Tag Archives: SkyTeam

Kuala Lumpur airport lounges review: Plaza Premium, SilverKris and Royal Silk

Posted on by
Reply

During my latest Crazy Trip of September, I had a chance to visit two StarAlliance Gold and one PriorityPass lounge in Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL or KLIA).

My flight from Kuala Lumpur to Tokyo/Narita was departing at 7-00, so during check-in, I got an invitation to contracted lounge Plaza Premium, which is the only lounge working during the night.  Singapore Airlines SilverKris and Thai Airways Royal Silk lounges were both opening only at 6-00.

The amazing part is, all three lounges are within 1-minute walk from each other and next to smoking lounge! If you have a long stopover, you can do lounge hopping entire day ;)!

Plaza Premium Lounge in Kuala Lumpur

If you are travelling business class or have elite status with any of the following airlines, and your “native” alliance lounge is not working, you shall get the invitation ticket at the check-in counter.  I could also access Plaza Premium Lounge using PriorityPass that I got after receiving American Express Platinum card.

At 5-00, when I entered the lounge, it was quite empty and only a few passengers were napping there. Closer to 6-00, when most of the airlines start flying, the lounge became much busier.

There is a dedicated bar, which serves coffee and alcoholic drinks.

There is a price list for alcoholic drinks, but I was told to show my boarding pass and got it for free. Not sure who is required to pay, my guess would be PriorityPass users.

The food options were limited to the salad bar, some chicken sausages, fried noodles and omelette.  Next to the food station are fridges with soft drinks. There was also a separated “bread” station with bread, pastries and butter/jams.  A bit later there were sushi rolls available.

Each seat has several power outlets, which is usually one of the biggest deficits in many lounges. WI-FI was working good, but I would expect worse performance during busy hours.

Jumping ahead, I think Plaza Premium is one of the best lounge options at Kuala Lumpur Airport among the ones in the review.  It has the widest food selection and bigger sitting area, Surely, before it gets completely packed during busy hours due to many partners being served.

Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge at KLIA

The second lounge I visited at Kuala Lumpur Airport was Singapore Airlines SilverKris. To be frank, I always prefer SilverKris lounge in Asia, if there is one available, to any other StarAlliance lounge. Clearly, the lounge can be accessed by anyone flying Singapore Airlines business class or StarAlliance Gold members. SilverKris lounge opened precisely at 6-00 and is located 1-minute walk from Plaza Premium lounge.

There were some premade salads stored in the fridge, four options of warm dishes, some bread and pastry, alcohol bar and soft drinks.

SilverKris lounge had a fridge with a few bottles of white wine and red wine available next to heavy alcohol, which is my main food in lounges 😉

The lounge is the smallest one in the review, mostly providing high tables and just a few rows of chairs, but once again, no issue with power outlets or WI-FI connection.

Thai Airways Royal Silk lounge In Kuala Lumpur

The last lounge I managed to visit very quickly was Thai Airways Royal Silk lounge, which is located right opposite Plaza Premium. It’s a bit more spacious than SilverKris, seem to have more comfortable chairs, tables in front of you, rather than on a side,  and decent working area.

The food selection was exactly the same as in KrisFlyer lounge, so there is not much to discuss here. The beverage selection is the same minus any sort of wines.

Thai Airways lounge was completely empty, while KrisFlyer was already getting busy at the time of my visit.

Bottom line

If you travel with StarAlliance Gold and want to have a glass of wine, head directly to Singaporean KrisFlyer lounge. If you don’t care about it and want nicer sitting area, the choice is Royal Silk lounge. Food is equal in both lounges, but Thai seems to be a bit quieter.

If you can access Plaza Premium lounge – there you find a wider food selection, but it can get very crowded and noisy.

Overall, Kuala Lumpur KLIA airport is a heaven for lounge hoppers!

Aeroflot Bonus and AeroMenu

Posted on by
Reply

Aeroflot Bonus new partner AeroMenu is offering fresh and healthy food, delivered to the gate before the flight.

You can select one out of three meal combos (for now, perhaps the menu will grow), no later than 80 minutes before the flight from Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport (SVO). It will be prepared by AeroMenu and delivered to you by the gate.

Aeroflot Bonus and AeroMenu

Current meal sets are:

Balanced meal – 23 Eur or 4138 Aeroflot Bonus miles.


Roast beef and fresh chili salad

Salmon and cheese bruschetta

Carrot cake

Vegetarian meal – 19 Eur or 3362 Aeroflot Bonus miles

Quinoa salad

Tofu sandwich


Chocolate and banana cake

Kids meal – 16 Eur or 2844 Aeroflot Bonus miles

Mini-mozzarella salad

Club sandwich


Cranberry muffin

 

The food can be preordered via a phone app, which can be downloaded from the official webpage.

Unfortunately, it is only available in Russian language now.

Members of Aeroflot Bonus program can earn 1 point for each 0.17 Eur spent with AeroMenu. It’s a very generous miles offer from Aeroflot.

I have not tried AeroMenu food yet, but I’m very happy about an alternative option to Aeroflot in-flight food. My last flight with Aeroflot in EU and domestic left me very unhappy with the meal provided in business class. Scared to think what do they give in economy class.

Personally, I think AeroMenu is a bit pricey, but the food and drinks in Moscow Sheremetyevo airport were always priced ridiculously.

Delta Air Lines starts flying from Stockholm to New York

Posted on by
Reply

Delta Air Lines (member of SkyTeam alliance) is starting new regular non-stop service from Stockholm Arlanda airport (ARN) to USA New York JFK airport.

The first flight will take off on May 28th offering three cabin choices: Delta One, Delta Comfort+ and Main cabin.

Flight DL 203 is operated on Boeing 757-200 and takes about 9 hours to reach destination. Economy fare includes dinner service and 1 piece of free checked in baggage. It also promises Wi-Fi on board.

The cheapest return ticket with Delta Air Lines is currently available for approx. 410 euros, which is a very competitive offer, especially considering that SAS flight from Stockholm to Newark Liberty International Airport starts at 700 euros.

Business class tickets with Delta Air Lines are currently more expensive than SAS, reaching almost 4800 euros compared to SAS 3600 euros. And SAS renovated business class cabin is arguably one of the best ones.

KLM promotion: win sneakers?!

Posted on by
Reply

Most countries in Europe have a strong stereotype image. Germans drink beers, Italians eat pizza and wave their hands, French eat crispy baguette.

And Dutch people do drugs. And in case of new KLM Royal Dutch Airlines promotion, they do some heavy stuff in KLM marketing department.

Simply put, anyone who already has or will make a reservation to Amsterdam with KLM airlines has a chance of winning a pair of sneakers. And here is what they look like:

Continue reading →