Airport Lounges

[fawad]

I was trying to find information about airport lounges at Pakistani airports but couldn't find all information. The few that I found was also scattered and rather outdated. So I request members to use this thread to discuss about airport lounges in Pakistan like CIP lounges, State lounges, and other private lounges.

I have a few questions I am hoping someone can answer here

1. Are CIP lounges located at both domestic and international departures?
2. What is included in the CIP lounge fee - just the access or the food and drink too?
3. How much is the CIP lounge fee, both domestic and international?
4. How is boarding done from the lounge? they get priority boarding or they join the rest of the pax in the normal lounge at the time of boarding?
5. Do all airports have state lounges or just Islamabad? Is it possible to get there by payment, flashing a premium credit card, or business class ticket?
6. What other lounges are there at airports like UBL lounge, etc.

[Abdulrafeysiddiqui]

I have once used CIP lounge at Lhe airport for international flight.
I don't have any idea about the domestic CIP Lounge.
I used HBL Debit card and access to the lounge plus food and drinks were included.
The fee was Rs1000 per head back in April 2016.
There wasn't any priority boarding. You just have to be in line with everyone else. The sound system is also there at CIP lounge and you get to know about flight departures as normally as it is in the departure lounge.
At Lhe airport, beside CIP is PIA's business class lounge.

[arshad.altaf]

At Karachi airport there are two lounges. One is PIA's and the other is a smaller one in which business class passengers or as you say, persons holding premium credit cards are allowed to sit. I don't know if one can also enter just by paying some money. Its a fairly small lounge which gets crowded at rush hours (between 12:00 am to early morning). Water, chai, coffee and snacks are available for free. It is at a distance from the main boarding gates and its a good 10 minutes process (walk+security clearance) before getting to the gates. The airline does not give any privilege to those who were sitting in that lounge. They only give priority boarding (besides families and children) to their business class or silver and above card holders.

Arshad

[fawad]

Seems like nobody here ever used CIP/state/business lounges. I was expecting more replies this being an aviation specific forum.

@abdulrafey: why would they charge you if you were using HBL card? Isn't it free on their credit and platinum debit cards?

[fahadshakeel]

I don't know much about Karachi or other international airports but Lahore.

At LHE there are 2 CIP Lounges (I think one of them is state lounge) in international departures upstairs and 1 CIP lounge for PIA business class in domestic departures upstairs.
I haven't used the domestic one but for international always use CIP lounge. That's free with a business class boarding pass or several credit cards. So 2-3 times I didn't had business pass as I was travelling in economy so I used standard chartered platinum card. They just make sure an authorization by charging Re. 1 from your card.

There you can find a tea bar, snacks, smoking area, cold-drinks, relaxing sofa-seats, convenient rest-rooms, reading papers/magazine and mobile charging out-lets. However you need to take an escalator towards upstairs but to return you need to use stairs along with your hand-carry. Even then it's blessing to have some better sitting place.

Once I remember a tout approached me after immigration counter if I want to use business class lounge in Rs. 1000 (am not sure which one he was selling to me) but I refused as I used to use CIP free of charge.

[Abdulrafeysiddiqui]

They don't charge if you use your debit/credit card.