Its no secret that American Express Platinum Card and The Business Platinum Card from American Express offer the one of the best airport lounge benefits of any card in the market.
Continue reading: Review: Escape Lounge Minneapolis MSP
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
I'll probably never fly through MSP, but I really enjoyed reading your review. Great sense of humour.
I live in Minneapolis and can honestly attest to the fact that it’s Siberia only for about 5 months. At other times like May and September-October it can be downright lovely! But it’s getting crowded so please don’t move here!
What's the policy on guest access for Platinum card holders? When it was Priority Pass, I could bring up to two guests I think, but am not sure with the Plat card based access.
Thank you for this review!
Very helpful for this MSP based flyer, and also for anyone who connects through MSP, which is a lot of Delta flyers
I’m especially happy to hear about those bathrooms.
MSP bathrooms are some of the nicest ones in America
But the people using them at peak times makes them not so pleasant
Would love to see a review of the E/F MSP skyclub. It was renovated a few months ago and I can’t find any updated reviews online
Great review of the MSP Escape lounge. I've heard good things about it, but most DL flights to the west coast for me don't seem to route through MSP, so I probably won't have a chance to go there myself.
Their complimentary spirits list seems fairly good to me but their paid wine prices are absurd - AA's complimentary well drinks in the AC are about 17 steps below their listing!
@MSPTraveler - It's the same as back in the PP days - you plus 2 guests.
http://www.escapelounges.com/us-escape-lounge-american-express/
I also live in Mpls and can attest this is the most underrated city in the US. Winter is bad but you get used to it. Summer is amazing. The airport is fantastic and I can’t think of a faster place to clear immigration when flying from abroad. But as Gregg said above please do not move here. It is lovely the way it is. 🙂 As for the Escape lounge it is a great option if you need a quiet place. I often use it when flying with family since I won’t pay for my kids to access the Delta lounge as it is not worth the money.
I’m based in bdl too, and love the escape lounge. I’ll schedule trips around lunch so I can stop in and have the tomato soup on with grilled cheese croutons.
As one of the 5 readers based out of Hartford, I can attest that the Escape at BDL is excellent — great small tastes including a pesto salmon that’s served in individual cast iron ramikens. Typically fairly busy when I’ve visited but always a free chair and table. Plus restrooms in the lounge itself.
The food can be hit and miss, especially if the staff are too overworked to refresh the spread in a timely manner. I think Escape’s generally superior to the F/G SC for breakfast (hellooo salmon egg bake) but not necessarily for lunch/dinner since the SC refresh.
Also, pro tip, the PP credit’s also good downstairs from the PGA Lounge at Ike’s restaurant. Just have the PGA attendant run the card, print the voucher, and bring it down to Ike’s. You can even order a meal to go.
My wife, son and I recently had a long layover at MSP. The airport was a madhouse that evening- I had no idea that airport was so large or crowded. We first checked into a Skylounge which was as crowded and calamitous as the rest of the airport. No way was I going to pay an extra $28 or $56 (not sure whether they’d charge for a 2yr old) for that.
So we decided to use the Escape lounge - whose name sounds kind of funny now with the prevelance of ‘escape rooms’ these days. 🙂
The lounge was beautiful, peaceful and quiet. We enjoyed the huge booths for dining, and the food/bev was top notch for a US lounge. I’m guessing that it’s ‘under use’ is due partly to its location, must mainly because you access it only through Amex Plat - not PP which is held by everyone.
The furnishings were high quality, and it was a pleasure to kill a few hours there. Unfortunately it closes at 9pm which meant we still had a couple more hours to burn until our (delayed) flight. Not a huge problem there as MSP boasts an awesome kids’ area and many excellent dining options throughout.
I love the MSP Escape Lounge. I was disappointed when it dropped from the Priority Pass portfolio so I’m happy to use it via my AMEX Platinum Card. The staff are always super-friendly and I’ve always seen more than 2 there. The food offerings are always plentiful and regularly refreshed although on my last visit on July 27th the little pots of mac and cheese let the side down a bit.
It’s only the slightest of inconveniences to find the restrooms on the adjacent corridor. One of my favourite lounges. Beats fighting for a seat at the DL lounge any day!
I travel through Hartford probably half a dozen times or so per year being from the surrounding area. I love going loung hopping between the Escape and then the Admiral’s club, shocked in a way that we have two lounges there at Bradley Field. Being a Dallas-based AA-flyer, I love BDL’s direct flights (granted it is now 2x a day vs. 3x a day since the USAir merger) to Dallas even if they cost a lot of money, Boston is a sh__show compared to BDL, especially the rental car buses there. I have also visited the MSP lounge a few times after switching loyalty from DL->AA and not being able to use Amex Platinum to go into sky clubs nor Diamond membership at DL.
- The MSP escape lounge used to give you an access card that you could use to re-enter via that door you’ve pictured close to the bathroom. I guess that’s changed?
- The MSP lounge was busy on Thursday evenings when I would travel to MSP, nothing crazy like the DFW Centurion but it was lively to say the least.
@ Three out of the five BDL flyers - Nice to find you on here, and challenge accepted (eventually)!
I would say that @ymx's review is spot-on. The only thing I would add is that the staff is incredibly enthusiastic, perhaps bordering on overly attentive at times, but generally refreshingly nice.
Anyway, come say hello if you ever see me there, and if the lounge is closed I'll buy you a drink at Two Roads (or Dunkin' Donuts, if it's pre-6 AM).
I visited this lounge about a year ago and paid nothing for bottled beer or wine. Has this recently changed? They had a small self-serve refrigerator near the bar on each end with beer and soft drink choices.
The food setup was significantly different back then too - more of a buffet-style setup, but with basically the same food choices.
Agree that it was very quiet, probably because it is at an odd spot in the airport. It's a nice spot to relax if you are tired of the SkyClubs.
So I guess this begs the question, if the lounge is always this empty, why are they dissing Priority Pass?
I'm based out of OMA so I fly through MSP quite a bit. The Escape lounge is hands down the best lounge at MSP. Like Steph said, it's quite, hardly every crowded, and has the best food and drink selection. Great review!
I was bummed by the lounge. Cafeteria quality food, really unknowledgable bartenders (i don't totally blame them, like the rest of MSP it's staffed by East African immigrants who don't grow up with the array of drinks Americans are accustomed to, and requesting anything more complicated than a gin and tonic was beyond them). The decor was decidedly not chic and had a strong whiff of 2004 modern design style. Delta's sky clubs (about to visit the msp location) were much better
I visited the centurion escape lounge the week between Christmas and New Year's 2022... It was my first opportunity to go to a centurion lounge and I have to say I was incredibly disappointed.... I just picked up the platinum Amex card so decided to try it. I have a corporate membership at Delta sky club . I was there less than 5 minutes. They were out of most of the drinks, food was picked over and old, barely any seats, so I ended up walking down to the sky club. Can't say I have any inkling to try again ever....sad. btw...the main sky club lounge was great!