We are flying out next week with AF (business class). My understating is that all lounges are closed except SAS and BA. Will i get access to any of them? I would assume they would have to grant access to business class passengers when no other lounge is available?

We flew Air France out of Newark a month ago. We left from Terminal B, gate B55. We received $35 in vouchers ($20 voucher and a $15 voucher) because there is no lounge. We ended up eating in the food court at Panda Express before security and then we used the remainder of our vouchers near the gate at the NewsStand Convenience store. Because security is at each of the 3 sections in Terminal B, you aren't even able to walk between all the gates, you are stuck in your little "pod" of gates. There was no lounge in the section we departed from.

BTW - They won't give change for the vouchers, so try to get to the full amount or a little over.

Even with Business class? I thought BA and SAS lounges are open?

But why would they accommodate AF pax ?

I avoid AF63 now.

The route is the most susceptible to AC change on the entire network. From anything they possible find on that day : B77W (any variant), 787, A350. They would probably revive an Air Inter A300 and put it on AF62 if they could.

EWR Terminal B really fits the interjection ew! and the B truly stands for bad.

The vouchers only give you the possibility to eat at terrible fast food unknown chains before security. After security, you�re stuck in the most ridiculous little 5 gates pod with having the luxurious choice between cheap cookies from the News Stand or food from the Belgian Beer Cafe who�s owner should really be offered a trip to Belgium to understand that there is nothing Belgian about chicken wings and cheeseburgers.

I use to criticise JFK terminal 1. But then I went to EWR terminal B�

Now you don�t hear me talking about terminal 1 at all.

lol i hear you. But I got an insane deal on the EWR - CDG business class ticket for 35k points. Plus they are now flying their new A350 updated cabin. I guess ill just buy some wine and wait at the gate.

Just get to EWR as late as you possibly can. Terminal B is just horrible.

Why would they? They would have to pay a high user fee assuming they negotiated access and with lounges bursting at the seams everywhere, they would likely have little/no interest in a non-alliance partner at the present time to add to the overcrowding.

I agree. EWR is an horrible airport. When DL was flying the route, they had a small and very dated SkyClub. I hated it. I was happy when AF announced they were resuming the route because it’s more convenient for me business-wise, but I go to JFK at the moment because of the lounge situation.

Any update on this? I'm flying AF63 in about a month and was hoping maybe a lounge would be open by then.

I will let you know. I am flying out on Jan. 30 again on AF63.

Last time was AF63 in Dec. 09, and although the A350 with the new J cabin is awesome (both on the outbound and return flights), the departure experience in Terminal B is terrible.

I don't know why they would not move, like Delta did, to the brand new Terminal A that is AMAZING (the Delta SkyClub in Terminal A is great too)!!!

We also flew out of EWR some 10 days ago. Great A350 in the new J cabin, excellent service.
No lounge and the B terminal is awful: small satellite terminal with a few gates, barely any space. Ended up in the Belgian cafe (can’t use the vouchers for the tips, just for one to know)

Still no change at EWR for the lounge? I'm debating between EWR and JFK for a flight mid-April but am leaning towards JFK due to the recent comments and experiences here...

I fly the CDG-EWR route often -- last time two weeks ago gncohen , and no lounge -- and I favor it just because flying out of terminal 1 at JFK is such a poor experience at the moment, with all the construction work (and the loss of direct air train from JFK)

Clearly the voucher situation in lieu of lounge is suboptimal, but as a mitigating factor:
- security is super fast into the gates in the afternoon when AF063 leaves. way, way better than what is going on at T1 at JFK at that same hour
- Because AF gives you the 35 voucher in two separate paper stubs, what I do is buying a burger/sandwich pre-security and buy a glass of wine on the other side of security. I mean, don't get me wrong, i'm not trying to sell you on that experience. But the two establishments post security are only serviceable for a drink, not for food. Also, i've given some of my vouchers to traveling families (i believe the restaurants are supposed to check whether the person spending the voucher is the actual named traveler, but they don't actually do this. So, you may as well make someone's day)

i guess what i m saying is that i care more about overall convenience of access / processing than lounge access and because JFK T1 is in such shambles at the moment, I accept my fate when it comes to the lack of lounge at EWR

(I used that Virgin lounge operated by Plaza Premium a few months ago and it was beyond bad. Two fire alarms, smelled like grease throughout the lounge the entire time I was there, despondent staff and, dirty/chipped furniture and carpet throughout. It absolutely needed to be refurbed. In this respect, vouchers are fine versus that terrible lounge)

I was through JFK T1 a month ago, and the Air train was back to running both ways. They still had signs about the transfer and buses, but it worked well enough to take the LIRR in, AirTrain from Jamaica to T1, go to the AF desk, take the train to T5 to see the influencers playing dress-up in the lobby of the TWA hotel, and take the train back the other way.
Of course, JFK is always a pain to get to. The buses made things worse.

Flying AF63 in July. Just booked and nabbed 1D on the new A350, hopefully it sticks that way. It seems the consensus is don't get to EWR early? I am coming up from philly so unfortunately I think I have to get there 3 hours early. Are there any PP lounges in terminal B that can be used?