Review: SKY Lounge Schengen – Vienna International Airport (VIE)

The SKY Lounge Schengen is located in Terminal 3, near Gates F. It’s an ideal lounge for those departing to destinations in the Schengen area.

Since the lounge is located before passport control leading to the non-Schengen zone, this means that all passengers departing from terminal 3 can visit this lounge. For us, who were flying Austrian to Munich, a stop at this lounge was just the thing.

Once you’ve cleared security at Vienna airport, simply follow the signs to the lounges. You’ll have to go up a level. The lounge is located at the end of a long, curved corridor overlooking the land side of the terminal.

Opening hours of the SKY Schengen lounge, located next to the Austrian airline lounge, are 4:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily.

The easiest way to gain free access to the SKY Lounge Schengen is to be a member of the Priority Pass program.

Note that contrary to what you might think, presenting a American Express Platinum Card^® is not enough to give you access to this lounge.

The trick is to use one of the privileges of your American Express Platinum Card^® (or Business Platinum Card^® from American Express) which offers a free subscription to the Priority Pass program. It is therefore important to have activated this subscription a few weeks before your visit.

Once your membership has been activated, you can use the Priority Pass application on your phone to display your Priority Pass virtual membership card. The lounge receptionist will simply scan the QR code displayed on the virtual card in your phone. If you have your physical card in hand, this should also work.

Arriving at the lounge around 10:30 a.m. to take advantage of the end of lunch, we didn’t have to wait long to get in. The lounge, which was about 50% occupied, has no windows. Fortunately, it feels comfortable, the decor is pleasant and the food is good.

As in most lounges, armchairs predominate here too. Only a few bistro-style tables are available.

The lounge, which occupies around 7,200 square feet with 150 seats, is divided into two sections. The largest section includes most of the seating with a small area for food. As for the small section, it includes a vast space for food, but with only a few seats. No matter where you sit, the two sections are connected.

We chose to settle down in the large section, illustrated in the photos below.

This is the main catering island:

And the available food offer:

The secondary catering island is used exclusively for desserts and drinks. Here’s what was available:

A rarity in a lounge: a whipped cream dispenser, ideal to accompany your dessert:

Not all traditional paper magazines have been replaced by electronic versions:

Everything is self-service, including alcoholic beverages. Not only are the attendants busy replenishing the food in the food islands, but on several occasions they have also cleared our empty plates.

Almost every seat has a charging station, so you can charge the batteries of all your electronic devices before your trip.

The lounge is equipped with showers and offers a number of individual work areas for your computer.

Just outside the lounge, there’s a small, fully-glazed booth where three or four people (maximum) can smoke. A rarity in American airports.

Our visit lasted about two hours, and in all that time there was never a queue to get into the lounge. Its full capacity was never reached.

Generally speaking, it seems to me that the lounges associated with Priority Pass in Europe are much less busy than those associated with Priority Pass in North America. The SKY Lounge Schengen at Vienna airport is further proof of this.

We enjoyed the quality of the food: the Apfelstrudel immediately springs to mind. It’s definitely a step above the standard we’re used to in North America for independent lounges.

The whipped cream dispenser is unique, and we’ve been talking about it ever since we got back! We’d have liked to see local Austrian beverages such as Almdudler and Frucade (which are available at the neighboring Austrian lounge), but there’s not much room to complain.