At the end of a recent family trip to Europe, we flew from Vienna back to Tokyo on EVA Air. Prior to taking our flight to Taipei, we briefly stopped by the Austrian Senator Lounge in Vienna Airport Terminal 3’s non-Schengen part.
Continue reading to see what the lounge was like and whether it is worth a visit.
Location & Opening Hours
Austrian operates a number of lounges at Vienna Airport, all of them located airside – i.e. after security and, in the case of non-Schengen lounges, after immigration. The non-Schengen Austrian Senator Lounge is located in the central part of Terminal 3, one floor below the main departures level. It shares reception with one of the Austrian Business Lounges.
If your flight is departing from Terminal 1 like ours was, you will need to follow signs toward “Gates G” and then toward “Lounges G-Gates.” That said, instead of doing so, if you have access, you should visit the Vienna Lounge instead which is not only better in my opinion but also closer.
The Austrian Senator Lounge in Vienna Airport’s non-Schengen area is open every day from 5:30AM until 11PM.
Entry Requirements
Austrian, like Lufthansa and Swiss, operates three different types of lounges – HON Circle Lounges, Senator Lounges, and Business Lounges. The latter two are very similar in terms of their content.
Senator Lounges – including the Austrian Senator Lounge in Vienna Airport’s non-Schengen area – are for frequent flyer status holders. In line with Star Alliance’s lounge access policy, they can be accessed by Star Alliance Gold members departing on one of the alliance members’ flight on the same day or by 5AM the next morning at the latest.
Each Star Alliance Gold member can also bring one guest with them. The guest needs to be traveling on the same flight as the status holder, though. Austrian is generous when it comes to underage guests as it does not count those under 18 in the guest allowance.
Non-status holders traveling in business class cannot access this lounge. Instead, they can use the Austrian Business Lounge next door.
Lounge Tour
Getting into the lounge took a while as there was a group in front of us that could not be admitted for some reason. Even after it was our turn, it took some time as for the first time in a while, we actually had to show our physical frequent flyer cards.
The staff was friendly and doing their best to get the job done as quickly as possible, though.
As mentioned earlier, the non-Schengen Austrian Senator Lounge shared a reception with its Business Lounge counterpart. Entrance into the Business Lounge was on the reception desk’s left side while the Senator Lounge was on its right side.
In addition to the reception desk, the reception area was also home to toilets and showers, a copier, and a meeting room shared by the two lounges.
The non-Schengen Austrian Senator Lounge itself was very small and essentially consisted of one main seating area with a couple of other, smaller areas extending out of that.
For the most part, the seating in the main area consisted of triangular tables, each with two to four red chairs. In the far left corner of the room, the chairs were green instead and some were facing the apron rather than each other.
Next to the area with the green chairs was a lightly partitioned-off area with similar chairs but this time grey in color. Each of the chairs also came with an ottoman and a coffee table.
The chairs were facing a TV showing CNN news.
Walled and curtained off from the rest of the lounge was a sleeping room. It was next to the area with the TV and was equipped with four daybeds curtained off from one another. Next to each daybed was a small table.
The room looked like a decent place to try to catch some sleep during a long layover.
Lastly, going back toward the lounge’s entrance, there was a small dining area extending out of the main room.
In addition to a couple of counters along the walls and an island counter which, together, contained most of the lounge’s food and drinks, there were also some bar-height tables with stools.
Those, like some of the other seating in the lounge, offered nice views of the apron and one of the airport’s runways.
One thing that stood out about the lounge was the immense lack of power outlets. I do not remember seeing any other than a couple on the walls.
Food and Drinks
The selection of drinks in the non-Schengen Austrian Senator Lounge was above average.
In addition to Julius Meinl coffee from an espresso machine, there were also more than half a dozen different tea bags by the same company.
Cold soft drinks included apple and orange juices, two types of detox water (pear/lemon/balm and orange/rosemary), milk, and small bottles of water (still and sparkling), ice tea (lemon and peach), Coca-Cola, etc.
I especially appreciated the availability of Almdudler, an Austrian herbal soda.
Alcoholic beverages included red, white, and sparkling wine; a couple of different kinds of bottled beer; and a dozen or so different types of liquor.
As for things to eat, separating the TV area from the rest of the lounge was, among other things, a rack with crates of whole fruits. There were apples, pears, and bananas.
The rest of the food could be found in the buffet area.
There were snacks like pretzel mix, peanuts, and candies.
There were also two types of cakes including strudel.
More substantial options included salads, a good selection of bread, and some cold cuts.
Warm dishes included curry sweet potato soup, roast pork with cabbage and dumplings, and dumplings filled with plum jam. There was staff who served the hot meals (except for the soup which was self-serve).
Austrian Senator Lounge (Non-Schengen) Vienna Summary
The Austrian Senator Lounge in Vienna Airport Terminal 3’s non-Schengen part was nothing to write home about.
There was no variety in the type of seating offered, the lounge was small, there were almost no power outlets to charge one’s devices, and there were very limited hot meal options. That said, the buffet had a decent selection of drinks and cold food, the lounge offered great views of the airport, and there was a sleeping room with daybeds.
All in all, I visited this lounge as I wanted to review it but the next time I wouldn’t go out of my way to visit it. It’s an OK place to spend an hour or two in if you have no other option but it definitely is not a place to arrive earlier than necessary.
