Before taking a flight to Seoul on a recent trip to Europe, I paid a brief visit to the Platinum Lounge in Budapest Airport’s non-Schengen departures area. In the past, I wrote about the lounge’s Schengen counterpart.
Continue reading this review to see what the Platinum Lounge Non-Schengen, which is operated by Turkey’s Celebi, was like.
Location & Opening Hours
As indicated in the introduction, there are two Platinum Lounges at Budapest Airport. While one serves flights within the Schengen Area, the other serves flights departing to countries outside the Schengen Area.
To get to the non-Schengen Platinum Lounge, you first have to clear security and immigration and then head toward gate B9. The lounge a floor above the main departures level and can be accessed either by stairs or an elevator. It’s located right next to the non-Schengen Plaza Premium Lounge.
The Platinum Lounge in Budapest Airport’s non-Schengen departures area is open every day from 5AM until 10PM.
Entry Requirements
Being one of the two contract lounges available in the non-Schengen departures area of Budapest Airport, some airlines invite their business and first class passengers, as well as frequent flyer status holders to use the lounge.
Other than that, the lounge can also be accessed using Priority Pass, which is how I got in. DragonPass (and potentially other similar programs) provides access to the lounge as well.
Lastly, those otherwise ineligible can pay 34 EUR plus tax at the reception for two-hour access to the lounge.
Lounge Tour
While the lounge was relatively small, unlike the Plaza Premium Lounge, the Platinum Lounge was fairly empty during both of my late afternoon/evening visits.
Behind the reception desk was an area with both sofa chairs and larger sofas arranged in a variety of configurations. The fact that the sofas came in several different colors made the area look more vibrant than it would have been if all the sofas were the same color.
Other than seating, this area was also equipped with flight information display screens and a counter with some reading materials. At the time of my second visit, there was also a Christmas tree.
Also, even though there were windows along the entire length of the lounge, this area offered the best (albeit still quite limited) views of aircraft. The windows further down in the lounge were above a building and so offered minimal views.
There were a couple more groups of sofa chairs and coffee tables, each seating four people, further into the lounge.
The rest of the seating in the lounge consisted of dining tables for two and four.
At the very back of the seating area was the lounge’s buffet consisting of a couple of counters along the walls and an island counter. More about the food and drinks in the Platinum Lounge in the next section of this review, though.
Along the inner wall of the lounge was a cloak with hangers for coats and space for baggage, a rack with some more reading materials, and a business center with a pair of PCs and printers/copiers.
The lounge didn’t offer showers.
Food and Drinks
A good selection of soft drinks was offered in Budapest Airport’s non-Schengen Platinum Lounge.
There was bottled soda (Coke and Coke Zero). There was also a dispenser with still and sparkling water, a variety of juices (apple, orange, pineapple, and grapefruit), and ice tea. While I forgot to press the “next page” button, presumably the juices could also be had sparkling.
Hot drinks included a selection of coffee drinks from an espresso machine and a selection of over half a dozen different tea bags.
Lastly, alcoholic drinks included a selection of just over half a dozen different kinds of liquor, red, white, and sparkling wine, and a selection of bottled Dreher beer.
The selection of food was not overly exciting but it was still decent.
There were pastries (chocolate and ham), bread rolls, and toast. There were also four different kinds of cereals and dried apricots and prunes. There was even an automatic pancake maker – albeit that was only available for use during breakfast time (until 11AM).
Separately, there was a standalone counter with cold cuts (a variety of ham, salami, and cheese) and a fairly extensive salad bar.
As for warm dishes, there were:
- Beef goulash soup
- Pasta with mushroom and Bolognese sauces
- Rice with fried cheese balls, fried cauliflower, and grilled chicken
Lastly, there were some desserts, yogurts, cupcakes, whole fruits, nuts, pretzels, and donuts.
Platinum Lounge (Non-Schengen) Budapest Summary
Unfortunately, the views out of the Platinum Lounge in Budapest Airport’s non-Schengen departures area were limited. Other than that, the Platinum Lounge was a perfectly fine contract/Priority Pass lounge.
The food and drink selection was decent and there were plenty of empty seats during both of my visits (though that might differ during busier times).
That said, it definitely wasn’t a lounge that you should proactively make extra time to visit. Instead, it was a nice place to grab a bite to eat or a drink if you find yourself with some time to spare at Budapest Airport.
