Review: Air France Lounge Montreal Airport (YUL)

During my exotic journey to Bangkok via Paris, I flew Air France’s Boeing 787-9 business class from Montreal (YUL) to Paris (CDG). Prior to that, I had the chance to spend some time at the Air France Lounge Montreal Trudeau International Airport, which I’ll be reviewing in this installment.

The Air France Lounge Montreal was last renovated back in 2021. While it’s primarily intended for Air France-KLM passengers, it’s also available to those with Priority Pass, at least over select hours. This is physically a beautiful lounge with great views, and it has a pretty decent food and drink selection as well. Let’s get into the review.

Air France Lounge Montreal location

The Air France Lounge Montreal is located in the international terminal, near gate 57. You’ll only be able to visit this lounge if you’re traveling on an international flight to a destination other than the United States (since transborder flights have their own section of the terminal).

Once you’re in the international terminal, just turn left, and follow the signage in the direction of gate 57.

Once you approach that gate, you’ll see the entrance to the Air France Lounge on the right.

While the lounge’s reception is on the same level as the concourse, the actual lounge is up a level, and can be accessed by an elevator or stairs.

Air France Lounge Montreal hours

The Air France Lounge Montreal is currently open daily from 5AM until 10PM. In the afternoons, the lounge largely caters to passengers on Air France and KLM transatlantic flights. As you might expect, this lounge can get really busy during those periods, given the number of passengers with lounge access.

Meanwhile the lounge is open earlier in the day in order to be monetized, through Priority Pass and other access agreements.

Air France Lounge Montreal entry requirements

The Air France Lounge Montreal is primarily intended as a lounge for Air France and KLM passengers traveling to Paris and Amsterdam, respectively. In line with SkyTeam lounge access policies, the lounge can be accessed by SkyTeam business class passengers, as well as SkyTeam Elite Plus members.

On top of that, the lounge is also open to Priority Pass members. There are of course many premium credit cards offering Priority Pass™ Select memberships. Priority Pass members are limited to using the lounge for two hours (it sure feels like time constraints on Priority Pass visits are getting pretty extreme). Also note that Priority Pass members may occasionally be turned away due to capacity constraints, particularly in the evenings.

Air France Lounge Montreal seating & layout

The Air France Lounge Montreal isn’t particularly large. It’s 490 square meters (~5,300 square foot), and it has seating for 149 guests. What’s awesome about the lounge is that it has a modern design, tons of natural light, and amazing views, thanks to its floor-to-ceiling windows.

The main part of the lounge is a large rectangular room, set around the buffet and bar. The center of the room has cafe-style tables and booths, some of which seat two people, and some of which are communal. It really is a pretty space, especially with the slanted ceilings.

The bar area has high-top seating, as well as a communal table.

Then along the windows, you’ll find more traditional lounge seating, with leather chairs arranged in rows, facing one another.

The lounge also has some couches, which even have an Air France Concorde model — how cool!

Right near the entrance, there’s also an area with quasi workstations facing outside.

In the very back of the lounge, you’ll find an area with around a dozen dining tables.

Near the entrance to the lounge, there are some lockers for luggage storage. There’s also an area that’s roped off for Flying Blue Ultimate members, which is the top tier status in the Flying Blue program.

That’s the extent of the lounge. As you can see, it’s modern and has lots of natural light, so it’s a good outstation lounge.

Air France Lounge Montreal food & drinks

What’s the food and drink selection like in the Air France Lounge Montreal? During my afternoon visit, there was a self-serve food selection, and you can find the menu below.

Cold options included salad, a variety of cold cuts, cheese, veggies, salad, bread, crackers, pastries, and more.

Then warm options included beef stew in red wine sauce, sun-dried tomato cream sauce pasta, roasted carrots and parsnip, rice pilaf, quiche, and soup.

There was also a selection of self-serve drinks, including a soda fountain, water, a Lavazza coffee machine, and a selection of tea.

Lastly, additional drinks were available at the bar. The menu differs based on what time you visit. For example, when visiting in the evenings, there’s a more extensive cocktail list.

Meanwhile last time when I visited before 2PM, the drink list was as shown below.

I had a negroni to drink, which was perfectly prepared.

Air France Lounge Montreal bathrooms & showers

The Air France Lounge Montreal has bathrooms and showers located in the back of the lounge behind the bar, along a corridor. There are a total of seven bathrooms, and three of them have showers as well.

I appreciate how each bathroom is its own room, with both a sink and toilet, so that affords a bit more privacy than you get in most airport bathrooms.

The shower rooms are compact but functional, and each has a sink, a walk-in shower with a glass shield, and a toilet.

Toiletries were in unbranded, wall-mounted containers.

Bottom line

The Air France Lounge Montreal is a solid outstation lounge, with modern decor and lots of natural light. This lounge is of course open to Air France and KLM passengers, but it’s also open to Priority Pass members, making it a great option in the terminal.

While the lounge can get busy (especially in the evenings), it’s ultimately a solid outstation lounge, and I appreciate the views, modern design, good cocktails, and solid food.

What’s your take on the Air France Lounge Montreal?