If you have a credit card that offers free lounge access, of course, you should take advantage of it when you travel!
A recent trip had us flying out of NAIA 1. I will be talking about these 2 lounges in NAIA 1 – PAGSS Lounge and Marhaba Lounge, because these are the lounges that most credit card holders here have access to. Haven’t been to the A Lounge in recent memory as it closes at 11PM.
You get to the lounges after going through Immigration.
PAGSS Lounge
PAGSS is the closest to where you are after Immigration, and is the first lounge that most people see.
PAGSS accepts more credit cards, and is usually full. I’ve heard that people have had to wait outside for other people to leave first because the lounge was at max capacity already. Every time I passed by the PAGSS Lounge, there’s always a line of people waiting outside.
PAGSS (near Gate 7) is open 24 hours. Other airline-specific lounges have shorter operating hours, so please check before going to those lounges only to find them closed.
You can walk-in, the price is P1,500 if you don’t have free access.
I have actually never been inside the PAGSS Lounge yet because the lines outside PAGSS make me choose Marhaba instead.
MARHABA Lounge
If your credit card lets you stay at the Marhaba Lounge, choose the Marhaba Lounge if you don’t like having to queue.
Fewer people know where the MARHABA Lounge is located. The first time we were looking for it, we asked some of the staff and they didn’t know. Finally, someone pointed us to the right location. Marhaba Lounge is at the other side (near Gate 9), the opposite direction of where PAGSS is.
We just needed to present our credit card (the one that lets you stay at the lounge, make sure it’s active and not expired), boarding pass, passport. This lounge is also open 24 hours. We stayed there around midnight until boarding at 3am.
The fine print for my card says – Note: Cardholders are entitled to access one lounge per day. Visits to multiple lounges on the same day are not permitted and cost of additional visits will be charged to the card.
For my credit card – Supplementary cardholders can enjoy the same lounge access as the principal cardholders.
The free lounge access is only for the cardholder. Cardholder’s guests incur a fee of US $19-20 per guest (might differ depending on credit card company).
I googled the price if you wanted to get in without free access, it’s US $32 (discounted to $15-20 for my credit card’s cardholders).
For my credit card, the maximum hours of stay allowed per lounge visit are as follows:
| Marhaba Lounge | PAGSS | A Lounge |
| 3 hours | 6 hours | 4 hours |
I didn’t take photos inside the lounge out of respect for people there. There were people sleeping.
Why Go Inside a Lounge, Is it Worth it?
Honestly, I go to a lounge only because it’s free or already part of the package (business class ticket). Unless I had a good reason (like if I really needed to take a shower, catch up on sleep or something), I normally wouldn’t pay for lounge access. Except Cathay HKIA if there was a good deal.
You get nice, comfortable seats, free food & drinks, free WIFI, lots of outlets where you can charge your electronics, nice restrooms that usually provide shower rooms as well, sometimes seats that recline or let you sleep.
Unless you go to a First Class lounge, you’re really not away from the hoi polloi that much. I’ve seen people take their shoes off, drag some chairs together and sleep. I’ve seen people who look like they’ve just finished a month-long backpacking trip in the jungle. It’s not the elite environment you might expect. On the other hand, I’ve also seen some well-dressed people there. You get a mix of everybody.
It depends on the lounge, but the food is usually a small buffet type, focusing on light fare. There’s usually some appetizers, a few meat dishes, noodles or pasta, bread and finger sandwiches, some dessert, drinks like coffee (coffee machine), tea, and various canned drinks like softdrinks, beer, bottled water like Perrier, Evian, etc…
In general, the food at the lounges is okay. Not bad but nothing I’d describe as amazing, either.
