We just traveled to Costa Rica and our route took us through Dallas Forth Worth International Airport. After how much interest our comparison of Priority Pass Lounges in San Francisco got, we decided to write another comparison review of Priority Pass Lounges in Dallas Forth Worth to help you decided which one to visit if you only have time for one. With a six hour layover and only two Priority Pass lounges, this comparison was considerable easier, even though the lounges are located in two different terminals. We simply hopped on the Skylink train to get between terminals, which was especially helpful since we had our 2-year-old and 4-year-old with us on this trip.
P.S. Apologies for the low quality photos. I try to only provide good quality photos on this blog, but feel awkward pulling out my big camera in lounges, so stick to photos off my phone.
Plaza Premium Lounge
We decided to head to the Plaza Premium Lounge first, located in terminal E. When we visited, it had a 3.6/5 rating on the Priority Pass app and is open from 6am-8pm. The staff member who checked us in was really lovely and pleasant to interact with, but we were pretty underwhelmed by everything else at this lounge. First off, it was the smallest lounge we’ve ever visited. The photos we looked at made it look fairly large and flashy, but it was just one narrow room with very limited seating and tables and most surprising of all, didn’t have a bathroom! Not ideal with small kids. I guess that’s their way of getting you to leave early since they have such limited space! Staff did bring us a high chair for our toddler, which was appreciated, but that was the only other nice touch at this lounge. Our kiddos were super hungry, so I went to get food but it was all behind a counter with serving staff, so I had to get their attention and then asks for a few plates of food, which felt awkward since they didn’t know I was getting food for the kids too. Then Justin went up to try and get some juice for the kids and soda for us and these were also kept in a fridge behind the counter. The staff didn’t even give us cans, just poured the beverages into cups. All of this made us feel like we couldn’t eat or drink as much as at other lounges, which I’m sure is their strategy, but we didn’t love it. After about an hour we decided to head to the other lounge.
Pros
Pleasant check-in staff
High chair for our toddler
Multiple vegetarian food options
Flight information available in the lounge
Cons
No bathroom!
Can’t self-serve food or beverages, which can feel awkward, especially if you’re getting multiple plates of food to feed your kiddos as well
The food we tried was dry and not very tasty
Very small seating area
Some may find the coffee bar too simplistic
2 hour maximum stay
The lounge in terminal E right next to gate E31
We were sitting against the back wall of the lounge and you can see the entrance in this photo. There were no side rooms, just this single narrow room with very limited tables and seating.
Our tiny little corner. We appreciated the high chair, but you can see how cramped this lounge was. That pair of feet in the right side of this photo was another guest so we were very much in each other’s space and just trying to avoid weird eye contact!
The adequate but simple coffee bar
All the food and drinks were behind this counter, so you had to be served each time you wanted something
We tried a vegetarian chickpea wrap and some garlic bread - okay but definitely not worth getting more
The Club DFW
The Club DFW is located in terminal D near gate 27 and is open from 4am-10:30pm. We went to The Club SFO and it was the best lounge we’ve been to so far, so we had mild hopes for The Club DFW despite the 3.7/5 rating on the Priority Pass app and a 2.7/5 for Google reviews. Our first impression wasn’t awesome as the check-in staff were surly despite us having our passes and tickets ready and no issue on our part as far as we could see. Obviously, that changes daily though based on which staff are at the desk. We were happy to find that The Club is definitely a bigger lounge with several different rooms and an outdoor seating area with a long desk and outlets for working. We were able to find a little out of the way corner and went to get some more food. Strangely, you have to basically exit the lounge to enter a separate area across a hall to reach the food area, which means you have to walk past the check-in desk in the hallway each time while the staff stare at you. The food was self-serve, which we appreciated and there were several vegetarian options and I got a pumpkin soup that was actually quite tasty. The rest of the food was very average. The coffee machine was broken in the food area, but I found a second coffee station across the hall in our lounge area. While the machine was fancier than the other lounge and I was able to get a latte, it was incredibly bitter and pretty terrible and that’s not coming from a coffee snob - I drink instant coffee at home. We did appreciate the soda machine though so we could easily get as many drink refills as we wanted. They also have a couple of bathrooms and the one by us had a shower. There’s a sign saying to check in with the staff to schedule a shower and probably get a towel, but shampoo, condition, and body wash were already in the shower. There was nothing indicating whether you have to pay extra for the shower.
Pros
Bathrooms with an unlocked shower
Vegetarian food options
Self-serve food and drinks
Larger seating area
Large work area with desks and outlets
Cons
Rude check-in staff (obviously could be different on a different day)
Weird split lounge with a lot of the seating across the hall from the food area so you have to walk back and forth in front of the check-in staff while getting food
Pretty average food and burned, bitter coffee
The Club DFW
We found this little corner in the lounge that wasn’t right up in other guests’ space, so that was nice
Work area with a long desk and outlets
Self-serve food bar
I got some pretty good pumpkin soup
Some snacks by the coffee bar
The coffee bar - fancier looking than at the other lounge but the coffee was burned and pretty bad
They offered some teas too
Inside the bathroom in the Club DFW - it’s pretty spacious with a shower and changing table
The shower in The Club located in one of the unlocked bathrooms
Sign in the bathroom indicating that you have to schedule a shower
There was also a blow dryer in the bathroom
So, Which One is Best?
So which lounge did we prefer? To be honest, they were both pretty bad lounges from what we’ve experienced, but The Club DFW took the edge for us since it actually had a bathroom! Not having a bathroom in the Plaza Premium was really bizarre and not allowing self-service for food and drinks was also not great in our opinion.
Have you been to the Priority Pass lounges in Dallas Forth Worth? If so, we’d love to hear your experience good or bad and any additional info you have to add. We’d especially love to hear if you took a shower in The Club DFW and whether you actually had to schedule that/pay extra. Leave us a comment!