SAL Lounge
 

Ok, so I think I've established that Avianca/TACA has a (Sala) VIP Lounge at SAL, it wouldn't make any sense not to.

However, nowhere can I seem to find any pics, or confirmation.

Also, on the TACA page, it doesn't really indicate it's for *G customers, the star alliance page didn't help either, it says there is one, but doesn't say who it's for.

Situation, I'm flying on the cheapest fare with Avianca MIA-SAL-MDE and with 2:30 hours I'd like to explore a bit then chill in the lounge. I'm *G through Aeroplan and use it in PTY/IAH etc etc, but I just wanna make sure SAL will offer that as well, I can't see why they wouldn't, but the lack of confirmation has me doubting it.

Don't bother!!!
 

The SAL Lounge exists...barely. It is the most pathetic *A lounge I've ever been to complete with flies and an odd odor.

There is no food to speak of save for a cup of nuts you can get from the "bartender" who only has like four beverages to choose from. No liquor available for some reason.

No showers and bathroom is despicable. It had an awful stench and was poorly maintained.

The WiFi is non-existent - as in no WiFi and there's only one small TV playing some Novelas in the corner above bar.

My recommendation: skip this disaster. Hang out in terminal and head to the bar. It's cleaner and more enjoyable.

I can't wait! I'm 100% gonna at least check it out to see if it's this awful :) if nothing else it'll make for some funny pics. I'm curious as to the last time you went through? AV lounges are usually pretty classy from the ones I've been to in Colombia, once they bought up TACA I figured they'd refurbish the hubs of SJO/LIM/SAL and sort of remodel/rebrand them in their company image.

We were there in October 2013 while transiting to BZE. It was a painful 5hr layover. I have some good photos of that dump myself...

I def wanna see them if you can see if there's been any improvements in the past 7 months or so. I'm actually really excited lol, I'm an airport nerd (as opposed to airplanes) so I like visiting dif airports and every SAL route I ever saw was like a 55 minute connection early in the morning and that wouldn't really let me look around, I've got 2.5 hours this time so I'm looking forward to scoping out the airport and this horror show of a lounge :)

So, what'd you think?

I'll be there between 1830-2100 on Aug 18...still very excited! Do you have a photo album somewhere of the pics Bankerman?

This place must've been upgraded since you were there BankermanUSA...I arrived around 1830 and went straight into the lounge, wifi was totally fine, lots of finger food selection (arguably better than bogota, def better than Medellin), self serve booze including canned beer (which probably angers some but doesn't bother me), lots of space though it was very crowded.

There was probably 4-5 TVs, but I wasn't really watching.

Its run down, but then the whole airport is, beyond that I found it to be quite acceptable.

I visited the SAL Lounge in 2012. It felt a bit like travelling back in time because the decor looked dated, but it was more comfortable than the crowded gates during holiday season. This is the only picture I took:

http://i1258.photobucket.com/albums/...20104-1303.jpg

The lounge closed for remodelling last year, and reopened this January 22. I caught a glympse of the lounge last week, and it looks much modern and colorful now. I wasn flying in Y so I couldn't go inside, but I got this picture from an Avianca's press release:

http://i.imgur.com/UTgyDE5.jpg

*Picture credit: Avianca Press release
https://www.facebook.com/notes/avian...52530184591822