Aspire Lounge AMS (Schengen) and Austrian Economy Class
As shown in the pic - crowded!
An experience that felt like a blur, marked by a crowded lounge and typical European Economy Class vibes, encapsulating what we experienced with European Business Class.
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Aspire Lounge AMS (Schengen) and Austrian Economy Class
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A disclaimer: there won't be many pictures in this blog post as I wasn't feeling well enough to take them, hence I will supplement it with pictures from other blogs. Thanks for the understanding! 😶
After an unforgettable visit to Amsterdam and The Hague, it was time to begin our journey home, starting with a brief one-day trip to Frankfurt.
Check-In
Returning to Amsterdam Airport, it wasn't as crowded as the media had reported, but it was certainly more chaotic compared to Changi Airport. The signage was not very clear also, and it took us a while to locate the check-in counters for Lufthansa (Austrian Airlines is part of the Lufthansa group).
After checking in, it took about half an hour to get through security, which was lengthy but not wasn’t as bad as what was reported.
Directions To Lounge
Since we were flying Economy Class, I opted to utilize my Priority Pass complimentary membership (finally got to use it!) from my credit cards after reaching the transit area. Amsterdam Airport's main terminal has two Aspire Lounges: one at the Non-Schengen terminal (Gate 41) and one at the Schengen terminal (Gate 26). As we were traveling within the Schengen area, we visited the Aspire Lounge at Gate 26.
After passing through Passport Control in Departures Hall 1, turn right, go through Security Check, find the main atrium and proceed up the stairs (or escalators) to the 2nd floor, and follow the signs to the lounge.
Facilities
Our first impression was that the lounge was spacious with plenty of seating areas, but it was very crowded (as expected for a European Priority Pass lounge in a Schengen area). There were comfortable individual loungers facing a terrace with nice runway views, but they were all occupied during our visit.
Dining
The food options weren’t exactly to shout about too, featuring the usual continental choices and cold food items. Fortunately, there were coffee machines available (fuel is essential, even when feeling unwell 😆).
Austrian Economy Class
I decided to lump our Austrian Economy Class flight together in this blog post, as I really was not able to take much pictures. Except for this aircraft shot in which mustered me a great deal of mental effort to take it 😆
Although Austrian is part of the Lufthansa Group, we did notice some slight differences in the flight experiences. In comparison with the Lufthansa Economy Class flight, I much prefer their seats compared to Austrian, which felt that the seat padding was thinner and not as comfortable as the Lufthansa flight. However, I appreciated that Austrian, like Lufthansa, handed out chocolates at the end of the flight—a nice touch!
Conclusion
Apologies for the really short post, but that's all I could share about this experience. I hope to take more pictures and provide a more detailed review on a future visit!
Next up, back to where my solo travels all began.
