I made it to Colombo shortly before 11PM, and had a roughly 90 minute connection before my flight to Male. Since my connection was on a separate ticket, my first priority was finding the transit desk so that I could have my boarding pass issued. We arrived at the far end of one of the…
Continue reading: Review: SriLankan Serendib Lounge Colombo Airport
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The number of affiliate links and blogs pushing credit cards in the travel industry in general pisses me off. Just saying.
@Scott none of them are forcing you to apply. You can also choose to not visit these blogs.
Much nicer than the lounger you visited on you last trip to that airport. Do they offer shower facilities?
Slightly off topic, but besides CF from the US to Male, what are other most direct routes from the US?
When in SL, eat the local food; not the western fare. Did the buffet include the former: curries, biriyani, etc.? Lounge would be worth it for that alone 🙂
@Neil S.
TK, EK, EY, and SQ are among the airlines that fly from their hubs to Male which would make for one stop service from many US gateways.
Have found when flying business class on Sri Lankan out of Colomobo, we get an invitation to the Serendib Lounge (irrespective of any status). When flying any other airline for which Sri Lankan provide the lounge, we get an invitation to the Serenediva Lounge (which is a far worse lounge).
I was there 2 weeks ago flying to BKK and the food was not so good. The wine was horrendous.
Ben, I was there 2 weeks ago flying QR from CMB-DOH-CDG in business as a Oneworld Sapphire. I was actually turned away from Serenediva and escorted to Serenedib. So maybe it's the other way around as far as eligibility? From what I experienced and saw though, the Serenedib seems to be the better lounge.
You mention the staff/pax ratio. I can tell you that once all the UL flights leave, there is no one in the lounge. There's a period from about 230am-6am with no SriLankan flights. No one from QR or CX was there either, as they are directed to the crappy contract lounge. I used my Oneworld status to access the SriLankan lounge figuring it would be better. It was me and about a half dozen staffmembers. A couple of pilots were there who seemed to be there mainly to flirt with the hostesses. Despite me being the only person, they kept the buffet fully stocked though!
Have you checked out the lounge shared by Qatar, Cathay, etc? How does it compare?
And do business class passengers traveling on oneworld get access to this SriLankan lounge?
@norman - the lounge shared by Qatar and Cathay is a generic contract lounge shared by several airlines. It is very mediocre. If you are Oneworld business or first (or Sapphire or Emerald) you can use the Sri Lankan lounges now that SriLankan is a member of Oneworld. Those lounges are far better. It seems most people don't know about this, thus I ended up having the large Serendib lounge to myself.
@ Norman -- I haven't, sorry. I do believe oneworld elite members should be able to access the SriLankan lounge.
@Norman - a lot of times the check in counters won't open till 3 hours before departure, so if you are originating at Colombo, you might not be able to check in until 130am. I think the lounges are 24 hours.
Ben,
Happy to know you liked your time in the lounge. I have visited there many times, at different time of the day depend on my flight. They do serve wonderful food, both Western and Sri Lankan, one can really eat a full meal, unlike some lounges in the world which just serve snacks and drinks. I am glad you did not get to try the Serendiva lounge, which doubles as a transit hotel. The staffs there were sully and unhelpful, atmosphere is dreary and dull too.
Ben-would you say 90 minutes is enough to transit CMB? Looking at a flight on China Eastern MLE-CMB arriving at 2310 connecting to a CX departure at 0040. Any idea if there is a tendency for logjams for night flights out of MLE leading to delays?
@ Gaurav -- In theory it's enough, though if you're booking separate tickets I'd say that's extremely tight. Any sort of decent sized delay would cause you to misconnect, which I wouldn't want to risk if you're on separate tickets.
Hi Ben! What do you think of a 75-minute turnaround transit in Colombo with separate tickets on Cathay?
And in your case, did you have to sort out any checked-in baggage?
Thanks a lot!
Hey Lucky!
Same as guy above's 2nd question: is there the opportunity to retrieve checked baggage and still check in at the airside Sri Lankan transit counter? I too will soon be transiting CMB on separate itineraries and am fearful of missing lounge time if I have to go out landside for bag retrieval. Thanks, and I love the blog!
My transit time at Colombo airport was 13 hours, between business flights from GAN to Colombo, the Colombo to Melbourne.
However I was refused entry to the lounge as they only allow a 10 hour stay maximum.
Very disappointing for a oneworld airline.