Review: Vancouver Airport Lounges

I recently flew Air India's direct flight from Vancouver to Delhi and had a chance to try the lounges in the international terminal of the Vancouver airport.

Vancouver airport's international terminal had the following lounges that were open and that were near the Air India gate: SkyTeam lounge, Plaza Premium Lounge, and Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge. There was also the Cathay Pacific First Class Lounge but it was closed.

A walk-through Vancouver Airport crossing many lounges


Of these I had been to the SkyTeam lounge before, so I tried the other two lounges on this visit. I summarize my experience from this and my last visit to these lounges below.

1. SkyTeam lounge

    This is a nice lounge with hot food options that is accessible via Priority Pass. There are a number premium credit cards in US that come with some form of Priority Pass access, allowing you and some guests to visit these lounges.

Last visited: Sep 2019

Access: Priority Pass

Packaged food: Yes

Hot food: Yes

Shower: No

            

Enjoy hot food at SkyTeam Lounge Vancouver

 

2. Plaza Premium Lounge

    Plaza Premium Lounge is a global collection of lounges which can be a hit or miss sometimes. They have good presence in Asian countries including India but have been cutting down on amenities and access recently. The lounge in Vancouver is well situated with good views of the tarmac but I found the food options to be limited here. There was fresh espresso available and some hot food options but overall not much variety to satiate a hungry passenger. The lounge also boasts a shower area but I did not avail it on this visit.

        Last visited: May 2022

        Access: Amex Global Lounge Collection

        Packaged food: Yes

        Hot food: Limited

        Shower: Yes

        

Plaza Premium Lounge Vancouver

Selection of food at Plaza Premium Lounge


3. Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge

    This is the main Air Canada and Star Alliance lounge in the airport. I was initially not too keen to visit this lounge as it did not have better ratings on Google than the Plaza Premium Lounge but when I decided to visit it on a hunch I found it to be better than the Plaza Premium Lounge. It was more spacious, had better atmosphere and more food selection. I was able to order food from my table by scanning a QR code.

If you are travelling on a Star Alliance business class flight or have Star Alliance Gold status via a Star Alliance partner, I would definitely recommend a visit to this lounge. The lounge also has a dedicated Signature Suite section for those travelling on Air Canada Signature Suite Business class.


A look inside Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Vancouver

        Last visited: May 2022

        Access: Star Alliance Status or Business/First class ticket

        Packaged food: Yes

        Hot food: Limited

        Shower: Yes

            

Order hot meals right from your table

Hot Canadian Chole Naan


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review Air India Business Class from Vancouver to Delhi

Image
I recently flew Air India Business class from Vancouver to Delhi. In this post I review how I booked it and the details of the flight. Booking As described in my earlier post about Delta's IT fiasco, I had to book a Seattle to Delhi flight on short notice after Delta denied me boarding on a 7-month-old ticket. The options that Delta representatives offered me were poor in both terms of value and comfort - routing through Denver and London for instance and costing more than $2800 round trip for economy. I refused the offers with the best grimace I could offer in that situation. I next tried to find a good cash rate on Google Flights instead but none of the options looked appealing. I consider paying anything more than $800 for one-way in Economy to India and $1400 roundtrip as bad deals unless it's an emergency. What I ended up doing is booking via Aeroplan and that too in Business class.  I paid a total 85000 Aeroplan points + 46.20 Canadian Dollars (~$36) for the one-way ticke...
Read more

Bilt transfer bonus to Alaska for July Rent Day

Image
Along with an exciting opportunity to earn Alaska MVP status , Bilt is also running a transfer bonus to Alaska Airlines this rent day on July 1. You can earn up to 100% transfer bonus on up to 50,000 Bilt points, based on your Bilt Status as below: Bilt Platinum members will earn 100% bonus Bilt Gold members will earn 75% bonus Bilt Silver members will earn 50% bonus Bilt Blue members will earn 25% bonus Do note the limit on the bonus this time around. The transfer is only good for up to 50,000 points transferred. Any transfers beyond that amount will not earn the bonus. This is the first time I have seen a limit on the transfer bonus. Bilt to Alaska Air Transfer Bonus. Image courtesy of Bilt. This is the first transfer bonus since Bilt's March Rent day transfer bonus to Air Canada Aeroplan and first such transfer to a US domestic airline. There are many great uses of Alaska points. Alaska runs regular promotions for one way award cost of 4,500 miles on many short routes. Seattle t...
Read more