Entrance to the sparkly new Schiphol Oneworld lounge
Manchester's BA lounge? Gone
Newcastle's BA lounge? Gone
Amsterdam's BA lounge? Yep, gone..
You might think this all sounds like a doom and gloom money saving exercise for British Airways and their former rather extensive lounge network across Europe. At the height of Covid, British Airways like many other airlines massively curtailed their flying programme along with the associated benefits such as lounges. You can't blame them I suppose..few people were flying and those that could weren't expecting much
With a sense of miserly penny pinching though, some of the closed BA lounges, such as those in Newcastle, Manchester and Amsterdam never returned and their most loyal, highly prized customers are now shunted into third party lounges (with some customers shooed away during busy times - I kid you not). You've got to question BA's illogical hatred of loyalty sometimes
So with great excitement and bucking this apparent cost crushing trend, although not entirely to BA's credit, is the brand new Oneworld lounge at Amsterdam Schiphol airport. Opened in February 2023, this is a real improvement on the old BA-operated lounge, which became a ghastly third party lounge which for lunch served slices of ham (again, I kid you not)
The lounge is operated by Oneworld with member airlines, as far as I know, paying a fee for each guest on a pay per use basis
The lounge sits on the site of the old BA lounge and retains the huge floor to ceiling windows facing over the airport apron
Soft pastel coloured furnishings with a modern design make the lounge very appealing
Catering
Well, it's a heck of a lot better than it was in the BA days!
The food was tasty and, pleasingly, for a relatively small lounge, choices varied throughout the day (although I don't think the Dutch go in for afternoon cream tea!)
Wine and soft drinks are on free pour. Spirits however are by bar tender service and when I asked for a whisky, all they had was Jack Daniels. Nice enough, but not suited to my more Irish-inclined palette. Whisky is a personal thing though, as with most spirits.
For lunch, I had this curry, which was delicious, along with a nice chilled white wine
Who is this lounge for?
Basically, anyone with Oneworld Emerald or Sapphire status plus those travelling Business or First with a Oneworld carrier from AMS. Which means a lot of potential people! As with any airport lounge, in my twelve hours here, congestion came and went in waves. Mid-afternoon when it was very quiet I had some more curry (the same I had for breakfast and lunch). An early evening wave then ensued with business people flying home, presumably on BA, Finnair and Iberia, to their respective European hubs
Where is the lounge located?
It's in the central non-schengen area - follow the signs for lounges 40/41, up the escalator then the lift or stairs.
If you're flying strictly within Schengen, then you'll need your passport as you will have to leave the Schengen zone to visit this lounge.
You might see a queue but that's for the third party lounge next door - go to the Oneworld reception and they'll zap you in with your boarding pass.
I entered the lounge at around 0800 with a boarding pass for my confirmed booking back to Heathrow for 2200 and they didn't query it (the third party lounges often restrict access to three hours prior to the flight)
What did I do for 12 hours?
Well, this is the best bit about this lounge.
They have two fully private work areas, with working power sockets. You don't book them, they're on a first come, first served basis. The free and fast airport wifi also stretches into the lounge.
So, for eight of those twelve hours, I did a normal days work, calls, emails, spreadsheets, you name it.
The private work area - one of two in the lounge
Verdict
Make no mistake, this is a massive improvement on the previous lounges that have sat on this exact spot. From the decor to the coffee machines that bear the Oneworld logo, to the private work areas, you can tell someone has really put a lot of thought into the new lounge here.
The food offering is spectacularly better here than when this was a BA lounge, although free pour Bushmills or Jamesons would be appreciated!
If you're flying First or with Emerald status it's worth noting that the lounge doesn't have a separate First/Emerald side, like you'd see in some other lounges. That said, no Oneworld carrier, as far as I know, offers a First cabin on any direct flight from AMS, which is probably why.
The lack of self serve booze is clearly a subjective matter - if you're teetotal you can help yourself to soft drinks..but as someone who likes a drop of whisky or two in the lounges, the lack of choice and lack of self service are a bit frustrating.
Overall though, if Oneworld open more of these alliance-owned lounges, I'll be very happy. You will too. I enjoyed my twelve hours here.
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