dbrownusc

Going to Bogota and Cartegena in a few months, and have been trying to work out Avianca lounge access. The *A lounge finder comes up with no results no matter what cabin class or United Premier level I input.

Stats:
United Premier Gold (*G)
United Club paid membership card

We're flying Copa ORD-PTY-BOG, then Avianca BOG-CTG-BOG, then Copa again BOG-PTY-ORD (all flights in economy). I'm not concerned with the outbound Copa flights as I know we can access United Club at ORD and Copa Club at PTY. For the domestic Avianca flights though within Columbia, can we use the Avianca VIP Lounges at BOG and CTG? And same for the BOG-PTY leg on the return flight? The PDF on the Avianca site is confusing and makes it sound as if you have to be flying Business and have *G to access the lounge. I've never had a *A carrier require business class if you have *G or the paid United Club membership, and it seems to contradict the lounge access policy on the *A website.

Any input is appreciated!

Kacee

Yes you can access the AV lounges. The domestic lounge at BOG (BOG-CTG) sucks and is barely worth it. The international lounge (BOG-PTY) is better. The lounge at CTG is pretty nice. It's hidden upstairs above the departure gates. Bring your card.

ps. It's "Colombia."

dbrownusc

Fantastic! Thanks for the info (and quick reply). And I'll watch the typos next time.

lhrsfo

I thought the AV lounge at BOG was nice. Whilst not in the too echelon of lounges, it was a happy and uplifting place unlike so many which are dark and depressing.

Jboucsei

Flew out of CTG this morning. Yes, you can definetely use the Avianca Lounge when you present your *A Gold Card. It´s decent, however if I were you I´d rather spend the time in the city. Also: don´t let them rip you off, the taxi-fare airport-downtown is fixed to 7000COP even if the drivers try to convince you was more.

Kacee

The fares are fixed and published (Tarifa de Taxis), but it depends on where you're coming from. So, yes, it is only 7000 COP from El Centro to Rafael Nunez, but the Hyatt is not in El Centro, it's in Bocagrande. Also note that it is considerably more expensive from the airport to the city.

99% of Cartagena taxi drivers are honest. And 7000 COP is less than $2.50 US at current exchange rates.

janicerobertson

Flew COPA to/from CTG last week in business class and was told that there was no lounge for Star Alliance gold members. The girl at check-in stated that the only lounge was a daily paid lounge.....

Kacee

That's because you were in the international terminal for a PTY departure. OP was asking about CTG-BOG, which is a domestic departure. The AV lounge is in the domestic terminal.

thesun

If you're ever there when the airport is busy, its super noisy. The departures area is basically like a hanger with a high roof. The lounge is a 2nd floor area that overlooks the large single room departures area and has no ceiling. So pretty much all the noise from people and announcements appears to get magnified by the design of the building and makes for a super noisy environment in the lounge.

Kacee

I've been there numerous times and I will take it over those hard wooden seats in the gate area ten times out of ten. Also, I've found the back room with the chaises longues to be considerably quieter than the area which overlooks the gates.

thesun

True, still way better than being down there, but wish they would just put a ceiling over the entire lounge to enclose it!

drvannostren

I always use the domestic lounge at BOG, frankly, because it's there. But other than the wifi being better than the terminal, it's a bit pointless.

It is clean, they have soft drinks and snackables, right time of day there's booze too, but if you're running a little short on time, you're certainly not missing anything so don't worry about it.

Quick CTG story, I arrived on the day of the CTG marathon...oy vei. Had to drive all the way around town just to avoid the blockages. Love the location of the airport otherwise, nice that it's not far from town like my usual point of arrival MDE.

gr8pirate

data point: Flew CTG-PTY in Y on Copa last month, was denied access to the contract lounge at CTG with *G status.

Kacee

Contract lounge? There's an AV lounge, it's in the domestic (National) terminal.

keisari

It is now also a Priority Pass lounge. Nothing special but good coffee, and a little quieter than the large waiting room