Some lounges are fancier, one of the best lounges I’ve been to is the Cathay one in Hong Kong. At that time, they even had an espresso cart with a Pinay barista making espresso-based drinks. Actually, this is the one I can recommend – if you have the means or can get Cathay Business Class using miles or points, you can go to all the Cathay lounges at the HKIA! Like, book your flight for late in the evening, but go to the airport very early, give yourself like 6-8 hours inside the HKIA to go through all the Cathay lounges (I think there were 5 or 6?). It’s fun if that’s your thing. Yes, you can check-in early, no need to wait for the check-in counter to open only 4 hours before the flight. We did this before the pandemic. I haven’t been back after the pandemic but hope it’s still the same.
Going to a lounge is great to get a free meal if the flight you’re taking doesn’t provide on-board meals. If the flight you’re taking provides on-board meals, you might end up too full (been there, done that). So I’ve been taking it easy on lounge food when I know the flight will also provide food.
Using your FREE LOUNGE ACESSS at other airports
Some Philippine credit cards usually give you unlimited lounge access to local lounges.
If you want to use lounges at airports not in the Philippines, they usually have limits (2-6 times only) complimentary international lounge access per year, depending on your tier or spend.
Before the trip, you have to check your credit card’s guides on the “complimentary lounge access”. For BDO, we had to register to Priority Pass first, and had to download the Priority Pass app.
Here’s where you can read the instructions, read the FAQ section to get the code you need to enroll: https://www.bdo.com.ph/personal/cards/credit-cards/mastercard/elite-complimentary-priority-pass-membership
Other credit cards have Mastercard Travel Pass (MTP), a similar program. You have to register and download the app, too.
It’s US $32 per person if you exceed the free complimentary access or did it wrong (did not register correctly). So make sure to double-check your credit card’s instructions on how to use the free international lounge access.
P.S. Do not use your “international lounge access” on NAIA lounges, use it on foreign lounge access para mas sulit. Many local credit cards already give free access to the NAIA lounges, so don’t waste your 1-2 international lounge access on NAIA lounges.
I was able to use my free lounge access on the flight back to the Philippines from Taiwan. At the Oriental Club Lounge Taoyuan Airport (TPE) Terminal 2. There were 2 other lounges (Plaza Premium Lounge) where I could use my lounge access, but my credit card limits use to one time entry, so I had to pick only one lounge to use it on.
I chose the Oriental Club Lounge because it looked bigger and was rated Highly Recommended by Priority Pass Excellence. Online reviews also said it was better than the other lounges.
What if You Don’t Have FREE Lounge Access (and don’t want to pay)?
NAIA
It’s not the end of the world. I have also traveled during times when I didn’t have free lounge access. There are coffee shops and restaurants inside where you can stay until boarding time. NAIA Terminal 1 has a Starbucks and a Subway, if I remember correctly. NAIA Terminal 3 has a Bo’s Coffee and a few other restaurants.
There are also free water dispensers around the boarding area where you can refill your water tumbler.
In my experience, the restrooms at NAIA have been clean, the cleaning lady is always there making sure the restroom is clean.
I personally do not find that there is a stark contrast between being able to use a lounge and not. Of course, if I have it, I will use it. But if I don’t, it’s totally fine. I will just have coffee and a sandwich at the airport Starbucks, not that big a difference except there is no nice waiter picking up my used plates right away and the lounge ambience is, of course, better 🙂 The experience is fine and I don’t have anything to complain about. The Starbucks even has outlets where you can charge your electronics.
Other airports
I haven’t been to every airport in the world, but those that I have been to usually have restaurants and food courts inside the controlled area. The facilities are also clean. So even if you don’t have lounge access, it’s not a big deal unless you want to sleep or take a shower.
At the Taipei airport, there are many Hello Kitty and Sanrio shops/ displays that I would rather spend time browsing them than sitting in the lounge. There’s even a Wang’s Broth food stall near Terminal 2 Gate C3 if you missed going to the main restaurant.
You may also want to read this post about airport lounges in Hong Kong International Airport: https://www.karenmnl.com/tips-picking-an-airline-to-hong-kong/
