- Introduction: Birthday Trip To The Maldives
- Booking Emirates Skywards One-Way Awards With Stopovers
- Review: Air France-KLM Lounge Washington Dulles Airport (IAD)
- Review: New Emirates Boeing 777 First Class (IAD-DXB)
- Review: Waldorf Astoria Dubai International Financial Centre
- Review: Emirates First Class Lounge Dubai Airport (DXB)
- A Lovely Emirates First Class Flight To The Maldives
- Review: Cheval Blanc Maldives Randheli
- Review: Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi
- Review: Four Seasons Maldives Landaa Giraavaru
- Oops: I Missed My Flight, Almost Got Denied Entry To Qatar
- Review: Qatar Airways Boeing 777 First Class (MLE-DOH)
- PSA: Don’t Wait At The Wrong Baggage Claim Belt
- Review: Park Hyatt Doha, Qatar
- Review: Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Business Lounge Doha (DOH)
- Review: Sleep ‘N Fly Sleep Lounge Doha Airport (DOH)
- Review: Qatar Airways Qsuites Business Class 777 (DOH-DFW)
To kick off our trip to the Maldives, we flew from Washington to Dubai in Emirates first class. Emirates uses the Air France-KLM Lounge as its contract lounge at Washington Dulles (IAD), so I wanted to review the lounge in this post. The lounge underwent a major renovation in 2019, so I was curious to check it out.
In this post:
Air France-KLM Lounge Washington Dulles location & hours
The Air France-KLM Lounge Washington Dulles is located in Concourse A. All gates are connected airside at Washington Dulles. Since we were originating there, we first went through the check-in hall, which I kind of love for how retro it is.
Security was quick, and we then took the train to Concourse A, where we arrived within a few minutes.
I tend to think that Concourse A & B at Washington Dulles is one of the nicer terminals in the United States, which I suppose isn’t saying all that much.
The Air France-KLM Lounge was located opposite gate A22, right across where our flight was departing from.
At the moment the Air France-KLM Lounge Washington Dulles is open daily from 8AM until 9PM, though hours do vary seasonally.
Air France-KLM Lounge Washington Dulles entry requirements
In the evenings the lounge is primarily used by Air France-KLM passengers, and as you may have guessed, the service is significantly enhanced during that time. Meanwhile for the rest of the day this is primarily used as a contract lounge.
The most common way to access the Air France-KLM Lounge is through Priority Pass. There are of course many premium credit cards offering Priority Pass memberships. The lounge can be accessed by Priority Pass members for up to three hours.
On top of that, some airlines, including Emirates, use this as their contract lounge. In this case we could simply enter with our Emirates boarding passes.
Air France-KLM Lounge Washington Dulles seating & layout
The Air France-KLM Lounge is ~6,600 square feet, so it’s a decent size, but not huge when you consider how many people Priority Pass lounges in the United States tend to attract. The lounge has one main room, with plenty of natural light thanks to the floor-to-ceiling windows.
I like how the seating is distributed, as there are seats in rows facing one another, seats facing the windows, and then there’s a circular area with some cafe-style seating. As you can see, the lounge was pretty crowded during our visit.
Fortunately there seemed to be an area that others didn’t realize existed, at least initially. Behind the reception desk and to the left is a room with a bunch of tables. In the evenings this is used as a pre-flight dining facility for Air France passengers. It’s also open during the day, but there was no one sitting there, so this is where we sat.
The lounge also has an elevator that leads to the lower level. However, that was closed during our visit. I’m not sure if that opens in the evenings when Air France-KLM flights depart, or if travel just hasn’t recovered to the point that it’s needed. The lower level is a bit smaller than the main level, but at least adds some extra capacity.
As mentioned above, the main level has floor-to-ceiling windows, with great views of the taxiway.
We sat in the lounge for about 45 minutes. Eventually the area where we sat started to fill up. A lady seated a couple of tables over from us started to cough nonstop. After about 10 minutes we decided to just roam the terminal and get some steps in.
Air France-KLM Lounge Washington Dulles food & drinks
As is standard for contract lounges, the catering varies depending on who the passengers are. I imagine that in the evenings prior to Air France-KLM departures, the selection is improved considerably. However, without an incentive to spend much on Priority Pass passengers, catering was definitely scaled back.
