MNL lounges
 

flying to MNL on QF J. Are the lounge options in MNL all pretty much dire - is the QF lounge (i believe it is run by a third party?) as good as it gets or is it worth visting a CX/JL/MH lounge?

MNL lounges
 

They all are 👎👎👎👎😱😱😱

There are no really good lounges in NAIA Terminal 1. The crap terminal building doesn't really allow it.

Last month I tried to use the JL lounge (AA OW Emerald traveling in CX J class). But they wouldn't let me in, saying that they're a 3rd party operator. I saw that there's an MH lounge in the same area but I think it's also 3rd party.

QF is next to the CX lounge. It looks pretty much the same so I never bothered to check it out. I hear that it has its own bathroom. CX's lounge doesn't.

As for CX, it's divided into 1st and Business class sections. They don't police who goes into the 1st class area much. Back when I was just OW Sapphire I was even invited to go in there when the Business area was crowded.

The furniture is a bit old and tired and jammed too close together. But it's semi-comfortable. The wifi has always been working and fast enough for me.

The main difference between the 1st and Business sections is the business area is smaller and gets crowded faster. The 1st class area is farther from the entrance. It's somewhat larger and stays quiet and uncrowded until near departure time.

The food and drink options are limited. 1st and Business usually have about the same offerings. I usually just nibble on some nuts or chips or veggies with dip. There's usually sandwiches and some kind of soupy noodle option. I usually just write off the eating and drinking here and look forward to what's on the flight or at the HK lounges later.

MNL lounges
 

I agree. There are really no good lounges is mnl. The best thing you'll get is a chair/couch and a table, then some below ave food and drinks...