The Priority Pass Santiago Chile Lounge Review is part of the incomparable South America & Africa Points Heist Trip Report.
Recall the love/hate relationship that I have written about regarding Priority Pass lounges. This one is definitely going to be hate.
The Setting
My flight was originally supposed to be a SCL-BOG-LIM-GRU in business. Then Avianca went on strike and I scrambled to find a direct flight in coach from SCL to GRU. The flight left at 1:55AM and arrived at 5:55AM.
I arrived at the airport too early to check in after wine tasting in Colchagua. I spent three hours at Dunkin’ Donuts before the ticket counter opened at 10:30PM. Duncan’ Donuts SCL is far from relaxing as there was loud music coming from a distorted speaker and an endless crowd of people who couldn’t get enough of Dunkin’. Apparently, Chile also runs on Dunkin’.
Following the donut debacle, I figured I could unwind at the lounge before the red eye. That was not the case.
The People
I’ve never seen such behavior in a lounge apart from the Hungry Wolves in the Conrad Maldives Airport Lounge. Judging by the behavior, you would think that the group was a bunch of college kids on spring break headed to Cancun. Everyone was talking at the top of his/her lungs. It was mayhem. Here’s video proof:
No Wi-Fi
I don’t mind spending all day in a lounge. I’ve done it in New Zealand, Las Vegas, and New York. It’s a great place to catch up on work. The exception would be Santiago airport that does not have Wi-Fi. In fact, the employee at the Priority Pass counter said that there was no Wi-Fi in the entire airport. Obviously, he’s never been to Dunkin’ Donuts. Too tired to check the other Priority Pass lounge, I tried my best to do work on my phone.
The Food
The jungle is divided into two areas: the left side which has a self-catering bar with hooligans drinking like they’ve never seen alcohol. On that side, there is food but nothing hot. The other side had hot food but only a bulk portion of pasta. The rest of the scraps was borderline Priority Pass Jakarta Yuck.
The Seating
The bar side was obviously louder. I thought I could find refuge in a booth in the middle of the two. A booth is a nice touch for seating at the lounge. Too bad the people were nuts, and there was no peace sitting there, or anywhere.
The Bar
As mentioned, it’s an open bar. But really, it’s the equivalent of a college house party. Combine whatever mixer you can with whatever alcoholic beverage you want and hope for the best.
Overall
The place was so noisy that I left for the terminal well ahead of my boarding time. There I found more rambunctious people who didn’t seem to know that it was approaching 2AM. The worst was the guy who was watching TV on his phone. Use headphones people! How hard is that? I’m not sure if the airport or lounge is always like this, but I did not enjoy a second of it.
I was there two years ago. It was very crowded both times I have been there. It was not as noisy as you encountered, but certainly not tranquil. I think there were 4 or 5 priority pass lounges when I went. I had a long layover, so i tried them all out. It was the worst collection of lounges at an airport that I have ever seen. Plates and cups were left everywhere with not attendants in sight. Eventually, I left the priority pass lounges and went to the admirals club. It was heads and shoulders better.
I try to avoid this lounge whenever possible. I’ve found the Avianca club at SCL to be less crowded/unpleasant (but far from great).
On the other hand, the LATAM lounge @ SCL is phenomenal!
Wow. Not cool. At least this beats another boring blog post about some random lounge at a random airport. Love the video.
Spanish speakers being loud and rude in a lounge? How odd. I was in the QF lounge at AKL at 0500 waiting for the 0715 JQ and there was a Spanish speaking woman, probably from the LATAM stopover in AKL prior to SYD, almost shouting into her phone without earpiece of course oblivious to anybody else in the place. She obviously found the perfect spot as it was very quiet around her, as one would expect in the No Phone Zone. Rude, arrogant and self-centred. The Kiwis are too polite (except on the rugby field and as club bouncers) to tell her to shut up.