The food selection for our morning visit included fresh fruit, yogurt, two types of french fries (lol…), cheese, bread, veggies, finger sandwiches, and some sweets.
To drink there was water, soft drinks, coffee, and tea.
Alcoholic drinks were served from the bar area. There was a sign indicating that liquor wasn’t being served at the moment.
Rather there was just one white wine, one red wine, and one champagne. Rather generously, Taittinger was on offer. From a cost control perspective, I find it a bit strange to serve Taittinger but not basic liquor.
We just consumed several bottles of water and nothing else, since we weren’t about to spoil our hunger or “thirst” prior to our Emirates first class flight.
Air France-KLM Lounge Washington Dulles bathrooms & shower
In the back of the Air France-KLM Lounge were the bathrooms. The bathrooms are pretty basic, and the one for men had two stalls and one urinal. There was also a shower suite, but it wasn’t available when we visited.
Bottom line
The Air France-KLM Lounge Washington Dulles served its purpose. The lounge had a modern design with lots of natural light, which is always appreciated. As is standard when a lounge is open to Priority Pass members, the food selection wasn’t amazing, though complimentary Taittinger was available.
In the evenings this lounge offers pre-flight a la carte dining for Air France business class passengers, but obviously that didn’t apply here.
If you’ve visited the Air France-KLM Lounge IAD, what was your experience like?
Does Air France lounge at IAD airport give access to fellow Sky Team member airline business class passengers like Saudia Airlines? Thank you very much ...
We visited yesterday around lunchtime.
There was a charcuterie board and two sandwich types along with pasta and meatballs in red sauce.
The liquor was available, so I knocked down a Knob Creek. My wife did have the Tattinger so that was handy.
It is definitely crowded and was quite warm during our visit.
We loved the Turkish Airlines lounge and found the British Airways lounge to be quiet and comfy. The Lufthansa lounge for...
We visited yesterday around lunchtime.
There was a charcuterie board and two sandwich types along with pasta and meatballs in red sauce.
The liquor was available, so I knocked down a Knob Creek. My wife did have the Tattinger so that was handy.
It is definitely crowded and was quite warm during our visit.
We loved the Turkish Airlines lounge and found the British Airways lounge to be quiet and comfy. The Lufthansa lounge for Business Class was not looking so great. It needs some redesign as it's showing its age. But they did have gummy bears!
This lounge is near the bottom of the bottom of the barrel. It's considerably undersized especially considering the number of 777-ER Air France departures. On several visits there have been no lounge chair seats open- only table/chairs. Bar had no liquor of any kind at 6pm on a Wednesday. "They ran out". Very minimalist buffet. It seems they're a wholesale rent-a-lounge (Priority Pass??) Just in- "there's a downstairs but no food or drink there". This...
This lounge is near the bottom of the bottom of the barrel. It's considerably undersized especially considering the number of 777-ER Air France departures. On several visits there have been no lounge chair seats open- only table/chairs. Bar had no liquor of any kind at 6pm on a Wednesday. "They ran out". Very minimalist buffet. It seems they're a wholesale rent-a-lounge (Priority Pass??) Just in- "there's a downstairs but no food or drink there". This is the worst airline lounge I've ever been in.
You must be doing something right if this is the worst lounge you've ever been in. Try any of the non-Polaris United lounges at IAD and let us know if this is still the worst. The IAD Lufthansa lounge can also be worse, especially the business class lounge without windows on the bottom floor.
This lounge is good as far as Priority Pass lounges go. They always have free, high-quality champagne. In the evening, they...
You must be doing something right if this is the worst lounge you've ever been in. Try any of the non-Polaris United lounges at IAD and let us know if this is still the worst. The IAD Lufthansa lounge can also be worse, especially the business class lounge without windows on the bottom floor.
This lounge is good as far as Priority Pass lounges go. They always have free, high-quality champagne. In the evening, they usually have 2-3 hot dishes (recently I've seen chicken with tomatoes, green beans, potatoes, pasta with meatballs). And even their cold foods are somewhat elevated compared to the pre-packaged food you'll find at other lounges. IAD Turkish does have a better selection of food but it is usually much more crowded than Air France.
It's likely because AF gets Taittinger for quite cheap
While I agree that is a pretty limited selection of food, that is not two kinds of french fries, one is clearly labeled as sweet potato, and they are quite different in taste (and different people like different ones), so having both is not odd at all.
