routinely plagues the United Club lounge in terminal 1.

 

IMG-8532.jpg

 

There is an abundance of power outlets and it seems that just about every seat has access to one. This is certainly not the case at the United Club lounges in Terminal 1 so good for United in addressing that here.

 

IMG-8539

 

The bar area was quiet at 8am as expected.  Very spacious, clean, and an appealing ambiance.

 

IMG-8541

 

This lounge also had free wifi with very good speeds. Perfect place to get work done if you have a layover or you’re there a bit early and have time to kill.

IMG-8538

 

I really want to like this lounge more than I do. It was comfortable, clean, spacious, great ambiance, not overcrowded, great wifi speeds, and had a very friendly staff. But the food was mediocre at best. And even that’s putting it kindly. I can’t justify or recommend paying $50 for a 1-day pass if the best thing they have going for them is great coffee and wifi. The only way I’d ever return is on a complimentary pass or if I booked an award ticket on business class and complimentary access came with it. On a scale of 1-5 with 5 being the best, I’d rate it a 3.2. If the food is ever on par with AMEX Centurion lounges, it would easily be a 4.5 or higher.

It is important to note that these passes do not work at United’s Polaris Lounge in Terminal 1 or any of the Polaris lounges that are due to open at Newark, San Francisco, Houston, D.C., Los Angeles (LAX), Hong Kong, Tokyo (Narita), and London (Heathrow) over the next year. For those lounges, you need to have a business class or first class ticket on a long-haul international flight. I’ve heard a lot of great things about that product and if I’m ever fortunate to experience it, I’ll share my review here.