Our Obsession With Airport Lounges

Our Obsession With Airport Lounges

Richard and I look forward to our summer travels all year long. We spend January to June planning and September to December reminiscing. Like many of you, we can't sleep the night before we are set to go away. We are like little kids at Christmas, excited beyond belief. When we do travel, we do it well. We strike a good balance between splurging and budgeting when necessary. Our very first year we travelled to Europe, we decided to get lounge passes at the airport. We headed to the Plaza Premium Lounge at the Toronto Aiport. We got to choose a 2, 3, or 4 hour package. We went with the 2 hour package for $40. 

The following year we had the BMO World Elite Mastercard, which gave us free access to the Plaza Premium Lounges with up to four visits a year. 

When you enter the lounge, the space is filled with lounge chairs, couches, workstations, and more. The furniture is modern, simple, and chic. The environment is fairly quiet, with businessman following up on emails or other travellers reading or chatting with their travelling partners. 

There are large washrooms with basic toiletries and showers if you wish to freshen up before (or after) your flight. You can find numerous magazines and international newspapers to read while you pass the time in an area much more relaxing than the traditional airplane terminal. Don't be afraid you will miss your flight, because the departures are live on the lounge screens and the receptionist will remind you if they do not see you checkout in time. 

There are outlets to charge your electronics and computers to use if you wish to confirm hotel reservations, read reviews, or just email your family before boarding the plane. 

You will notice a wide variety of food choices available. This variety aims to please travellers from all over the world. There are soups, salads, sandwiches, meats, rices, pastas, deserts and more. When you are visiting a Plaza Premium Lounge in other countries, you will notice that the foods available will strongly but not solely reflect that specific culture. There are often small snacks or pieces of fruit you can take with you onto the plane to ease any hunger as you wait for your in flight meals. 

Pearson International Lounge
Photo: @conciergecouple

The lounges also serve a variety of beverages, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic. Many lounges have a bar and bartender on sight or a self serve bar area. Cocktails, tea, coffee, wine, beer, juice, etc. are all available to you in unlimited quantities. Richard and I like to have a few drinks before we board the plane to celebrate a new journey ahead, and for Richard to calm his flying nerves. 

Top 3 reasons to visit a lounge on your next trip:

1. Drinks

2. Healthy and nutritious food choices

3. Comfort

If you tend to buy a drink and a meal at the airport you will likely spend close to $15. Yes, you could budget here, but for us the extra money is so worth it and it sets the tone for the glamorous and special trip ahead. When it comes to lounges, we splurge. 

Airport & Flight Must Haves

Even after years of travelling and visiting many countries Richard and I still get excited to go to the airport. There is an excitement and anticipation about counting down the minutes until taking off for a new adventure. I must admit, I even get excited to come home on the plane because it means I get to see our dog after many days of being away.

So what you pack and what you bring on your travels is largely determined by your destination. Richard and I both have a bad habit of travelling with a lot of luggage, but we are very aware of how high maintenance we can be. When it comes to our carry-ons we differ in what we bring with us, but we have it down to a science.

Richard travels with a backpack. This backpack is packed to the brim with:

• Extra batteries
• All cords/chargers for electronics kept neatly inside a pencil case
• His Beats by Dr. Dre (noise cancelling headphones)
• Samsung tablet (he watches a lot of movies and series during the flight)
• SLR camera and underwater camera *
• Gum
• Pens
• Travel itinerary folder (more on that in a later post)
• Compression socks

* The one time we for some unknown unintelligent reason decided to pack our camera in our suitcase for our journey home, was when we lost our luggage. After much stress about losing all of our 1500 pictures from our month away, it was luckily returned to us. If you must put your camera in your luggage, take your memory card with you!

My carry on is a little lighter. Which speaks to the way I spend my time flying….reading and sleeping. I carry my things in an over the shoulder tote filled with:

• 4 or more magazines (I often save 1 or 2 to read at the gym or poolside for the duration of your trip). Be aware: it is difficult to find English magazines in many destinations off the beaten path.
• A book (I do not often even get to reading it because let’s face it there is so much more to be doing on vacation than reading)
•  A sweater
•  Compression socks (they keep my feet warm as well!)
•  A pillow. Yes I bring my full pillow from my bed. Like I said I spend a lot of time sleeping on long flights so carrying it from airport to airport is worth it to me.
• Airplane blanket (We got amazing ones when we flew first class one time)
• 2 granola bars and a piece of fruit
• Earphones
• A clutch carrying my money and phone. I do not haul a large purse on my trip at all, so this tucks easily into my travel tote. 

Post a comment about your “must have” carry on items!

Manila to El Nido ITI flight
Photo: @conciergecouple