Hi Lucky!
The area behind the bar used to be reserved for First Class passengers. I thought Emirates contracted the "new" Etihad Lounge, at IAD, for First and Business passengers. I wonder what happened with that -- unless the Etihad Lounge has yet to re-open. It was quite nice--for what it was.
IAD is my Stateside HUB. I'll be interested in seeing what has/hasn't changed at the airport over the last year.
I'm pretty sure that is still the case. We treated ourselves to La Premiere on July 25, 2021 and we were in the room behind the bar. It's not large, but it has reasonably nice furniture and my family had it ALL TO OURSELVES!
Priority Pass holders are like plagues of locusts. AF/KLM have no incentive to supply any decent catering, and would be certain that free-flow champagne is an unintended inclusion.
As traffic recovers there will be pressure to dump PP and restore some degree of exclusivity.
I would doubt they drop Priority Pass: AF/KL lounges have long been on Priority Pass throughout the United States (and in some other countries), long before COVID.
Also, while the cold options like cheese and charcuterie are a little better in the evening when AF flights are leaving, the catering isn't really that much different.
While I understand the outrage from many about how this is a terrible start to an EK F experience, it would behoove some of us to think of the practical aspects. If you were in charge of the customer experience at EK, what would you be able to do differently/better? There are few lounge options at IAD that would fit the timings and location of the EK flights.
Complaining for the sake of complaining just makes all of you look like amateurs.
Actually, EK used to use the Etihad lounge as a combined first/business lounge before EY shut down the lounge completely when Covid hit.
It’s a great space, and it made a lot of sense to share it, as the carriers have flights at different times of the day so crowding between the two was never an issue.
If the EY lounge ever reopens, hopefully EK will make use of it again.
I think this review is pretty spot-on. We have used this lounge lately as the Turkish lounge is often too crowded. I will say that our last couple visits, also in the morning, had full bar service and slightly more food choices. It's not a lounge I would necessarily seek out, especially if there is room in the Turkish lounge since the food is much better, but a croissant, some fruit, and a mimosa (or two) is not a bad way to start a flight!
Agreed that the Turkish Airlines lounge has better food offerings but can be [overcrowded and] hard for PP card holders to get into. For those with PP card from Chase Sapphire Reserve or Capital One Venture X, the PP restaurants at IAD would be better choices assuming one has the time to sit down and order from the menu.
Visited the AF-KLM lounge last year and would rate it a 5.5 or 6 out of 10.
@MoJoe, what the PP restaurants at IAD? I thought there was none since there are lounges.
Chef Geoff’s in concourse C is the only one currently.
Yeah, there is only one PP restaurant (not multiple) at IAD. There are two PP restaurants at DCA, but no regular lounges.
Loved the pics of my home town airport. Your're right that Concourse A/B is one of the best in the U.S. That said, how can the same airport have the worst Concourse in the U.S. with C/D?
Not sure why UA puts up with that.
“Not sure why UA puts up with that.”
You’re confused.
The terrible C/D concourse remains *because* negotiations with UA to (at least partially) pay for a new one have gone nowhere.
@ David -- Agreed, quite the difference between the concourses...
Gosh love seeing pictures of the bathroom ... not, and have it captioned with something to do with "drinks"
@ Crosscourt -- Oops, fixed. Thanks!
Can a Delta Reserve Amex card holder get in?
@ Sherrie -- Nope, unfortunately not. But if you have another card with a Priority Pass membership you could get into this lounge, subject to capacity controls.
If you think IAD is one of the nicest US airports, then you've not travelled much in the United States.
@ grandhotel -- Yeah, I haven't traveled much in the United States. that's definitely the issue. ;-)
To be clear, the A & B Concourses are among the nicer concourses in the US (in my opinion), and not the airport overall. What terminals in the US are nicer? Maybe some terminals at DTW, DFW, and SFO, but I'd say this portion of the terminal is in the top 10% of airport terminals in the country.
What's happened to the old Etihad Lounge at IAD? Seems like something Emirates may want to look at taking over since Washington seems to be a pretty premium market for them (given that they were operating an A380 there earlier in the year and now offer their best 777 First Class).
