Review: The Club Boston Airport (Terminal E)

Review: The Club Boston Airport (Terminal E)

NAME: The Club
Airport: BOS
DATE: January 2020
REVIEW RATING:
BEN SAYS: This lounge is roughly what you'd expect from a contract lounge, with comfortable seating options and a decent selection of snacks
15


Okay, it’s time to let the cat out of the bag. I was flying Virgin Atlantic’s 787-9 Upper Class from Boston to London, though the flight was only departing shortly before 10PM, and the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse only opened at 6PM.

Since I arrived from Tampa shortly after 2PM, I had a few hours to kill before I could visit the Clubhouse. That gave me time to review The Club in Terminal E, which is also available to Priority Pass members.

The Club Boston Logan Location

The Club is located in Terminal E at Boston Logan Airport, which is the terminal used by many international airlines. Once you clear security in the terminal, just turn left and follow the signage in the direction of gates E10-12.

Boston Logan Airport Terminal E

At the end of the hall turn left, and then you’ll see the elevators and stairs leading to airline lounges.


Boston Logan Airport Terminal E

The terminal is located on the third floor, while airline lounges are located on the second and fourth floors. The Club and Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse are the two lounges located on the second floor, which sure made it easy to get between them.

Elevators to airline lounges at BOS Terminal E

Once on the second floor there’s signage leading to both of the lounges.

Boston Airport lounge signage

The Club is located down a rather grim hallway and on the right.

Hallway to The Club Boston Airport

The Club Boston entrance

The Club Boston Logan Hours

The Club is open daily from 5:30AM until 1AM, so it covers virtually all departures from the terminal.

How To Access The Club Boston Airport

The Club can be accessed in a variety of ways:

  • The Club is used as a contract lounge for several airlines departing from the terminal, including Hainan Airlines and Qatar Airways
  • The Club is open to Priority Pass members, though certain times of the day they may restrict access due to crowding; in particular, apparently they frequently restrict access between 4PM and 10PM
  • You can outright purchase access to The Club, including through LoungeBuddy

I entered the lounge using my Priority Pass membership. In retrospect I see that the Priority Pass website says that technically members can only access the lounge three hours before departure, though that wasn’t enforced when I visited.

The Club BOS Review

I had visited some other locations of “The Club” before (including recently visiting their Atlanta location), so I was curious to see how the Boston location compared.

I was very pleasantly surprised, in particular by how empty the lounge was during my visit from 3PM until 6PM (when I figured it would be quite busy).

The Club Layout & Seating

Let’s start with the main negative. The lounge has no windows or natural flight, as it’s essentially in the basement. Upon entering the lounge there’s a main room, which has a bunch of dining tables, some chairs arranged along the side of the room, and some high-top seating.

The Club Boston seating


The Club Boston seating


The Club Boston seating


The Club Boston seating


The Club Boston seating

Deeper in the lounge there’s some more seating, including a booth along a wall, and then a dozen or so additional seats.


The Club Boston seating


The Club Boston Airport seating

In the very back fo the lounge is another room with a TV area, as well as a business center with a communal table.

The Club Boston seating


The Club Boston Airport business center


The Club Boston Airport business center

In this part of the lounge there are also some comfy semi-private seats, each of which has a small table as well. I love these kinds of seating arrangements.


The Club Boston Airport seating

Clearly they had a bit of extra space, because they created a small cell phone free zone to the side of this area, with four seats.


The Club Boston Airport seating


The Club Boston Airport seating

This is hardly an exciting lounge, though what I can’t emphasize enough is how happy I was about how quiet the lounge was. I was there in the afternoon and at no point were there more than another dozen or so guests.

My biggest issue with US Priority Pass lounges nowadays is how consistently crowded they are, so to me the lounge earns a bunch of bonus points for being quiet.

The Club Food & Drinks

As far as contract lounges go, The Club usually does a pretty good job with their food & drink offerings.

In the case of this location, the food selection included a salad bar, some finger sandwiches (or perhaps wraps, more accurately), and two types of soup.

