CDG 1K

The Air China Lounge is the only game in town and not much at that. They have a weak 1st Class section that is just as bad as the Business class section. I've flown out of Beijing on LH and KA, and each time I was given an invitation at checkin. The lounge does not allow you to bring a guest so ask for 2 invitations at checkin.

moondog

since this is the heart of the issue, allow me to explain how i approach pek.

i generally try to get to the airport 70 minutes before departure.

traffic can be terrible, but the good news is that: 1) the airport road itself is almost always smooth; 2) if you're staying downtown, it's easy to beeline out to the 4th or 5th ring (4 is usually light; 5 is always fast). the only places where cbd and downtown folks can run into trouble are 3rd ring and changan jie (sub in all of its other names at will; changes every few kilometers).

during heavy traffic, i allow 45 minutes from the st. regis, 50 from the GH, 45 from the kerry center, 40 from guomao, and 30 from anything in the northwest corner (hilton, sheraton, kempinski, etc).

sjsharksfan

You meant northeast, right?

moondog

yup; thanks for the correction. sure wouldn't want any shangri-la guests (does anyone still stay there?) to miss their flights on my misinformation.

dcadude

PEK lounge always seems sweltering hot. Some computers with internet links, but it's China so good effing luck getting anything worthwhile.

There is cold Tsingtao in the fridge. And some very interesting processed chicken jerky that looks like a fruit roll-up and tastes like Spam-flavored chewing gum.

Makes the lounge at Sheremetyevo look like the Ritz!

stimpy

The lower level Starbucks is a much nicer place to spend time than the clubs at PEK. And I don't even drink coffee!

oldandslow

Did my first trip to PEK last week, and dropped in on the lounge. It was barely worth stopping - minimal drinks and food, the computer desks have RJ45 connections pulled out of the wall and just lying around (so you have to go rooting around to get a working line), and the aircon was only marginally effective.

Good stuff? Umm, not exactly, but a lot of other flights leave well before UA 888 so the lounge was emptier than I expected for a chunk of time before the flight.

Next time, I'll follow moondog's advice above and arrive late; if I have time I'll stop at Starbucks ...

jpsj

I will be flying out of PEK this week and am wondering about RCC options and Star Alliance club options. Does anyone have any expereince to share? Thanks in advance.

KMHT FF

Either the Air China or BGS lounges are available, no Red Carpet Club per se.

You'll get a invitation chit on check in.

They are not located right next to each other. As you approach the gate area from security you'll come to the Air China lounge first, then a further walk and turn around a corner (past duty free and boutique shops) you'll come to the BGS lounge.

I find the ambience, amenities, and floor plan of the BGS lounge more to my liking.

House

There are only two lounges in the whole airport, as mentioned by the previous poster. Neither is Star Alliance Gold lounge as such, and you will not get into wither without an access voucher from the airline operating your flight. It is therefore vital to make sure you get the voucher from check-in.

CApreppie

A longer discussion on PEK *G lounges last posted to yesterday in this forum: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=439580

Dudster

Actually, this is not true. The two large lounges are BGS (the best, IMO) and Air China (which is actually two lounges -- one for F and one for J). There is also a very small lounge (Air China Phoenix Lounge) which is affiliated with Diners Club and there is a China Mobile lounage (no idea what this is). This is only the international terminal. There may be other lounges in the domestic terminal.

phlwookie

I saw this near the Air China lounge when I passed through PEK yesterday and wondered the same. It simply said "for China Mobile Members", but since everyone with China Mobile cell phones in the terminal wasn't mobbing the place it's clearly for someone else.

Google didn't help, at least in English.

jupitermars

Another very extended thread covering the PEK lounge situation is below. The upshot seems to be that (1) there is no *A lounge but the *A carriers use one of the two contract lounges, and (2) economy class tickets and *A Gold don't seem to entitle you to entrance. I've only used PEK on business class and have always received the lounge access card on check-in and have not had problems. I have found the BGS lounge adequate; it even has a couple of computers with internet access.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=379095

DragonBoy

The China Mobile lounge is for its Platinum and Gold members. (They also have one in the domestic terminal -- that one tends to be more crowded.) You attain status annually based on monthly phone bills (the dollar amount is converted to points according to some formula). Only monthly billed mobile phone accounts are eligible -- not the pre-paid kind. But the company is watering down this privilge by starting to charge its elite members points for using the lounge starting 2006.

In any case, you haven't missed much. The lounge is very small with poor snack and beverage selections. No decent reading materials. Virus-infected computers. Typical Chinese airport lounge, basically.

The country's other mobile phone operator, China Unicom, also has lounges at both domestic and international terminals for its top spenders.