Best/worst OW lounges
 

Based on my experiences;

The best:-

BA, Galleries, LHR, T5
CX, The Wing and the Cabin, HKG (prefer both to the Pier).
IB, Velazquez Lounge, MAD, T4
IB, The Dali Lounge, MAD, T4S
JL, The Sakura Lounge, NRT, T2
QF, The Qantas Club, MEL

Not as good as the lounges above, but worth a mention:-

RJ, the Crowne Club, AMM - was pleasantly surprised with this lounge.

The worst:-

MA, The Sky Club, BUD both T2A and T2B locations.

Not surprisingly, most of the best lounges I've visited are at the airline's main hub.

FTers, what are the best/worst OW lounges you've been to? Please do not include third party lounges, only lounges operated by OW airlines.

I think the Sydney QF 1st class lounge belongs on the list of best lounges.

Agree completly. The SYD F lounge is the best lounge within the OW system full stop.

The BA lounges at T5 are fine but the BA staff that work there cause me to put them at the bottom. Words like uniformed, unhelpful, arrogant, even nasty come to mind. My sample size is high.

Think you need to differentiate between F/Emerald lounges and J/Sapphire
eg. With QF at SYD and MEL the F lounges are exceptional, the J lounges pretty good
QF/BA at SIN I would rate the J lounge above the F lounge.

The BA "SLOW Lounge" at JNB is also a fantastic lounge and probably the best domestic only lounge I have come across

Overall best OW lounge - The Pier at HKG

Best OW service attitude - American Airlines Arrivals Lounge staff at LHR T3

Best OW atmosphere - BA lounge at TXL

Best OW revival experience - Finnair Spa & Saunas at HEL

The best view award is shared between the WING (HKG) and SYD F lounge. However, the NZ SYD lounge & view is right up there with the best.

The worst view awards are shared between the AKL QF (international) lounge and SIN F QF/BA lounge.

Actually T2A has been closed under the renovation of the entire BUD airport.
The new Malev lounge is now located in the SkyCourt.
See here for more commments:

New malev lounge in Budapest

T2B is instead still working: of course is not one of the best lounges in the world but it is effective for small transfers.
The bad points may be: toilets are outside; 2 PCs available for visitors; very small selection of snacks (while it is better for drinks); short selection of magazines (only WSJ and Economist for English readers).
You have however a good view outside...


Good note: you may now use both lounges when you are flying through BUD as BUS SkyCourt may be entered by all passengers.
I will try to post more pics in the future...

My favorites are:

JL F Lounge NRT
BA F Lounge T5
BA F Lounge T3
AC Lounge AUS (home town props!) :D
CX Wing Lounge (HNK)
IB Lounge T4 MAD

Not quite up to par..

CX Lounge KL (Although very handy before the 10:50 PM red eye to NRT)
AA FL ORD- they could do so much better!!

Of the First Class lounges I have experienced in recent times:

Better (always look forward to visiting them):

1. QF MEL T2 First Class Lounge (more Intimate than SYD)
2. QF SYD T1 First Class Lounge
3. CX HKG Wing First Class (better view than Pier)
4. CX HKG Pier First Class
5. BA LHR T5 Galleries First
6. JL NRT First Class lounge Satellite (when open)
7. JL NRT First Class lounge (when open)
8. ...

Worse (Better than the gate lounge):

Agree with many of the best lounges.

As for worst, at least for major international gateways, I'd nominate the SFO BA lounge, which CX shares. Nice staff, but the J lounge is on the cramped side for the traffic it generates when in use. And the F lounge falls even further below F standards, constituting just a modest-sized room. Neither has much in terms of food offerings.

Having said that, it's somewhat understandable that it's no great shakes, given both airlines' limited use of it for a total of only a few (four?) flights per day. And the one upside is that sometimes you can board directly from the lounge.

But then the Great USP for this Lounge is the Direct Access to Aircraft Jetway, Beats T5-CCR through The Hoards and Gate A10 Buses at LHR and even to a lesser extent the Journey from QF-SYD First via Additional Security to the Aircraft. But then I dont rate HKG-The Pier First other than The Cabanas, The food Self Service is very average IMHO.

I nominate any of the so-called AAdmirals lounges within the USA as one of the worst anywhere.

Wait till MH joins OW, then their KUL lounge will rival CX's in HKG ! :p

That will be nice, given the quality of the CX lounge in KUL!

Worst Lounge
 

Agree with above. The WORST is the BA lounge in CAI.