upgrader

My wife will have a long layover in Beijing awaiting a PEK-ORD UA flight and can get access to one of three lounges there using her Priority Pass membership. The three lounges are the Air China Business Class Lounge, The Bgs Premier Lounge and the Business Travelers Lounge, all in Terminal 3E. Anyone know the pros and cons of each?

Also, she has a business class ticket on UA for the PEK-ORD segment but no status on UA so I'm not sure if 1) there is a UA RCC in Beijing or 2) if she could access the RCC if it exists. Anyone know the answers to those last two points and which would be the best choice among the 3-4 lounge possibilities?

anacapamalibu

UA ticket allows access to Air China lounge.
Business and First Class CA lounges are identical, the liquor is decent, not much
in the way of food, a bit of a walk to the gates..unless you want to take a ride
in those golf carts cruising around (20 RMB)
The other lounges I am not familiar with.

This is the lounge access policy: They won't let in a guest on a business class ticket.

International Business Class Customers: Customers have access to any Star Alliance member carriers' owned Business Class lounges.

Customer must present a boarding card for the same day travel in international Business Class on a Star Alliance flight
Customer must be departing from the local airport in International Business Class
Customer is not entitled to any guests

upgrader

Just out of curiosity, are there other *A lounges in PEK and, if so, how do they compare with the Air China lounge?

anacapamalibu

I believe that's the only one.

They have a food buffet at the very back but only at specified hours.

moondog

Every T3 airline that I can think of uses that same lounge... can get quite crowded. Too bad Kenny Rogers Roasters is landside.

upgrader

Thanks very much for all the very good feedback. Anyone know anything about the Bgs or Business Travelers lounges vis a vis the Air China lounge? Unless I find some reason to say otherwise I will recommend that Ms. upgrader use the Air China lounge and save the couple of Priority Pass free stays she gets for elsewhere.

doesun

I've tried the other business lounge twice; I think I was flying SQ, so I could have used the CA business lounge, but somehow the check-in agent gave me a pass to use another lounge. It's nothing to write home about though.
The lounge is a short (< 1min) walk from the CA business lounge in the direction of the gates at the other wing.
There are first and business class sections, but I believe they share the same washroom facilities.
The lounge looked dark/gloomy compared to the CA lounge which had lots of natural light. Maybe it was the colour of the furniture.
Buffet was available with a selection of chinese dishes.
Free wi-fi with login credentials provided by attendant.
The lounge is located in the 'interior' so there's no real good view of the planes at the gates (one side of the CA business lounge has better views of some planes parked at the gate)

I would recommend visiting the CA lounge and save the passes for another time.

I believe there is a third lounge, but can't remember the name.

CX and their one world partners and SkyTeam must have a separate lounge for their passengers as I don't recall that they were able to use the CA lounge - so the lounge I was in could have been available to them as well.

moondog

Sky Team is in T2, so those airlines do use different lounges, and I think CX has it's own lounge in T3, but I believe a number of OW airlines also use the CA lounge. (I know JL does for sure.)

anacapamalibu

Here's a photo of airlines using CA T3 lounge.

http://www.loungeguide.net/wiki2/ima...ounge_Sign.JPG

upgrader

Wow! I've never seen a lounge with anywhere close to that many airlines being served. I imagine it could be very crowded at the most common flight times. Ms. upgrader left this mornning for China and we do appreciate all your help in making sure she knows what is available and ends up in the right place. She'll be in the CA lounge from 10:00AM to 3:30PM so we'll hope for the best in terms of crowds.

anacapamalibu

I have been there during that time frame and it wasn't crowded. The lounges
are very large.

Also could check out Dragonair CX lounge in T3 near gate E-10. Don't know if
they let in one world members if they are booked on a non- one world carrier?

moondog

She should consider leaving the airport; that's a lot of lounge time in advance of a 12 hour flight.

anacapamalibu

Yeah, I have done that before because a UA flight was cancelled. Its a drag,
but did get ecerts for 550USD, on an award ticket, so that was good.

Here's the Dragonair/CX lounge in T-3

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m...3/IMG_2426.jpg
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m...3/IMG_2432.jpg
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m...3/IMG_2433.jpg

Here's the lounge sign in T-3 international terminal.

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m...3/IMG_2410.jpg

moondog

BTW, where is she flying from?

drewguy

Of course, many of those airlines probably have 1 flight/day to/from Beijing to the home country. And given the varying lengths of flights and time changes, they depart at a huge variety of times.

I took a Turkish Air flight that left at midnight, and there were several flights from other flag carriers leaving even later at night. So the flights can be pretty spread out in the international terminal.

FWIW, the AC lounge was pretty serviceable. The food was enough to keep you from starving but nothing wildly special.