Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - Which lounge at NRT?

Seen a few posts about some spartan lounge offers from OW airlines at NRT; namely that there's no F section in any of them.

So of the available choices - CX, BA, AA [I believe QF's is shared with JL and only available to those travelling on a QF flight #]- which would you choose? [I'm travelling with CX to HKG].

Come on CX'ers, surely someone has something to add?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by virtualtroy:

So of the available choices - CX, BA, AA [I believe QF's is shared with JL and only available to those travelling on a QF flight #]- which would you choose? [I'm travelling with CX to HKG]. </font>

I usually choose the BA lounge when travelling on BA, and the CX lounge when travelling on CX. I tend to fly to HKG on the last flight of the day, and I don't recall the BA lounge being open in the evenings. I don't find that either of them stands out particularly, but I have often found the noise levels in the BA lounge to be very high. This has not happened in the CX lounge.

I have not seen the AA lounge.

Well, your choice is AA or CX lounge... I think the AA lounge may be more spacious but there are quite a number of flights departing back to the US in the evening. Not much snacks to talk about to... I think the CX lounge is not that special either, but a bit better than AA. You get a full bar and some snacks (basic, but better than AA) to munch on.

Those Narita lounges are pretty outdated, but I don't think CX or AA will have new lounges anytime soon, since that particular wing has just been rennovated...

Carfield

If you do not carry a laptop and need a computer then the CX lounge has four (4) computer terminals (2 PCs, 2 laptops) hooked up. WIFI exists for those who do carry a laptop. Much quieter in the CX lounge than AA and better reading materials. Not much on snacks and food, however I have found that I don't spend much time in the CX lounge when catching a CX flight. Usually an hour max.

AA's lounge, bigger with a bathroom and shower. Noisy, yes. No PCs or laptops, one must bring their own and hook-up, or steal the signal from the CX lounge. Most AA flights are later in the day and are long-hauls, opposed to CX to HKG or TPE. I assume via probability that most flyers hotel check-out time is 12pm and end up spending hours in the AA lounge for 3 - 4 flights that leave at 6pm - 7pm on AA metal. A guess, but I guess I'm right.

I much prefer the CX lounge over AA. Even when I am on an AA flight, I will use the CX lounge over AA. It's quieter, better reading material, and wi-fi. I only use the AA lounge if I have to take a shower. Other than that, it's CX. I wish I could check out BA lounge, but it is usually closed.

Just came through NRT yesterday coming off CX540 and onto AA154.

Last Saturday on the way to HKG, the AA club was packed and they were sending people into the BA lounge. The AA smoking lounge was standing room only and I did manage to find a kiosk to check e-mail on the wireless system (1000 yen...how much will that be?)

This time, I made use of the much quieter CX lounge with free internet access on their laptops. I was going to check out the BA lounge but it seemed closed. Did swing through the AA club and it was much less crowded.

The food selections in both clubs I visited was spartan at best but that is one cool beer machine in the AA club.

1000 yen = ~8 USD

They have a beer machine in the CX lounge as well.

When I was last there you could also hook your own laptop onto one of the routers in the CX lounge for free (but, bizarrely, the other router would only connect you to a pay-to-use service).