The club is empty in these photos ...Why? Ij reality is the club is overrun before flights and the auther didn't darr shoe a photo of the buffet around flight time. In April there were no seats at all when I and my wife arrived 90 minutes before a flight. There was virtually nothing left on the buffet and they were still accepting Priority Club members. No meals were being served because the dining area...
The club is empty in these photos ...Why? Ij reality is the club is overrun before flights and the auther didn't darr shoe a photo of the buffet around flight time. In April there were no seats at all when I and my wife arrived 90 minutes before a flight. There was virtually nothing left on the buffet and they were still accepting Priority Club members. No meals were being served because the dining area was being used for overflow. A remodel was done last year to add more seats in the same small area and the place is still too small. The review is questionable.
How is it questionable? This lounge is clearly less busy in the morning, when the author was departing. He didn't have evening photos, when it's more crowded, because he was already halfway to DXB.
Surprised Emirates doesn't have a lounge (even for one flight) - Etihad has its own lounge - actually pretty large with table service dining. Maybe the Emirates flight overlaps.
When I travel international on UA - I usually go to LH lounge, then Turkish Lounge, then Air France Lounge, then United Lounge. The Lufthansa lounge is my favorite with both Senators upstairs and business downstairs. You need to get in Turkish via Start Gold -...
Surprised Emirates doesn't have a lounge (even for one flight) - Etihad has its own lounge - actually pretty large with table service dining. Maybe the Emirates flight overlaps.
When I travel international on UA - I usually go to LH lounge, then Turkish Lounge, then Air France Lounge, then United Lounge. The Lufthansa lounge is my favorite with both Senators upstairs and business downstairs. You need to get in Turkish via Start Gold - otherwise Priority Pass isn't allowed during prime time.
The AF/KLM is attractive but pretty much just a standard lounge.
IAD terminal A/B has 4 lounges (6 if you’re flying LH) that you can enter via Amex/PP.
Turkish is my first choice. Their food is the best. But if it gets crowded, the others might have better seating, if not as great food.
And the VS lounge is now operated by Plaza Premium as another option.
@ Randy -- Always found it interesting that Etihad had a lounge, though it was opened at a time when Etihad was trying to open lounges all over the place. Even though Etihad is back to offering pre-pandemic capacity to Washington, the lounge hasn't opened, and it's my understanding that it might close permanently. If so, curious to see what happens to that space.
When I flu KLM from there they were boarding status-pax and business class passengers directly from the lounge
Priority Pass people have to leave about 3pm before the lounge fills with all the evening flights on AF/KLM. They don’t use that room behind check in for pre-flight dinners. The bar is manned in the afternoon, and from what I see on my flights most are getting champagne which is probably why it’s out.
Have they gone back to kicking out Priority Pass guests at 3ish? They did that pre-COVID, but my last few experiences over the past several months, they were allowing Priority Pass entries even in late afternoon when the lounge was packed!
I use this lounge quite often. It gets VERY crowded with PP.
I do like the quality champagne and bread, a little touch of France.
There should have been eggs with the french fries. I suspect they're having a supplier issue with alcohol - last time I was there (a couple of weeks ago) sign said "no vodka or gin"
Voyage le 9 Mars. Le lounge était très occupé difficile de trouver 2 places côte à côte. Buffet moyen. Accueil bien. Manque de place ?
Imagine paying $10k+ (like our resident only pay cash for first class tickets Endre) to fly Emirates on first class and this is the lounge you get.
@ Luis -- Sadly the outstation lounge experience leaves a lot to be desired at so many airports, especially for non-alliance airlines.
any word on the opening of the capital one lounge at IAD?
@ Andy -- Hah, when I passed through security I tried to see if there were any obvious signs of the lounge nearing completion, but I couldn't find it. It's supposed to open this year, but who knows, since construction delays happen...
With all of the places you go and the reviews you’ve done, it’s nice to see one of my home airport and my regular lounge. I haven’t flown internationally (or much at all really) since pandemic started, but I made a lot of visits to that lounge specifically in 2019 flying AF/KLM (and one Aeroflot trip to Prague).
Funnily enough, since you mentioned it, the B concourse being so much nicer was actually part of...
With all of the places you go and the reviews you’ve done, it’s nice to see one of my home airport and my regular lounge. I haven’t flown internationally (or much at all really) since pandemic started, but I made a lot of visits to that lounge specifically in 2019 flying AF/KLM (and one Aeroflot trip to Prague).
