Spent a few moments, well, more like an hour or two, at a most impressive and expansive ANA Lounge at Tokyo’s Narita Airport.  I think the only way this lounge could fill up is if every flight for the day was cancelled…it is huge. The highlight?   The made to order noodle bar.  So good, I think I went back for seconds.

When I entered the lounge, there were at least 8 attendants at the desk.  I asked, politely, if they felt I should be upgraded to first class, in the light of the fact that the Spirit of Japan flight was postponed.  They contemplated it for a few seconds, but ultimately, as I expected, said no.  There was a separate first class section of lounge; I can only imagine what that was like. Anybody been in there? Here’s the deal with the business class section:

entry

front part of lounge

rear section of lounge

back bar

rear lounge looking to main area

shower room

noodle bar

Upon entering United’s Red Carpet Club in SFO’s International Terminal, I was greeted (sort of) by two very busy looking United agents. They looked stressed and a bit panicked, although they were only assisting one other passenger. One of the agents looked at my boarding pass, typed a few strokes into her computer and issued me two vouchers for cocktails. The foyer is large and well appointed.

An escalator takes passengers to the actual lounge which is on the second floor. At the top of the escalator, in the second floor lobby, there was a large un-staffed service desk. If you do a 180 degree turn at the top of the escalator, you will enter into a large section of the lounge that contains the bar, and a self service food & beverage counter. Soda, juice, coffee, tea, cereal, bread and fruit were available. There is a ton of seating available for both individuals and groups.

Walking straight off the elevator leads to another self service food and beverage bar surrounded by ample seating of all types. In the very back of the lounge, individual work cubicles are available.

view from cubicle section:

The only lounge attendant I saw in the actual lounge was the bartender. When I inquired about the cocktail vouchers, she sternly let me know that United’s lounge cocktail policy has been the same for 10 years: two complimentary alcoholic beverages and drinks for purchase after that. I had some coffee and a bowl of cereal. A second coffee cup, doubled as my cereal bowl, as none were available. Free wireless is available for only those passengers with a business class (and I assume first class) boarding pass. Plenty of free magazines and the day’s newspapers were available. I found the lounge to be very basic, but quite relaxing. The Red Carpet Club is so large, it allows passengers to spread out and is therefore very quiet.