Step 11: Time for the lounge at Valletta. No. Denied. There is an electronic entry system to get airside and my boarding pass is too early! Asked the local gaurdian and he said 3 hours before. I chanced my arm a bit later at 3.5 hrs and got a nice friendly beep and a green light instead of the red light and frowny noise I got an hour before. I did get a chance to go to the landside observation platform which was worth a visit. Nice infographics along the way and a view over the runway. But you need to go past floor 2 where people actually work, so it does feel a little weird as the elevator is mostly used by real people not tourists. Eventually in the lounge. It's very nice for a 3rd party lounge. The outside bit is designed for smokers but probably better than the inside now the sun has gone down and a few whiffs of smoke isn't going to bother me as I smoked for over 25 years.