The Club Boston buffet


The Club Boston buffet


The Club Boston buffet

As someone who often wonders what the heck is being served in the lounges, I appreciate that The Club has a menu explaining what everything is.

The Club Boston Logan menu

Also in this area was a coffee machine, as well as a variety of soft drinks.


The Club Boston coffee machine


The Club Boston Logan drinks

Back in the main room of the lounge were some cookies and brownies.


The Club Boston Logan dessert

Then there was a table with water, tea, and even more snacks.


The Club Boston Logan drinks & snacks


The Club Boston Logan snacks

Complimentary alcohol is available by request from one of the employees in the lounge. There’s not a formal bar, though the lounge staff were pretty proactive in coming around and seeing if anyone wanted anything.

The Club Bathrooms & Showers

The Club has two individual bathrooms, and each also has a (rather basic) shower. It’s nice that the lounge has showers at all, though at the same time if someone actually used one of the showers they’d be down to just one bathroom, which doesn’t seem ideal, at least if the lounge were any busier.

The Club Boston Airport bathroom


The Club Boston Airport bathroom


The Club Boston Airport shower

The Club Boston Bottom Line

The Club was a great place to spend a few hours and get some work done. While the lounge isn’t about to win any awards for design, I appreciated how quiet the lounge was, and thought the food and drink selection was pretty good for a contract lounge.

If you’ve visited The Club Boston, what was your experience like? Was I just really lucky with how empty the lounge was?

Conversations (15)
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  1. sf_cal Guest

    Does anyone know if this lounge is no longer part of Priority Pass? I don't see it on the website / app anymore.

  2. Weymar M Osborne Gold

    @JR Since Yes, Qatar and BA are both in Oneworld and you're flying in Business Class so you'd be able to access the BA lounge even without your AA Platinum Pro status.

  3. boardingareaflukie Guest

    I used The Club at BOS for the sole purpose of using the shower before heading to the nicer Virgin Clubhouse with doesn't have them (I was taking a Virgin flight). After stating my intention of using the shower the check-in person handed me a towel and gave me directions to them.

    This was about 7pm at night and the lounge was rather busy.

    When I found the two unisex bathrooms/showers I entered one, locked...

    I used The Club at BOS for the sole purpose of using the shower before heading to the nicer Virgin Clubhouse with doesn't have them (I was taking a Virgin flight). After stating my intention of using the shower the check-in person handed me a towel and gave me directions to them.

    This was about 7pm at night and the lounge was rather busy.

    When I found the two unisex bathrooms/showers I entered one, locked the door and used the shower as quickly as possible. I think I was in and out in about 15 minutes. When I exited I was greeted by a frowning lady who said she's been waiting for 10 minutes. I felt a bit guilty, but as you said they should have non-shower bathrooms for those who don't need showers.

  4. Mark Guest

    I visited The Club in Terminal E about a year and a half ago. I think it’s been renovated since, but the facilities look similar to the lounge I visited. I was waiting for a 1:50AM Cathay Pacific departure, and the lounge was nearly empty when I arrived around 10PM. I don’t remember showers in the bathroom so maybe that’s an update. However, Boston is not as much of a transfer point with long layovers...

    I visited The Club in Terminal E about a year and a half ago. I think it’s been renovated since, but the facilities look similar to the lounge I visited. I was waiting for a 1:50AM Cathay Pacific departure, and the lounge was nearly empty when I arrived around 10PM. I don’t remember showers in the bathroom so maybe that’s an update. However, Boston is not as much of a transfer point with long layovers as some other airports, so I doubt if showers will be in strong demand. The food was okay, in small portions as with most lounges. It was slightly annoying to have to flag down an attendant to get a drink, but the service was fine. At that time, the lounge closed around midnight - or maybe they just wanted the lone customer (me) outta there so they could go home. A basic, quiet lounge that I’m looking forward to visiting again in April.

  5. Aaron Diamond

    Lucky, maybe you should make a list, the top 10 or top 5 Priority Pass lounges worldwide? Just the ones that aren't established airlines that work with PP (like, don't include any Air France or Turkish lounges, or maybe they could be a separate list).

