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We were very sad to leave Vienna, especially the outstanding accommodations and location of the Park Hyatt Vienna. Wow, what a hotel! Seeing as though we had changed our trip very last minute, and business class was the only way we could redeem Avios back to London from Vienna we had guaranteed access to the Air Lounge at Vienna airport. I mentioned in the review of BA’s Club World, that even had we redeemed our Avios for economy ( which I’d have preferred ) we could have still used the Air Lounge Vienna via my Priority Pass membership. Let’s take a look at the lounge.
Getting a Priority Pass
Most of the cards listed below offer the membership with 2 guests. Currently, I carry 3 cards that have it as a perk ( Amex Platinum, Amex Business Platinum, and Citi Prestige)
- Citi Prestige
- Chase Sapphire Reserve
- American Express Platinum
- American Express Business Platinum
- American Express Delta Reserve
- American Express Hilton Honors Aspire
- American Express Hilton Honors Ascend ( 10 visits no guests )
- American Express Starwood Preferred Guest Luxury Card
- US Bank Altitude Reserve
The Deets:
- When: January 2019
- Where: Vienna
- Access: BA Club World but also Priority Pass
Location:
We were departing out of the D gates and the lounge is just before you go through security for D. With that said, once you get through security there is very, very, very, very little in terms of food. One little cart with sandwiches and a vending machine area. That’s it. If you want food…get it at the lounge or before security.
Check in/Initial Impression
Through the door and to your left you’ll see check-in. Clearly presented are the various memberships you can use to access – Priority Pass is displayed, but we simply showed our boarding passes. The lounge is modern, clean, and at first look seems relatively new.
The lounge is a large room broken up in separate areas, and is starting to feel dated. Immediately you can tell this is a place that you’ll be more likely to want to spend a small amount of time at prior to or in between flights. In fact, when we got to the gates I’d wished we’d have just eaten at one of the restaurants available prior to security. There’s also free Wifi was was decent.
Food:
Not much in terms of food that was appealing to me. Some fruit and veg options, but the hot options weren’t really that appetizing…to me. Then again, I’m not a huge fan of traditional Central/Eastern European fare and don’t eat any meat whatsoever. The pictures pretty much tell the story
Seating Areas/Bathroom
A few different areas to sit depending on whether you were looking to eat, lounge, or work. We didn’t find it hard to find a seat, but the lounge had sort of a manic feel to it that the pictures don’t really capture.
Overall
Would I go back? Yes. It’s great to pick up a drink, snack, etc. Would I care if I arrived without enough time to visit it? Absolutely not. It’s certainly better than going on to the D gates ( there’s basically nothing to do there ) so if you have extra time I’d go here or check out what other dining options are avail to you.
- Review: Iberia Business Class Chicago to Madrid
- Review: Iberia Business Class Lounge Madrid
- Review: VIP Lounge Plaza Mayor Madrid
- Review: Iberia Business Class Madrid to Rome
- Review: St Regis Rome
- Review: Alitalia Economy Rome to Budapest
- Review: New York Palace Budapest, Autograph Collection
- Tip for visiting the Thermal baths in Budapest
- Don’t make this European train mistake like I did
- Review: Park Hyatt Vienna
- Review: Air Lounge Vienna Airport
- Review: British Airways Business Class Vienna to London
- Review: Kimpton London Fitzroy
- Tips before flying Flybe
- Review: Intercontinental Le Grand Paris
- Review: Air France Business Class Lounge CDG
- Review: Air France Business Class 777-300ER Paris to Washington D.C.
- How I utilized the transfer desk to make a tight international connection
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
60k Points after $4k spend in 3 months
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 60k points after $4k spend in 3 months
- Worth $750 in Chase Travel℠ and way more if you maximize transfer partners
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2024
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex℠and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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