A Trip Through Sydney
We just returned from our long awaited trip to Australia and were excited to try out the Priority Pass Lounges in Sydney during our travels to share with you! There are two Priority Pass lounges in the international terminal (Plaza Premium and The House) and one in the domestic terminal (REX Lounge). While we tried out all three because of our domestic flight onwards to Perth, I’m only going to compare the two in the international terminal in this post since they’re the only lounges you can actually choose between.
Plaza Premium Lounge
The first lounge we decided to visit was the Plaza Premium Lounge located near gate 26 in the international terminal. Our first impression was a little less than ideal as check in was very slow and seating was fairly limited. We managed to find a very small table by the entrance and proceeded to check out the food and drinks. It was around 10am when we arrived and breakfast was still out but many of the containers were mostly empty. We had some okay potatoes and I ordered a latte from the bar as they didn’t have a self-serve coffee option, just self-serve tea. It’s less convenient as you have to wait for staff to be available to make you a coffee, but I will admit that it tasted a lot better than the coffee out of the “fancy” but often strong and bitter self-serve machines. They did have freely accessible juice and a soda fountain machine so that was nice. Slightly less nice was the fact that there’s no bathroom in the lounge and instead a sign instructing you to take the elevators down to a bathroom. I took the kids and it was fine, but sometimes time is of the essence with little kids and so a bathroom actually in the lounge would have been nicer. Supposedly there are shower facilities but we didn’t actually see them. There was nothing else really in the lounge aside from food, seating, and a flight tracker board. We noticed a basket of crayons under the juice bar area but nothing to color - just some adult magazines. We didn’t see any high chairs either so I wouldn’t say it’s a particularly family friendly lounge. Right before we left they put out there lunch service so we grabbed some food again to try it out and thought it was better than breakfast with some decent vegetarian options.
Pros
Soda fountain and juice bar
Can order a nice quality coffee or chai from the bar
Decent vegetarian food options
Potentially no time limit? We didn’t find anything on their lounge website or the Priority Pass website stating any time limitations. If you’ve experienced a time limitation at this lounge (can only check in a certain amount of hours before you flight or a maximum length of stay) please leave us a comment so we can update this!
Cons
Slow check in. This could obviously be different day to day depending on staff.
Pretty small space with limited tables and seating
Have to take an elevator downstairs to use the bathroom
Container of crayons made it seem like there was an activity for kids but there wasn’t actually any paper or coloring pages. Maybe on another day?
Good to know
Located across from gates 25-26 in the international terminal
Open daily from 6am-10pm
Children under 2 years of age are free
No dress code
Entering the Plaza Premium lounge
The tiny table we managed to get by the entrance without any power point access
Fairly limited seating
Juice bar and soda fountain
Half empty containers and an odd assortment of foods at our 10am arrival
Hot drinks station for tea. No self-serve coffee option.
Non-alcoholic drinks menu at the bar
My tasty latte
The bathroom downstairs
Container of crayons hinting at an activity for kids but there was nothing else there - just a small stack of adult magazines
The lunch things they put out as we were leaving were nicer than what remained of breakfast when we arrived
The House by Aspire Lounge
After the Plaza Premium lounge, we headed to The House by Aspire Lounge located near gate 50. Check in was fast and our initial impression was that it was a more spacious lounge with better tables and seating and an overall slightly better presentation. The food was displayed nicely and there were some tasty vegetarian options. Coffee was from a “fancy” coffee machine and the latte I tried tasted fine. We also enjoyed the self-serve soda fridge. The kids were delighted to discover a children’s play room complete with a table and chairs, bean bags, TV, and some toys. It was nice being able to let them burn off some noisy energy in there! Despite the play room, we didn’t see any high chairs. The bathrooms were tidy and I saw there was a shower but the door was locked. I can see from their website though that they offer showers for what they call a “nominal fee” and it looks nice in the photos. Further research indicates that showers cost $20 AUD for Priority Pass members (when this was written), which doesn’t seem particularly nominal to me.
Pros
Plenty of tables and seating
Decent food including vegetarian options
Self-serve drinks fridge
Kid’s play room
Opens at 5am daily so has longer hours than the Plaza Premium lounge
Cons
Can only check in 3 hours before your flight
Showers cost extra
Good to know
Located just before gate 50 in the international terminal
Open daily from 5am-10pm
Access is permitted 3 hours prior to scheduled flight departure
Children 2 and under are free
Dress code is supposedly smart casual but I’ve never seen dress code enforced in any lounge yet
Entrance to the lounge
Plenty of space for us to spread out
Lots of open seating while we were there
Nicely displayed food
Some tasty vegetarian options
Options in their coffee machine
The kid’s play room
The bathroom
The shower
Which Lounge is Better?
While neither lounge was super amazing, the fact that The House had a play room, more seating/tables, and a more accessible bathroom edged out the Plaza Premium Lounge for us. That said, if you’re not traveling with kids and thus won’t be using the play room, you may just want to opt for whatever lounge is closer to where you clear security or your departure gate. Furthermore, if the Plaza Premium Lounge really doesn’t have limits on check in time or lounge access time, it would be the lounge to pick for a really long layover!
Have a question or want to share your experience with these lounges with us and our readers? Leave us a comment! We’d especially love to hear if you used the showers at either lounge and if so, what it cost and what you thought about the quality!