  6. ChadMC Guest

    What in the world is that in the soap dispenser in the shower??

  7. GuruPathik Guest

    Seriously? Another Virgin Atlantic report? How boring! You should have gotten a better idea fro replacing your trip to China dude.

    1. Ben (Lucky) OMAAT

      @ GuruPathik -- "Another?" I reviewed Virgin Atlantic's A350 business class recently, but other than that it has been nearly five years since I've reviewed Virgin Atlantic business class. Sorry if you don't see value in reviewing the main business class seat in Virgin Atlantic's fleet, but I do.

      And this is only one part of how I'm getting to Asia, so stay tuned. ;)

  8. GuruJanitor Gold

    Funny, I am the opposite of @Brian Radigan above. I much prefer "The Lounge" in Terminal C. It is basically a smaller version of The Club, but you actually have good natural light, and a nice view of the B6 apron. The only draw backs are there are no showers, and it gets very crowded before the Aer Lingus flight. They restrict access during that time, but if you're already in they wont kick you...

    Funny, I am the opposite of @Brian Radigan above. I much prefer "The Lounge" in Terminal C. It is basically a smaller version of The Club, but you actually have good natural light, and a nice view of the B6 apron. The only draw backs are there are no showers, and it gets very crowded before the Aer Lingus flight. They restrict access during that time, but if you're already in they wont kick you out. I've been to both of the priority pass lounges in Terminal E, the other of which is the Air France lounge, and they are both the same, dark and dreary. There is a reason they are often empty outside of peak hours.

  9. John New Member

    This used to be the Aer Lingus lounge.

  10. Brian Guest

    The club is not empty at night when the trans-atlantic flights are leaving. I have never seen those bathrooms even though BOS is my home airport as there is always someone taking a shower. They direct you to some toilets down the hallway when that is the case.
    You should have gone to the AF lounge also in terminal E and PP. Self server drinks, more substantial food, and a little bit of natural light.

  11. Ck Gold

    The Air France lounge is also accessible via priority pass in Terminal E. The lounge in Terminal C isn’t half bad with great views but can get busy from time to time.

  12. Brian Radigan New Member

    Hi Lucky, Boston is my home airport and this lounge is always empty, I love it. When I fly Jetblue I walk over from Terminal C to Terminal E, take the elevator to the basement, down that long quiet hallway and into this empty lounge. It feels like a mini osasis to me.

  13. DLPTATL Diamond

    @Lucky - I was recently in The Club Las Vegas and they have similar lavs with showers, but also had some without to avoid the issue you mentioned of taking a facility out of commission for quite a while if someone showers. I wonder if they just didn't have room for more restrooms or it was a budget thing. Also in Vegas they're the contract lounge for AA's light to NRT with a dedicated room. Maybe this necessitated more lavs.

  14. JR Guest

    I see that this is the contracted club for Qatar Airways. I am flying Qatar business class in a few months. As an AA Plat pro, can I get into the British Airways Lounge at BOS with a guest instead of the Club, even though this is Qatar's contracted lounge at BOS?

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The comments on this page have not been provided, reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any advertiser, and it is not an advertiser's responsibility to ensure posts and/or questions are answered.

sf_cal Guest

Does anyone know if this lounge is no longer part of Priority Pass? I don't see it on the website / app anymore.

0
Weymar M Osborne Gold

@JR Since Yes, Qatar and BA are both in Oneworld and you're flying in Business Class so you'd be able to access the BA lounge even without your AA Platinum Pro status.

0
boardingareaflukie Guest

I used The Club at BOS for the sole purpose of using the shower before heading to the nicer Virgin Clubhouse with doesn't have them (I was taking a Virgin flight). After stating my intention of using the shower the check-in person handed me a towel and gave me directions to them. This was about 7pm at night and the lounge was rather busy. When I found the two unisex bathrooms/showers I entered one, locked the door and used the shower as quickly as possible. I think I was in and out in about 15 minutes. When I exited I was greeted by a frowning lady who said she's been waiting for 10 minutes. I felt a bit guilty, but as you said they should have non-shower bathrooms for those who don't need showers.

0
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