On both of my recent family trips to Europe, I had a chance to spend some time in the Plaza Premium Lounge in Budapest Airport’s non-Schengen departures area.
Continue reading to see what the lounge was like.
Location & Opening Hours
Plaza Premium operates two lounges at Budapest Airport – one in the Schengen departures area and the other one in the non-Schengen departures area. We visited the latter before our LOT 787-9 flight to Seoul.
While both of the lounges are past security check, the non-Schengen lounge is also past immigration. Specifically, it can be found one floor above the main departures level, right next to Celebi’s Platinum Lounge – Budapest Airport’s other non-Schengen area lounge
To access the lounge, you need to either walk up a set of stairs or take an elevator located near gate B9.
The Plaza Premium Lounge in Budapest Airport’s non-Schengen area is open every day from 6:30AM until 10PM.
Entry Requirements
With there being no airline lounge in Budapest, selected airlines serving the airport invite their eligible passengers into the Plaza Premium Lounge (while others offer access to the Platinum Lounge).
In our case, we were able to enter the lounge as Star Alliance Gold members traveling on LOT.
Additionally, both the Schengen and non-Schengen Plaza Premium Lounges at Budapest Airport participate in Priority Pass and some other membership programs.
Lastly, those otherwise ineligible can pay for entry into the lounge at the reception (or prebook access online). At the time of my visit, the walk-in entry prices were as follows:
- 1 hour: 26 EUR (18.2 EUR for children between 2 and 11 years old)
- 2 hours: 35 EUR (24.5 EUR)
- 3 hours: 42 EUR (29.4 EUR)
Children under the age of 2 can enter free of charge.
Lounge Tour
The lounge felt quite cramped both due to its relatively small footprint, as well as because it was relatively busy (although not completely packed) during both of my visits.
About half of the lounge was what could be considered a dining area and about half was more of a lounging area.
Additionally, next to the reception desk, there was some space (and hangers) to store coats and baggage. Behind the dining area, there were the lounge’s restrooms and showers. I didn’t use the latter so I am not sure what the shower rooms were like. That said, it’s worth noting that using them wasn’t free (the pricing was 7.5 EUR for lounge guests and 15 EUR for non-guests).
Starting with the dining area, which was just past the reception, there was the buffet (more about its content later on) on the left when looking toward the windows) and some seating on the right.
The seating in this area mostly consisted of dining tables each with two or three chairs. There were also a couple of counters.
While each of the spots at the counters was equipped with power outlets, the dining tables lacked easy access to power. That said, there was a counter along the lounge’s wall in this area that was lined with more than a dozen power outlets and USB ports for those who needed to get their devices charged.
Seating in the lounging part of the Plaza Premium Lounge consisted mostly of sofa chairs – some placed in groups around coffee tables, others placed standalone in a row.
At the very back of the lounge there were also a small counter and four alcoves, each with a table and benches.
The alcoves were equipped with charging options while the sofa chairs lacked them.
The last thing worth noting here is that along the entire length of the lounge were windows offering great views of aircraft.
Food and Drinks
Starting with drinks, there was a counter with an espresso machine and a selection of nine different Julius-Meinl tea bags ranging from Earl Grey and green all the way to mint and fruit options.
Then there were canned sodas including Coke, Coke Zero, tonic, ginger ale, and Fanta. Apple, citrus, and orange juices, still and sparkling water, and milk (both regular and almond) were available too.
Lastly, the Plaza Premium Lounge (Non-Schengen) at Budapest Airport also offered a selection of alcoholic drinks. That included wine, canned beer, and some liquor including gin and vodka.
As for food, there was a counter with lighter items including:
- A selection of pickles and vegetables
- Cut fruits
- Sandwiches and wraps
- Yogurts, cherry chia puddings, and cakes
Then, there was a counter along the window where a (fairly limited) selection of bread and cereals could be found.
There were butter and two types of jams too.
Lastly, there was a counter with a small selection of warm dishes including butter chicken curry, creamy tomato and basil soup, beef goulash, stir-fried vegetables, and pizza.
On my last visit, I only had some fruits. On my previous visit, I tried the butter chicken curry (the selection of food was roughly the same on both of my visits). While it tasted good, both the curry and the rice were quite cold.
Plaza Premium Lounge (Non-Schengen) Budapest Summary
Being quite small and (at least during my visits) relatively crowded, the Plaza Premium Lounge in Budapest Airport’s non-Schengen departures area is not a lounge that you want to stay longer in than necessary.
That said, if you have some time to spend before your flight’s departure and have access to the lounge, then it’s by all means worth a quick visit to have something to drink or a bite to eat. Even in that case, though, if you are using Priority Pass, I would probably visit the Platinum Lounge instead.