Funnily enough, since you mentioned it, the B concourse being so much nicer was actually part of my decision to switch my domestic travel to Delta from United back in 2017.
I still don't understand the star rating at all. You're flying Emirares in First, and the lounge is mediocre at best. Yet you give it four stars. Two would sound better?
@ Daniel, you must be new to this blog?
Ben runs on champagne. That’s how the additional two stars can be explained.
I believe 3 is his average rating, and 4 would mean above average but misses the mark. Though I could be mistaken, believe he touched on this topic recently
@ Daniel from Finland -- I'm ultimately judging this as a US Priority Pass lounge (since that's how most people would enter the lounge during the day), rather than as an Emirates first class lounge. Similarly, I would rate this lounge lower if this is what the service were like when Air France flights depart in the evening, as there's an elevated food & drink offering then.
For a US Priority Pass lounge, I do...
@ Daniel from Finland -- I'm ultimately judging this as a US Priority Pass lounge (since that's how most people would enter the lounge during the day), rather than as an Emirates first class lounge. Similarly, I would rate this lounge lower if this is what the service were like when Air France flights depart in the evening, as there's an elevated food & drink offering then.
For a US Priority Pass lounge, I do rate this above average, and that's where my star rating comes from.
The majoirty if not all his US readers have a priority pass card and most of us have multiple. This looks to be an outstanding priority pass option for domestic travel so the rating makes a lot of sense.
This lounge was “renovated” a few years ago, but very little changed. It’s a middling offering with a sclerotic choice of food. The morning highlight is the guy who works the front desk - very helpful and very friendly.
The bar usually has a bartender serving whatever one wants, including in the a.m.
You’re correct that the dining area is the best place to plant yourself, as nobody really knows it’s there.
The lounge works...
This lounge was “renovated” a few years ago, but very little changed. It’s a middling offering with a sclerotic choice of food. The morning highlight is the guy who works the front desk - very helpful and very friendly.
The bar usually has a bartender serving whatever one wants, including in the a.m.
You’re correct that the dining area is the best place to plant yourself, as nobody really knows it’s there.
The lounge works for a temporary seating area before a flight, but anything over an hour and you’ll likely go a bit stir crazy.
There’s also a dedicated first class seating area in back near the loos, however this is the same as the AF lounge in Joburg - it’s simply roped off and if you sit there you’ll be like a zoo animal on display; there is literally nothing special about it.
Does Air France not have elevated food/drink for La Premiere passengers, like at JFK? I thought that was a feature they were introducing after renovation.
There is small La Premiere dining room to the left when you enter.
I like this lounge, like the BA one, it is better in the evenings when flying the airline’s business class or first.
"Roped off area" - ha! They have this at the AF/KL lounge at SFO as well. It also has a sign that says "first class lounge". The only time when I was invited to use it was when I was flying Korean Airlines first class. When I actually flew La Premiere (pre-COVID), they directed us to the Virgin Atlantic lounge instead. As their own lounge is nothing special at all, and as the gate agents...
"Roped off area" - ha! They have this at the AF/KL lounge at SFO as well. It also has a sign that says "first class lounge". The only time when I was invited to use it was when I was flying Korean Airlines first class. When I actually flew La Premiere (pre-COVID), they directed us to the Virgin Atlantic lounge instead. As their own lounge is nothing special at all, and as the gate agents put it, the Virgin lounge has "hot food available". I think this is a general trend with AF/KL on this side of the Atlantic.
When I was last La Premiere, a year or two pre-COVID, they did serve me in the little First dining room. Even better champagne, too. Not as good as the BA Concorde room at IAD in B. I like the Virgin lounge next door, too. It is now one of the Amex Plat partner lounges, has good food and champagne, and I have switched from my TK/LH visits to AF/Virgin visits when convenient.
Visited this lounge in 2018, and although it’s been updated since then, I recognized it right away from your pictures. My first thought was what a lackluster lounge for an Emirates F send off. Just visited the combined F/J lounge in SFO before our flight to Dubai - what a difference.
@ Jimmy’s Travel Report -- Agreed, it's absolutely not a great lounge for Emirates first class, but it is a solid lounge for Priority Pass.