For the next part of my Le Premier in the new La Premiere adventure, I checked out the Avianca Diamond Lounge at Bogota El Dorado International Airport (BOG). I had a roughly three hour layover in the late morning, as I was arriving from Miami in Avianca’s A320 business class, and connecting to Paris in Avianca’s 787 business class.
I’ve gotta say, the Avianca Diamond Lounge exceeded my (low) expectations, and was probably the most impressive aspect of my Avianca experience. I don’t want to say it was anything special, but the food and drink selection were solid, the lounge had a lot of natural light, and the space wasn’t overly crowded.
Let me emphasize that I visited the Avianca Diamond Lounge, which is the carrier’s more premium international lounge (compared to the Avianca Gold Lounge), and I’ll explain the distinction below.
In this post:
Avianca Diamond Lounge Bogota location
The Avianca Lounge Bogota is centrally located. Once you go through security and/or immigration (depending on whether you’re in transit or originating in Bogota), just proceed straight ahead, and stay left, in the direction of gates B1-8. There you’ll see the entrance to the Avianca Lounge — it can be easy to miss, as it’s sandwiched between two shops (Chanel and Hudson).
The lounge is one level up from the concourse, so it can either be accessed via an elevator or staircase.
As I entered the lounge, I found the wall “art” to be pretty cute, with a (sort of abstract) map of the destinations that the airline serves.
Avianca Diamond Lounge Bogota hours
The Avianca Lounge Bogota is open daily from 3:30AM until 12AM, covering virtually all departures from the airport. Presumably those hours change over time, based on flight schedules.
Avianca Diamond Lounge Bogota entry requirements
As I mentioned above, Avianca has two lounges in the international terminal — the Avianca Gold Lounge and the Avianca Diamond Lounge. I visited the Avianca Diamond Lounge, which is the more premium of the two lounges:
- The Avianca Diamond Lounge is open exclusively to Star Alliance first and business class passengers, so it can exclusively be accessed based on the class of service you’re traveling in
- The Avianca Gold Lounge can be accessed with more methods, including with elite status (Star Alliance Gold status), select credit cards (like select Amex and Capital One cards), and access can also be purchased outright
So while the two lounges share a general entrance area, the below review will be of the Avianca Diamond Lounge.
Avianca Diamond Lounge Bogota seating & layout
The Avianca Diamond Lounge Bogota feels airy and spacious, as it opens up into the rest of the terminal (which is great on the one hand, but at the same time, it means the lounge is a bit noisy).
The lounge’s seating is nothing special, but it’s comfortable, and feels modern enough. As you enter the lounge, there are rows of chairs along the main walkway leading through the lounge.
The first room, as you enter, has the coffee and tea selection, and has a handful of dining tables, with four chairs each, along with more seating along the partitions separating parts of the lounge.
There are more pairs of seats along the windows, along with some high-top seating, with great views of the apron and runway.
Then the largest part of the lounge is the dining area, which consists almost entirely of dining tables, with anywhere from two to four seats each.
There’s one space between these two parts of the lounge, which is an entertainment room, and a relaxation area, with some pre-reclined seats. These areas were occupied, so I didn’t take any pictures, but they provide a nice alternative for those wanting a different environment.
The lounge has awesome apron views, so if you’re an aviation geek, you’ll want to grab a seat by the windows.
In the other direction, the lounge faces the duty free shopping in the terminal, and in the distance, you can see the Avianca Gold Lounge, which is the less premium Avianca lounge location. What stood out to me most is that the Avianca Diamond Lounge remained pretty empty, while the Avianca Gold Lounge looked full.
Obviously this lounge’s design is nothing special, and outlets are also lacking from lots of the seating areas. However, at least the lounge is bright and airy, and has great views.
Avianca Diamond Lounge Bogota food & drinks
The most impressive aspect of the Avianca Diamond Lounge Bogota is the food and drink selection. The lounge’s buffet is in the very back of the lounge, and I visited right as the selection was switched over from breakfast to lunch.
