FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - IST lounge during long layover (M&S Elite, Eco)
Old Oct 3, 2024 | 7:21 am
  #14  
Stewie Mac
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Originally Posted by ebhc94
I will have a long layover of 21h in between two international Economy TK flights (in one regular booking). I have Miles&Smiles Elite. That gives me lounge access and I wonder:
  1. Can I already visit the lounge after landing to take a shower - either with my arriving ticket or my 21h later departing ticket?
  2. Are towels provided in the shower? (I heard some lounges charge ridiculous amounts)
  3. As far as I understand, there are lockers in the lounge. Is there a maximum usage time, or can I lock my cabin suitcase for ~19h?
  4. Can I re-enter the lounge? (so I can go to the city after showering and locking my bag and then come back)

Thanks
1. Yes
2. Yes
3. No maximum. Longest I have left a bag there is around 13 hours.
4. Yes

I have done this multiple times with connections of 14-21 hours (normally arriving 04h-05h from LHR, then connecting on late that evening/early next morning).

Things to bear in mind:
- you need your departing ticket both to get into departures and into the lounge.
- if you're arriving 'clean' (ie from Schengen, US, UK, some others) then at the arriving jetway there should be a TK agent saying 'connections', show him your onward BP and you can miss security and go straight into departures.
- I have waited more than two hours for a shower in the morning rush (7am)
- the instructions on the lockers aren't correct; there's a final hash or something required.
- your onward BP almost certainly won't work at the automatic gates when you return to the lounge. The attendant will sort it out in 10 seconds.
- you might get a strange look if you ask for another shower when you get back to the lounge. No problem, but I think the system must flag that you've already had one.
- there are instructions for how to exit from airside in the connections master thread.
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