I have come to the realization that coffee is the most important thing in an airport lounge.
Nice food is appreciated. High speed wi-fi is helpful. Comfortable seating is applauded. But if I had to choose just one thing that I consider most important in an airline lounge, it would be the coffee.
People love coffee around the world…you know that based upon long lines for coffee at virtually any airport coffee shop around the world. There’s a coffee company called Klatch in Terminal 7 at LAX and the lines routinely stretch down the concourse. For reasons that puzzle me as a self-professed coffee snob, you see the same thing at virtually an airport Starbucks.
And while finding tremendous third wave coffee is not so easy in airports, many lounges offer very decent coffee and espresso-based drinks.
While in Hong Kong last week, the Hong Kong Airlines Lounge did not off great coffee. Thankfully, a train ride and short walk over the American Express Centurion Lounge resulted in a truly satisfying cappuccino:
At my home airport of LAX, my two favorite lounges are not surprisingly the only two lounges with a barista: the oneworld business class lounge and Qantas First Class lounge. Both offer exceptional espresso-based drinks (and “normal” coffee as well):
Here’s the thing. Food is nice, but I can eat onboard. Fast internet is great, but I can tether from my phone. Flight rebooking helping during irr/ops is valuable, but airline apps have greatly improved and I can generally quickly reach a reservations agent on the phone while in line in the lounge.
CONCLUSION
I guess the perfect lounge concept for me is the Lufthansa Senator Cafe in Munich.
What do you think is the most important thing in an airport lounge?
“Flight rebooking helping during irr/ops is valuable, but airline apps have greatly improved and I can generally quickly reach a reservations agent on the phone while in line in the lounge.”
Sorry I have to disagree, how often do you get an agent on the phone to back you up onto multiple flights at the same time and just let you get your ticket reissued later (eg at the gate)?
We fly different airlines Gary! 😉
Happy Thanksgiving. I really appreciated your post on Thanksgiving today.
I have to agree with Gary. Lounge agents have had me confirmed on multiple flights, even on codeshares, just because my original flight *might* have problems. You don’t get that via the app. I go to the airport to fly. Not to have coffee. I could not care less about lounge coffee. Give me tools that help me fly.
I’m a tea drinker, but I feel the same way about crappy tea bags versus whole leaf teas and good hot water dispensers in lounges. Strangely, though, I prefer lounges without baristas for this reason. Baristas keep wanting to put lemons and honey in my tea.
“But you can bring any teabag you like”
It’s not the same.
I get what you say, though as someone who’s not a coffee aficionado, it’s just not that important to me. I’ll echo Justin – I prefer tea, and there’s hardly a lounge anywhere that offers proper loose-leaf tea, or a barista that knows how to make a simple, proper cup.
I want two things from a lounge: a quiet sitting area, and ample, well-located electrical outlets. Both are getting increasingly difficult to find as lounge crowding becomes a bigger and bigger issue.
Coffee is zero importance to me, certainly not what I am looking for in a lounge.
Coffee? Maybe for you. But having an agent be able to book you on a non-alliance airline to get back home because your original flight would be delayed is way, way better. And booze; let’s not forget good quality booze.
I agree Matthew, and we are fortunate here in Australia that the larger Qantas and Virgin Australia lounges all have high quality barista-made coffee. I forget how much I value this until I have to fly domestically in the USA …