To return from Bucharest to the US we booked a discounted business class ticket to New York — we booked TAROM A318 business class from Bucharest to London, and Virgin Atlantic A350-1000 business class from London to New York. In the next installment I’ll talk about the pricing.
Our flight from Bucharest to London was departing at 12:20PM, and we got to the airport at around 10AM.
Bucharest Airport check-in hall
At Bucharest Airport there’s a separate check-in desk for each departure, and our London flight wasn’t yet posted. However, we found the TAROM SkyPriority check-in desk, so headed there.
When we told them we were flying to London they said check in would only open at 10:30AM, under two hours before departure. However, after explaining we didn’t have any checked bags they reluctantly checked us in.
One interesting note — the employees had several different types of uniforms, and for that matter we saw all kinds of TAROM employees wearing non-company sweatshirts, hoodies, etc. I was a bit surprised by the lack of consistency in that regard. I assume they were all TAROM employees, and it wasn’t just “bring your friend to work” day?
TAROM business class check-in Bucharest
Security was quick and friendly, as there was no one else in line. We then headed through immigration, which only took a couple of minutes.
One thing I can’t wrap my head around is all of the airport advertisements for duty free. Below are pictures of a few of the advertisements.
Bucharest Airport advertising
Bucharest Airport advertising
Bucharest Airport advertising
They even have the below display.
Bucharest Airport advertising
I have so many questions about this advertisement:
- I understand that sexism/objectifying women differs around the world, and clearly in Romania that’s still okay, but wow
- It’s a bit odd for all the duty free advertisements at a commercial airport to involve private jets; is buying a bottle of Svedka supposed to make me feel like I’m flying private?
- More importantly, I find this to be a really ineffective ad; what are they actually advertising, because there’s no call to action, and what are the rewards?
We followed the signage towards the TAROM Lounge, which was towards the end of the terminal. I was surprised to find that TAROM operated their own lounge, as I figured the airport just had a contract lounge shared by all carriers, but that’s not the case — there are two separate lounges.
Bucharest Airport airside terminal
The escalator to the lounge was at the end of the terminal.
Escalators to TAROM Lounge Bucharest
TAROM Business Lounge Bucharest exterior
At the entryway we presented our boarding passes, and were quickly admitted. The lounge is open to SkyTeam business class passengers, as well as SkyTeam Elite Plus passengers.
Inside the entrance and to the left was a smoking room.
TAROM Business Lounge Bucharest smoking lounge
The remainder of the lounge was to the right. While the lounge felt pretty generic and IKEAish, I thought it was still reasonably nice and modern.
TAROM Business Lounge Bucharest
There was some seating near the entrance, then there was the buffet, and then most of the seating was towards the back.
TAROM Business Lounge Bucharest
TAROM Lounge Bucharest buffet
Towards the back of the lounge were dining tables with chairs, as well as circular seating areas.
TAROM Lounge Bucharest seating
TAROM Lounge Bucharest seating
TAROM Lounge Bucharest seating
TAROM Lounge Bucharest seating
TAROM Lounge Bucharest seating
There was also an office desk you could work from.
TAROM Lounge Bucharest seating
The lounge had views of the apron, which were quite nice, and on the other side of the lounge there were interior views of the terminal and escalator.
TAROM Lounge Bucharest view
TAROM Lounge Bucharest view
As far as the food & drinks go, the selection wasn’t terrible, but also wasn’t impressive. There was self serve water, soft drinks, coffee, tea, juice, wine, beer, and hard liquor.
TAROM Lounge Bucharest drinks
TAROM Lounge Bucharest coffee & tea
TAROM Lounge Bucharest alcohol
TAROM Lounge Bucharest drinks
To eat there was yogurt, pastries, croissants, chips, nuts, snack mix, fresh fruit, and finger sandwiches.
TAROM Lounge Bucharest food
TAROM Lounge Bucharest snacks
TAROM Lounge Bucharest snacks
TAROM Lounge Bucharest snacks
TAROM Lounge Bucharest snacks
TAROM Lounge Bucharest snacks
TAROM Lounge Bucharest snacks
Unfortunately the lounge didn’t have bathrooms, but rather you had to use the public bathrooms just outside the lounge.
TAROM Lounge Bucharest toilets
Wifi in the lounge was fast and free, so we spent some time getting caught up on work before our Wi-Fi-less flight. Our boarding pass didn’t indicate the boarding time, so we headed to the gate at around 11:30AM.
Bucharest Airport terminal
Our flight was departing from gate 12, just a short walk away (there was a casino on the way there).
Bucharest Airport casino
The gate agent showed up at around 11:45AM, and then at 11:55AM boarding started, with SkyPriority passengers being invited to board first, via the lane on the right.
Bucharest Airport gate
I was probably a little bit too excited about our TAROM flight, but they are one of the last alliance airlines I haven’t flown, so…
TAROM Lounge Bucharest Bottom Line
On the plus side, Bucharest Airport is fairly easy to use, so that’s good. As far as the lounge itself goes, it was totally fine and unremarkable. It was about in line with what I’d expect from any contract lounge in Europe, even though in this case it’s an airline operated lounge that isn’t open to Priority Pass.
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