As part of our #avgeeks trip celebrating milesopedia’s 2 year anniversary, we visited two of the lounges at Vancouver International Airport (YVR): the Plaza Premium Lounge and the Cathay Pacific airline lounge.
After returning our rental car, we quickly enter the airport. No need for a shuttle to the car rental center: it is connected to the terminal. Much appreciated!
This Saturday at 6 pm, the international hall is rather deserted. Only the queue for a Sunwing flight to the South is very crowded.
We love theold school billboards:
Few people at the security which will be passed in 2 minutes. We can see that part of the Air Canada lounge is shown as being under renovation with a planned opening in the summer of 2017.
We arrive in front of the Plaza Premium Lounge.
This lounge is located in Hall D, after the security passage. It is accessible for holders of:
As anAmerican Express Platinum cardholder, I have a Priority Pass with a membership that offers unlimited entry for the cardholder AND one guest. My guest tonight will be Matthew! To see the other benefits of the Platinum card, please refer to this article!
Right next to the entrance, a small area is open to the terminal hall.
Open from 8:00 am to 1:30 am (except Saturday: until midnight), this lounge can accommodate up to 180 people on a surface of 6,800 square feet.
This lounge has 4 seating areas, one of which is exclusively reserved for Air France KLM passengers.
A nice view of the tarmac… and in particular the freight containers.
There are 2 counters dedicated to food so you don’t have to walk through the living room to serve yourself. Several hot and cold choices are offered.
The business center offers 4 computers and of course the lounge offers free WI-FI and magazines.
What we particularly appreciated: the showers. These are located in the middle of the lounge and you must reserve your turn at the reception desk. There are also 3 rooms for resting opposite the showers.
This Plaza Premium lounge was only a short stop for us, the time to take a shower and a coffee! Indeed, we absolutely wanted to test the Cathay Pacific lounge which opens its doors at 8 pm.
Access to the lounge is by elevator. To have access to it, you have to travel in business or first class cabin, which is our case today. The receptionist also makes sure that your reservation is correct (in this case she basically checks if the customs formalities for the United States have been completed).
We are the first to enter the Cathay Pacific lounge this evening. First impression: a really beautiful living room, whose materials make the space particularly warm. A series of photos to prove it to you:
Very appreciated: the seats facing the track, enough to satisfy our avgeek / spotter desires.
By the way, a small picture of Matthieu admiring Dreamliners and other British Airways A380s.
These green cube chairs also provide privacy.
I think you now understand our desire to “stay” in this lounge rather than the previous Plaza Premium.
Also, 3 Mac workstations are available:
It doesn’t stop there. A small buffet of cold dishes (mainly cold cuts / cheeses / raw vegetables):
But what makes this show different from the others is its catering part, with the “Noodle Bar”.
A small restaurant integrated into the lounge, you can help yourself to strong alcohols (including champagne).
And ask for Asian dishes:
After dinner, we watched the landing of our flight from Hong Kong HKG to New York JFK.
All this accompanied, of course… a glass of champagne!
These cards provide access to Priority Pass. Be sure to check the terms and conditions of each card, as the American Express Platinum card – the most expensive – is the only card that offers unlimited Priority Pass lounge access to the cardholder AND a guest.
Savings are here:
