On my way home from a four day spotting trip to Sapporo Chitose, I had quite a few hours to spend in the terminal before catching a 9PM Air Do flight back to Tokyo. As such, among other things, I visited Super Lounge which I am able to access thanks to my Rakuten Premium credit card.
While the lounge is in most cases only accessible to holders of Japanese issued cards, holders of international JCB and Diner’s Club cards get free access as well. It is also accessible to all passengers for a fee of 1,080 yen (about 10USD).
The lounge is open from 7AM until 8:30PM, and it is located before security on the third floor of New Chitose airport’s domestic terminal. The entrance to the lounge can be found next to the food court and small aviation museum.
It is worth noting that the lounge can be accessed both before departure, as well as after arrival.
Lounge Overview
The lounge’s reception area features a small display of food and drinks available for sale, a pair of phone booths, and luggage lockers. Flight information screens can be found there and throughout the rest of the lounge as well.
There is a hallway along the length of the lounge with access to the main seating area and some more lockers on the left side. On the right side, there is a restroom, a smoking room, and a changing room. At the end of it, there is another pair of phone booths.
The main seating area has two sections.
The first one is a seating area along the length of the hallway. This one features sofa chairs in the middle, and regular chairs with a counter along the windows. All the chairs in this area are facing outside and offer great views of the apron, taxiways, and runways.
Along the inner side of the first seating area, there are some cubicles, magazine racks, and two drink stations. There is also a counter with two iPads.
On the reception side of the area, there is a business room with some more cubicles and a pay-to-use copier and printer.
The second seating area is in the back of the lounge and features sofa chairs both facing the windows as well as in four-seat arrangements ideal for groups. In this area, there are also two semi-enclosed rooms with pay-to-use massage chairs.
On a separate note, it is possible to exit and enter the lounge throughout the day. When leaving, tell the reception that you will be returning, and you will get a card that you will have to present upon your return.
Food & Drinks Selection
There are two drink counters in the lounge with selection free of soft drinks including sodas, juices, tea and coffee. No free food is offered.
Besides the free selection, it is also possible to buy bentos (lunch boxes), rice balls, snacks, and alcoholic drinks at the reception. Alternatively, you can bring your own food into the lounge.
Overall Thoughts
Compared to the credit card lounge at Haneda, this one I would consider visiting even if I had to pay the entrance fee.
While the lounge offers no free food, the ability to exit and enter the lounge throughout the day combined with the availability of free lockers might make it valuable for people who have to spend a long time at the airport.
Furthermore, at least during my visit, the lounge was fairly empty, and was certainly a better place to relax than the small departure area of the airport or the fairly busy landside area.
