In 2024, we saw the opening of a stunning new terminal at Portland International Airport (PDX). I haven’t been yet, but it truly looks like the most impressive terminal in the country. The one thing missing at the time was a new Alaska Lounge, to add capacity, and reflect the carrier’s new design concept. So along those lines, there’s now a positive update.
In this post:
Details of the new Alaska Lounge Portland (PDX)
The much anticipated new Alaska Lounge Portland will be opening on Thursday, June 4, 2026, after more than two years of construction, at a cost of around $18 million. The new lounge is over 14,000 square feet, making it twice the size of the previous lounge. It has the capacity for more than 200 guests.
As it’s described, the new Alaska Lounge Portland has a warm, thoughtfully designed Pacific Northwest aesthetic, featuring high, open ceilings, bringing in a lot of natural light, and terminal views. The lounge also boasts loungers, phone booths, a fireplace, and a wooden Mt. Hood mural.
The lounge of course has a full service bar, barista coffee, and a buffet with a selection of food. You can find the Alaska Lounge access rules here, and below you can find the first pictures the airline has shared of the facility.
Alaska has three more exciting lounges on the way
For an airline of its size, Alaska is investing very nicely in its lounge network. With the opening of the new Alaska Lounge Seattle, there are three more Alaska Air Group lounges on the way:
- In late 2027, we’ll see the opening of a new “landmark” Alaska Lounge Seattle (SEA), which will be a staggering 41,000 square feet; this will be by far the carrier’s biggest lounge to date, and will have a level just for long haul business class passengers and Atmos Rewards Titanium members
- In 2028, we’ll see the opening of a new Alaska Lounge San Diego (SAN), which will be roughly 13,000 square feet; the airline used to have a lounge at the airport, so it’s nice to see that this concept will return
- Also in 2028, we’ll see the opening of a new Hawaiian Lounge Honolulu (HNL); this will be around 15,000 square feet, and should be a massive improvement over Hawaiian’s very lame lounge setup there at the moment
Bottom line
The Alaska Lounge Portland is finally opening, after quite the delay! It looks like it was worth the wait, though, as it’s substantially bigger than the old lounge, and looks beautiful. I look forward to checking this out at some point (though I haven’t been in Portland for many years).
Beyond that, we can expect Alaska Air Group to continue investing in its lounge network, with new locations opening in Seattle, San Diego, and Honolulu, in 2027 and 2028.
What do you make of the new Alaska Lounge Portland?
Generally not a fan of mezzanine-level lounges that are open air in the terminal, but I think it will work well aesthetically given how stunning the terminal structure is. There just need to be focused climate control and sound-dampening elements.
The old lounge was a glorified closet, on par with an outstation lounge, so this will be a huge upgrade. I'm guessing the overflow express lounge by the B gates will close?