- Chasing the Sun: Introduction
- Chasing the Sun: Lufthansa First Class Seattle to Frankfurt
- Chasing the Sun: Lufthansa First Class Lounge & Senator Lounge Frankfurt
- Chasing the Sun: Thai Airways First Class Frankfurt to Bangkok
- Chasing the Sun: InterContinental Bangkok
- Chasing the Sun: Cathay Pacific Business Class Lounge Bangkok
- Chasing the Sun: Cathay Pacific Business Class Bangkok to Hong Kong
- Chasing the Sun: InterContinental Grand Stanford Hong Kong
- Chasing the Sun: Cathay Pacific “The Wing” Hong Kong
- Chasing the Sun: Cathay Pacific First Class Hong Kong to San Francisco
We got to the airport at around 11:30AM for our 1:10PM departure, and headed straight for Cathay Pacific’s check-in counters, which are located at aisle “M.”
Terminal exterior
Terminal interior
There was no queue in the first class check-in line, so our boarding passes to Hong Kong were issued promptly. We were printed invitations to the Cathay Pacific lounge and were pointed towards the premium immigration/security queue.
Cathay Pacific check-in
The security and immigration process was much smoother than I remembered, as there was a dedicated premium queue for both processes, so we were through within a few minutes.
We proceeded towards the Cathy Pacific lounge, which is located in concourse “G.” The airside terminal is impressive with wide hallways and all kinds of high end duty free shops. The airport isn’t quite as impressive as the ones in Singapore or Hong Kong, in my opinion, but not far behind either. The walk to the lounge took about 10 minutes.
Airside terminal
The lounge is located down a level from the main terminal, just past the Priority Pass lounge.
Lounge level
At the entrance we were greeted by the friendly agent, who welcomed us in after we presented her with our invitations.
Cathay Pacific lounge entrance
The Cathay Pacific lounge really isn’t anything special, and in my opinion isn’t worth arriving at the airport even a few minutes early for. It’s a small lounge, though fairly modern, but lacks amenities. It has a few dozen seats, an unimpressive buffet spread, and reasonably fast Wi-Fi. Unfortunately the lounge doesn’t boast any views, and doesn’t even have any bathrooms.
Lounge seating
Lounge seating
Lounge seating
Lounge seating
Lounge cubicles
Lounge snack selection
Lounge drink selection
Lounge snack selection
Lounge snack/drink selection
But here’s the kicker about the lounge. It’s on exactly the opposite side of the terminal as Cathay Pacific’s gates. Allow me to illustrate that in a way that would make a certain fellow blogger proud.
Lounge (concourse G) to plane (concourse C)
I tend to walk really fast (some say my walk is faster than a Kenyan jog), and it was a good 20 minute walk from the lounge to the gate. So plan accordingly.
Terminal
While I find Bangkok’s concourses to be somewhat impractically designed, there’s no denying how impressive the architecture is.
C concourse
We made it to gate C1 right as boarding was announced. Little did I know just how impressive Cathay Pacific’s business class product would be.
Loved the arrow, but to truly compete you need a pic of your travel partner holding the lounge in one hand and the gate in the other... :)
On the issue of lounges without washrooms...the biggest humdingerbis the SQ Krisflyer Gold Lounge in SIN...hub airline at global hub with no washrooms in the Lounge for Star Alliance Gold folks. Unreal.
A 20 min fast walk means it is more than a mile walk. Sounds like a walk from the strip to a hotel room in Vegad.
I was just there twice in the past three weeks. The british airways/qantas longue is about 2x better. Better food that is freshly cooked, better drinks, nearly zero people, and a better view. And it is right across from the cathay longue. Opens at 330pm.
Perhaps the G gates were out of service? The 5 or so times I flew Cathay out of BKK, my flight always departed from one of the G gates.
I use the BA lounge at BKK -- much more pleasant and usually has a direct view of the CX boarding gate (though that part could have been a coincidence on more than one occasion).
Should of used the BA/ QF lounge too! They gave me access last time I was departing BKK
"Little did I know just how impressive Cathay Pacific’s business class product would be."
Cue suspenseful music.
We were just in BKK and this lounge in early Oct. First lounge I have ever been in that didn't have its own washrooms! Our flight to SIN was just as far and when we finally got to the gate, boarding was almost completed!! BTW our flight to SIN in business had us in these retro seats that I never could figure out how to manually recline..............
Guess I just wasn't lucky with the gate assignment. :(
"Some say my walk is faster than a Kenyan jog..." Classic!
I was in the same lounge a week ago. Not impressive and a heck of a long walk to the gate.
You used arrows to illustrate the distance between the lounge and gates, but you forgot to use circles. :D
i was there a few months back. luckily my gate was right next door. and there was the BA/QF lounge to kill time before getting here.
"The world is my toilet now" comes to mind.
That looks more like a contract lounge than something I'd expect from Cathay.
But I thought you'd be impressed since (per your photos) they had Fanta :o
That arrow needs to be bigger, and make it "pop" a little more.
At least it wasn't a remote stand...I always seem to get those at BKK :(
"and doesn’t even have any bathrooms."
Er, say what now?
The oneworld website indicates that there are two CX lounges at BKK (one at concourse D and one at G), but the map shows only the one. I assume the latter is accurate and the former incorrect given this post?
I note that FT indicates that CX usually departs from the "right" side of BKK. Given that BKK is a focus city for Cathay (service to DEL, SIN, CMB and HKG), I can't imagine they ALWAYS send their planes a half mile away from their lounge...
The lounge looks similar to Cathay Pacific lounge at SFO.
Yeah, could've really used that golfcart on this trip.