GETAWAYS • Airports
Three of the best premier airport lounges in the world:
KLM in Amsterdam
Emirates in Dubai
Air France in Paris
My friend Daniel heads to Charles de Gaulle hours before his flights on Air France. “The lounge is nicer than my Paris apartment,” he reports.
Until some recent additions and upgrades, U.S. airport lounges, on the other hand, have become overcrowded, Vegas-style buffets. The new Air France Lounge at LAX breaks that pattern and gets many things right. The design is Euro-modern, with showers, quiet rooms, and ample food — lots of cheese and French-inspired desserts.
If you have a Le Premier ticket, you earn access to a private club inside the lounge with full meal service and someone to escort you to and from the ticket counter, the lounge, and the plane. The lounge is spacious, and with fewer people, feels particularly special. But unlike most American airline clubs, Air France’s lounge memberships aren’t for sale — for now. If you can, enjoy it while it lasts. –Brad Inman