The food selection exceeded my expectations, with all kinds of fresh options that appeared to be pretty high quality. The food selection included cold cuts and cheese, a salad bar, finger sandwiches and wraps, croissants and other pastries, a couple types of soup, bread, several hot dishes, and a variety of desserts.
Drinks included bottled water, juice, and soda (surprising, since I imagine lots of people take these with them), beer, and an extensive selection of wine and liquor.
Back near the entrance, the lounge also had an espresso machine, a selection of tea, and some desserts.
Avianca Diamond Lounge Bogota bathrooms & showers
The Avianca Diamond Lounge Bogota bathrooms are a bit hidden. Once you enter the lounge, you have to make a sharp left turn, and walk behind the reception desk and down a hall. The bathroom area had three sinks, two stalls, and two urinals. It wasn’t particularly clean, but it was in decent enough condition.
This area also has a luggage storage area, in case that’s something you value.
Lastly, I should mention that the Avianca Diamond Lounge doesn’t have shower rooms, but the Avianca Gold Lounge does. I didn’t have time to check out the showers, but if you are interested, you can head over there to freshen up.
Bottom line
The Avianca Diamond Lounge Bogota is a decent facility, and was probably the highlight of my Avianca experience (which isn’t saying a whole lot). The lounge is bright and airy, has nice views, and feels modern, with a better-than-expected food and drink selection.
Now, admittedly the lounge is nothing amazing. It doesn’t have any sort of an x-factor, and for that matter, outlets are missing in many parts of the lounge. You even have to visit a different lounge to use showers. But still, given Avianca’s overall lackluster product, this is one of the better parts of the experience, if you ask me.
What’s your take on the Avianca Diamond Lounge Bogota?
Ben, too bad you didn't have a chance to check out the Avianca "Gold" lounge. It's just like a really bad food court in a run down shopping center.
It has improved a lot in the past years and after a number of complaints.
No comparison with the abismal Copa Club in the same terminal!
One can leave detailed reviews on Trip Advisor.
I guarantee some higher up at Avianca loves whiskey. 1 basic type of each other liquor type but like 5 whiskeys including higher level brands (Bulleit bourbon + rye, Buchanan's Deluxe, etc.)
So, which is it? ;-)
@ DCAWABN -- Hah, I clarified that to say it's centrally located. Good point!
Poor @Ben, we make his life so difficult! :D
@ hbilbao -- I wouldn't have it any other way!
Unsurprisingly, AV's entry requirements are not completely clear. The sign by the entrance (that you photographed) does say that *A gold status gives you access but their website says (in both Spanish and English versions) that you can access the diamond lounge only if travelling on a J/F *A ticket.
@ hbilbao -- Interesting, there's really not much clarity here. For example, I was looking at this page:
https://www.lifemiles.com/discover/landing-page/avianca-lounges
When I click on the section for the Diamond Lounge, it states that Avianca business class and Star Alliance Gold offers access, or at least that's how I read it. Am I reading it wrong, or is the information just incorrect?
That's the website I was looking at... I do see the *A gold logo on the diamond lounge page but the text says "you must be flying first or business class" [my translation]. Then, when you click on 'conoce más', it says "valid boarding pass for travel in first class with a *A member" [my translation], and below, "valid boarding pass for travel in business class with a *A member" [my translation]. And that's it...
That's the website I was looking at... I do see the *A gold logo on the diamond lounge page but the text says "you must be flying first or business class" [my translation]. Then, when you click on 'conoce más', it says "valid boarding pass for travel in first class with a *A member" [my translation], and below, "valid boarding pass for travel in business class with a *A member" [my translation]. And that's it for *A.
But, if you go to the section about the regular BOG lounge, you'll see that that one does have extra 'conoce más' sections for *A gold and even for *A lounge memberships.
So, in conclusion, the sign by the entrance clarifies nothing :D
I was there last year as a Star Gold in Eco and was specifically directed to the Gold Lounge. Food definitely lower quality but still did the job. Also nice to be able to take a soda for the flight, since Avianca serves nothing for free.
@ hbilbao @ Maxi -- Thanks for the heads up on that! I suspect you guys are right, so I've updated the post to reflect that.