Review: Cathay Pacific Lounge Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International Airport

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The Cathay Pacific Lounge at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International Airport is on Level 3 of Concourse G and is open between 05:10 and 18:30 daily.

The lounge can be accessed by travelers flying in First or Business Class with a oneworld airline on the day of entry, as well as oneworld Emerald and oneworld Sapphire members who are traveling (in any cabin) on a oneworld airline on the day of entry.

I found myself in the Cathay Pacific lounge thanks to the fact that Qatar Airways (the airline I was flying with) doesn’t allow passengers who are traveling on a ‘Business Lite’ fare to use their lounge in Bangkok.

Qatar Airways sends ‘Business Lite’ passengers with elite status to one of the many ‘Miracle’ lounges in the airport (these are in the Priority Pass network), but as I knew that Cathay Pacific wouldn’t turn me away and would probably offer a considerably better experience, that was the first lounge that I went to (I tried the JAL lounge later).

The lounge

As you walk through the lounge doors, the reception desk is on the left, and a short hallway leads to the heart of the lounge.

This Cathay Pacific lounge is divided into three distinct areas – a main seating area, a noodle bar & seated dining area, and a self-serve-food area with standing tables.

The main seating area

The main seating area occupies the right-side of the lounge (as viewed from the entry hallway), and if you’ve ever visited a Cathay Pacific lounge before, the decor will look very familiar.

This all very standard fare for Cathay Pacific and if you like your airport lounges to feel like a lounge at home (which I do), you’ll probably like it here.

At one end of this seating area is a small workstation section …

… and in the very middle of it, is a large bar serving wines, beers, and cocktails.

As is usual for this style of Cathay Pacific lounge, if you want access to a power supply to charge your devices, you need to know where to look.

Sometimes you’ll find the outlets built into your seat (and at floor level) …

… and sometimes you’ll find them disguised as a drawer in a side table.

Most important, however, is that fact that these sockets are ‘universal’ and so will accept plugs from most (possibly all) of the world’s regions, so you shouldn’t need an adapter to juice up your devices.

The last thing I need to mention about this area is the fact that because it looks out onto the airport apron, it feels light and spacious. It’s not a large area, but it doesn’t feel small either.

The self-serve food area

Adjacent to the seating area is a self-serve food area with a forest of standing tables.

At one end of this small area is a self-serve food counter …

… and next to that is a self-serve drinks area with a coffee maker, tea making facilities, and a refrigerator with sodas, juices and two types of beer.

The food looked fresh, and it was nice to be able to help oneself to a beer without having to bother one of the bar staff, but I’m not sure what the point of all the standing tables is.

I assume that this is mainly used as an overspill area when the main dining area and the rest of the lounge is very busy, as on this visit I saw just one person sitting here and I couldn’t work out why anyone would voluntarily choose to spend time here if there was space elsewhere.

The dining area & noodle bar

The dining area occupies the left-side of the lounge (as viewed from the entry hallway), and this is where you’ll find the famous Cathay Pacific noodle bar.

The dining area looks like this.

And as you can see in the image above, you’ll find more drinks and drinks making facilities in here too.

The highlight of this area is the noodle bar.

The ordering process here is simple, and all the food is complimentary.

Take a look at the day’s menus.

Ask the server for whatever sounds good (most of it usually is).

Take the red ‘puck’ that you’ll be given back to your seat.

And when the red puck starts buzzing and flashing …

… head back to the noodle bar to pick up your order.

The portions are small, but there’s nothing to stop you from making multiple visits so that shouldn’t be an issue.

Overall

I was fortunate enough to be in the lounge at a particularly quiet time of day (I was there for the hour leading up to closing time at 18:30) and due to its size, I suspect that the lounge may get full quite quickly when there are several oneworld flights departing around the same time.

Based on what I saw, this is the best lounge open to oneworld flyers at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International Airport, so it’s likely that passengers flying other oneworld airlines and not just Cathay Pacific will flock here before they depart.

Overall, this lounge was everything I expect from a Cathay Pacific lounge. The staff were friendly, the noodle bar was good, the seats were comfortable, and it was a pleasant place to get something to eat and to get some work done. I don’t need much more from an airport lounge.

Qatar Airways may have prevented me from using its lounge at Bangkok because I was flying on a ‘lite’ fare, but thanks to the Cathay Pacific lounge, I don’t think I missed out on much.