After flying from Newark to Brussels on United, I had a roughly 2.5 hour layover before continuing to Vienna in Austrian… economy?!
When I went to book this ticket there wasn’t award space in business class, but I expected it would open up, and I could change last minute. It didn’t. Ultimately that wasn’t a big deal at all, since it’s a short flight, and intra-Europe business class is nothing to get excited about.
However, it also meant I wasn’t entitled to lounge access on account of my ticket, so I instead spent my layover in a Priority Pass lounge (with Star Alliance you only get lounge access based on the cabin you’re flying on your outbound flight, unless you have status).
I proceeded towards immigration so that I could enter the Schengen zone. It was a bit of a walk to get to the A-gates, but I appreciated the opportunity to get some movement after the overnight flight.
Brussels Airport
The Priority Pass lounge in this part of the terminal is the Diamond Lounge, and the escalator to the lounge is located above gate A42.
Escalator to lounges Brussels Airport
There are two lounges up here — there’s the Brussels Airlines Lounge, which I’ve reviewed before, and which is excellent — and then there’s the Diamond Lounge.
The lounge is open daily from 5AM until 9PM, and can be accessed by Priority Pass members, and is also used by many non-Star Alliance airlines for their premium passengers.
Diamond Lounge Brussels Airport signage
Diamond Lounge Brussels Airport exterior
Well, let me say that “Diamond” perhaps isn’t a word I’d use to describe this lounge. Inside the entrance and to the left was the main seating of the lounge, which featured a bunch of mismatched furniture that I imagine they must have picked up at several different clearance sales, or something.
Diamond Lounge Brussels Airport seating
Diamond Lounge Brussels Airport seating
Diamond Lounge Brussels Airport seating
Diamond Lounge Brussels Airport seating
It’s bad enough that the furniture is so mismatched, but the condition it’s in also leaves something to be desired.
Well maintained furniture!
In the center part of the lounge is some high-top seating.
Diamond Lounge Brussels Airport seating
Diamond Lounge Brussels Airport seating
Diamond Lounge Brussels Airport seating
Then at the far end of the lounge are some L-shaped leather benches.
Diamond Lounge Brussels Airport seating
Diamond Lounge Brussels Airport seating
The lounge didn’t really have direct views of the apron, but rather overlooked roadways and fields in the sterile part of the airport.
Diamond Lounge Brussels Airport view
The buffet is in the center part of the lounge.
Diamond Lounge Brussels Airport buffet
Diamond Lounge Brussels Airport buffet
The selection wasn’t too bad, and included cheese cold cuts, salad, cookies, snack mix, cereal, croissants, bread, and more.
Diamond Lounge Brussels Airport buffet
Diamond Lounge Brussels Airport buffet
Diamond Lounge Brussels Airport snacks
Diamond Lounge Brussels Airport snacks
Diamond Lounge Brussels Airport snacks
Drinks included water, juice, coffee, wine, beer, liquor, and soft drinks.
Diamond Lounge Brussels Airport drinks
Diamond Lounge Brussels Airport drinks
Diamond Lounge Brussels Airport coffee
Diamond Lounge Brussels Airport drinks
Towards the center part of the lounge were some newspapers and magazines.
Diamond Lounge Brussels Airport newspapers & magazines
The lounge’s bathrooms were fairly clean, though the lounge didn’t have any showers, best I could tell.
I spent just under two hours in the lounge getting caught up on work, and then headed to the gate for my flight to Vienna.
My Austrian flight to Vienna was scheduled to board at 9:45AM from a nearby gate. So I headed there around that time.
Brussels Airport terminal
Unfortunately we had a bit of a delay, as the inbound plane had a bird strike, so they had to carry out some inspections.
Austrian A320 Brussels Airport
I lucked out in that I had an empty seat next to me, even though the plane was nearly full. There must have been just a few empty seats, and I got one of them. So I basically got intra-Europe business class after all. 😉
Austrian economy
The only other noteworthy things about the flight was that:
- The purser seemed to think he worked for Southwest and not Austrian, because he was full of jokes (and his translation of his jokes was funnier than the jokes as such)
- The plane had Wi-Fi, which sure is a nice feature to increasingly see on intra-Europe flights
Austrian Wi-Fi pricing
Diamond Lounge Brussels Airport bottom line
The Diamond Lounge was the only lounge option for me in this terminal, so I guess it was better than the gate area? But big picture this is not a nice lounge, and I would do what I can to minimize my time here.
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