Iberia Lounge
Mexico Benito Juarez Terminal 1
Mexico City

The old Mexico City Airport Terminal One is a bit of a dump. It has a lack of natual light and had a very institutional feel to it. Despite this, it was much cleaner and in a better state of repair than some areas of SEA-TAC in Seattle, USA.

We checked in at the LATAM desks at T-160. For some reason, the desks were totally deserted and we were helped at the Preferente line right away. There were no questions or raised eyebrows at our deeply discounted tickets (only $1,110 USD round trip!) and our check in was processed prompty. I had checked in online earlier without any issues; hoping to stave off any last minute questions or awkward “denied boarding” conversations (ie: a mistake fare). We were given instructions to collect our bags in Santiago, despite the bags being tagged through to Easter Island.





There didn’t seem to be many interesting things on the public side, so we immediately went through to the secure side. There was no exit stamp for Mexico and we were through security really quickly. We located the elevator to the lounges. We were given instructions at check in to go to the Iberia Lounge. There was an AAdmirals Club available as well, along with a United Club on the second floor. I think the Admirals Club probably had half the space that we had downstairs in the Iberia Lounge.





After getting off the elevator, we were given access and wifi codes on the way in. The initial impresions were quite favorable. It appeared that the lounge had been recently refurbished as everything looked fresh and new. Today's soothing colours were light wood hues.







There was a medium sized seating area, although there weren’t too many loungers.









There were some tables throughout the back of the lounge. The bar was a fully manned bar with drinks on request.









The lounge, along with the theme of the airport, didn’t have much natural light. There were some windows that overlooked a glass atrium in towards the airport but it didn’t look all too inviting to sit here.



We went to find a place to sit. There were a few loungers but most of them were taken. We ended up in the back corner against the wall with some nearby power outlets.

There was some basic food offerings. These included pannini’s, soup, pasta and some other unidentifiable hot item.







The bar was the most impressive part of the lounge. Shortly after I took a photo of it, I was approached by the manager and the interrogation started. Were these pictures for personal use? Was I a representative from another airline? "Because you know, these people come in here. . ." After the shame test, she left but wasn’t at all apologetic. I didn’t want to spell out that there were probably dozens of travel bloggers coming through thanks to the deeply discounted LATAM fare. In order to deal with this stress, I had some snacks here along with 3 gin and tonics.