MarioRossi

I would be very surprised if they didn't go for a oneworld lounge at the new T3 @ FRA. Not sure if QR is gonna move from T1 but even without them it's AA 3x daily, BA 5x, IB 4x, CX, AT, RJ and JL 1x and AY 4x.

Carolina2Cali

Wow, congrats. The "lounge" I had in November was basically a restaurant near the terminals with no walls, awful! Lol

hmv

Maybe Rome and Istanbul as next options?

rockflyertalk

As much as this is a nice improvement to have any new lounge, I can’t help but think of this seeing these photos!

I do feel this decor could age quite quickly, I’m surprised they didn’t go for nylon shag piles!

HadesNL

Instead of tantalizing myself with Eurostar 2024 drama
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/27/w...am-london.html
I'm inclined to book AMS-LCY vv and to try out the showers at the new 1W lounge

layz

I quite like the BA lounge in FCO

bafan

I think I read somewhere there’s seating for 118. Is this going to be enough ? A full BA CE cabin alone will take over a third of that.

And, the design looks great, but there seem to be lots of single seats, and not too many for couples…

etiene

Don't know what the design is, but as with Schiphol IB and AY probably wouldn't count in the business case since they'd presumably be in a Schengen departures area. That or having the lounge before border control, which is never a great solution IMO.

Phlyer2

It's an improvement on what was there before, but some of the seating seems a bit odd with no tables etc. to put drinks on whilst you balance a laptop / tablet on your knees. Some of the sofas have armrests which are quite hard but not solid, and I'm sure these will be used for plates of food / drinks with them spilling everywhere.

Food was OK, it's hard to excel at (or destroy) a bowl of pasta and two sauces though. I thought it strange to have a cereal selection in the evening - no harm done but some more dessert options beyond fruit and brownies would be, I suspect, more popular. Personally, I'm not bothered queueing for a barman to make me a G&T - I'm capable of that myself and happy with DIY.

There was plenty of room yesterday.

BA or bust

My problem with self-serve is that is my personal portion control is ‘somewhat too generous’ when it comes to G&T’s.

Calchas

Bah, I was at AMS on Monday afternoon, before this had opened. No wonder the café lounge people seemed extra grumpy.

MAM88

Schiphol is my home airport and I've been flying mostly with BA from there since 2010. I'm elated to see that this lounge is open again. My last Schiphol "lounge" experience was flying on Qatar in January. The café they were using was small, dirty and overcrowded. I actually left and went to the new champagne bar that opened recently.

Experience has taught me to arrive early at Schiphol in case there is a backup at security, so I like to spend any extra time in the lounge. Will be checking this out in mid-March.

Thanks very much to SleepySynapse for the great preview.

Ldnn1

I had a nice few hours at the new lounge this afternoon. My observations, further to the excellent reviews upthread:

Positives:
- great design
- great views
- great daylight
- some great working spaces

Not so positives:
- mediocre food
- mediocre drinks
- slightly chaotic front desk

Overall I do like the design a lot. There are some good table spaces. The two private pods are ideal if you need to make private calls - I only wish there were a couple more (and that more lounges had these!). Of course the fact that these were available didn't stop some annoying bloke having a 20-min loud open phone call droning on about the edibles he'd had over the weekend.

The bar tenders were all very friendly, but I do wish that spirits were self-pour. It's just much quicker and easier. Champagne was available today, same as in #SleepySynpase's post, but the barman said this was only from the launch batch and there wouldn't be any bubbles (of any sort) offered after that has gone. Let's see. It would be a shame if not even any cava/prosecco was offered. White and red wines were freely available and the glassware is very nice. The barista-made espresso was definitely good and I like that you have that option as well as the usual machines.

The food was quite poor in my view. Some 'ok' middle-eastern dips at lunch, and decent bread, but nothing by way of substantial meal. Late afternoon they brought out the pasta as shown above. This was rather basic. Dessert-wise, some pasteis de nata and choc/vanilla pots also appeared, which could be garnished with typical Dutch sprinkles. It all did a job but they could do with something more inspiring to match the design.

I also think they have made an error with the placement of the check-in desks, which serve both Aspire and the OW lounge. This creates a queue and confusion. It would be better to have a separate desk on the OW side. Also it was disappointing that the desk agents had no ability to do seat changes for my BA flight. I'm guessing this means they also can't help manage IROPS etc, which would be a massive shame, as this is where a 'home' lounge can really help.

The space was very quiet all afternoon on Saturday. We'll have to see how it flows in busy periods. Finally, the walk to gate D22 took longer than I expected and I had to put a little jog on - don't underestimate the distances!

corporate-wage-slave

Great review - thanks for that. The food in AMS has never been good, the photos suggest it's a lot better than the previous arrangements, starting from a low base. But you highlight something that I expected but will look very odd. Despite the oneworld branding and the concept that this alliance will make travel easier, seamless even, it's actually seems less. Ultimately it's Aspire operated and so the best they can do with irrops - a fact of life at AMS - is give you a telephone number.

Ldnn1

Yes, it's very much a joint operation. I also checked out the Aspire (coming from the OW lounge, the agent just said go in rather than bother scanning me in with PP). Some food was the same but not all. Aspire had some decent Russian and potato salads that OW didn't. The wines differed - Aspire had been on a shopping spree in the vineyards of Moldova. Spirits were similar but self-pour and included a bottle of port.

Also of note - the Aspire lounge was absolutely freezing today. OW temperature was fine. Not sure if there was a problem with the a/c or something deliberate. I kept my coat on in there as did many others. Some Aspire pics below for comparison.