| THE ALVIATOR'S VERDICT This is a tiny space with a decent food spread, beer on tap and barista coffee. Regardless of whether you're coming in on an AmEx Platinum card or a Priority Pass membership, there are better options | 3.0 |
Before flying a Qantas business class flight out of Sydney, I visited the Plaza Premium Lounge, located in the international departures area of the airport. Plaza Premium lounges are generally nothing to write home about, and are generally only good if you have a credit card that can access one of these lounges (such an AmEx Platinum card), without the ability to access any other lounges.
This lounge sits right across the current makeshift Qantas lounge, and I’ve heard that Qantas uses the Plaza Premium lounge as an overflow lounge sometimes, if their own lounge is extremely.
This a tiny lounge with a food and beverage spread that is perhaps a bit better than what I’d otherwise expect. The catch is that AmEx Platinum members also have access to the AmEx Centurion Lounge, which I’ll be reviewing in the next installment – it’s a much bigger and better lounge that I’d recommend visiting instead.
Plaza Premium Lounge Sydney Access and Opening Hours
The Plaza Premium Lounge at Sydney Airport is accessible to any of the following passengers departing on an international flight:
- AmEx Platinum cardholders (and other eligible cardholders)
- Priority Pass members, and other programmes such as PPL Pass
- Those who would like to purchase a 2-hour pass to the lounge can do so for 65.70 AUD (£34.80/HK$368), or for 76.50 AUD (£40.53/HK$428) for shower access as well
The lounge is open from 6 AM until 10 PM, covering most departures out of the airport’s international terminal. Note that you wouldn’t be flying out of Terminal 1 if flying domestically, so you need to be on an international flight to use this lounge.
Plaza Premium Lounge Sydney Location
The Plaza Premium lounge is located opposite to gates 25-26, and straight across the temporary Qantas lounge. You’ll find it right next to the SkyTeam lounge.
Plaza Premium Lounge Sydney Entrance
Note that if you’ve already used the AmEx Centurion lounge, for some reason your Platinum card will reject you access to the Plaza Premium lounge. In this case the lounge attendant let me in anyway (so if you’ve got some time to spare, go to the Centurion lounge instead if you don’t want to risk not being let in, as it’s better than this lounge).
Plaza Premium Lounge Sydney Seating and Atmosphere
The Plaza Premium Lounge Sydney is one small, long room. The pictures below capture the extent of the room size – to the lounge’s credit, it does have plenty of natural light, and has a fairly modern design.
Plaza Premium Lounge Sydney
In terms of seating, there were some armchairs that all faced the tarmac.
Plaza Premium Lounge Sydney Seating
Then there was some restaurant-style seating (apologies for the poor photos, as this area was occupied throughout, and was a very intimate space).
Plaza Premium Lounge Sydney Seating
Tarmac views were quite good from this lounge. There were no planes parked at gate 24 during my visit (the neighbouring gate from this lounge), though there were some Qantas planes in the distance, as well as views of aircraft departing from runway 34L – below is a picture of a Qantas A380 taking off.
Plaza Premium Lounge Sydney Tarmac Views
I mean, the seating is comfortable, though this is a tiny lounge. There are a couple of good options to work and eat, though don’t expect a huge variety of seating, or much seating at all, especially during peak hour.
Plaza Premium Lounge Sydney Bar
In terms of the food and beverage offering, let’s start with the bar. The Plaza Premium lounge has a tended bar, though don’t get too excited, as some of the drinks aren’t free.
Plaza Premium Lounge Sydney Bar
For example, out of the four draught beers on offer, only one was free. It was an Australian Byron Bay lager, and I asked for a glass.
Plaza Premium Lounge Sydney Bar
Credit is where credit is due, though – there is a fairly extensive coffee menu, which is free. There’s also iced chai and iced chocolate, if you prefer. It’s great that even the simplest contract lounges in Australia are committed to providing good coffee.
Plaza Premium Lounge Sydney Bar Drinks Menu
The only thing stopping me from giving this lounge a low rating was this coffee menu, as I appreciated the range of options and found it above-average for a Priority Pass lounge.
Plaza Premium Lounge Sydney Food and Beverage
Apart from the coffee menu, the rest of the food spread at the Plaza Premium lounge is okay, though not amazing. The spread leaned Asian (which makes sense, since Plaza Premium is a Hong Kong-based brand), and hot options included pasta, stir fried Hokkien Mee, Malaysian chicken curry, and buffalo chicken wings, as well as roasted veg and rice.
Plaza Premium Lounge Sydney Food Spread
Then there was a salad bar, as well as a cheese platter and assorted desserts.
Plaza Premium Lounge Sydney Food Spread
On another end of the lounge, there was a little self-pour area for Grant Burge Benchmark Shiraz, an Australian red wine. There were some light bites available here as well.
Plaza Premium Lounge Sydney Self-Service Wine and Snacks
Then there was still and sparkling water on tap, as well as soft drinks and juice dispensers.
Plaza Premium Lounge Sydney Drinks
Overall the food selection wasn’t bad – I had a couple samples of the dishes, and they were tasty. However, it’s definitely nothing to write home about, or anything worth going out of your way for.
Plaza Premium Lounge Sydney Showers
I’ve seen conflicting information about whether those accessing on a Platinum card or Priority Pass membership can use the showers here for free.
In either case, the lounge actually doesn’t have its own showers, but you’ll be using the ones in the neighbouring SkyTeam lounge. Just ask reception, and they’ll issue you a pass to use one of those rooms.
Plaza Premium Lounge Sydney Showers at SkyTeam Lounge (credit: Points Hacks)
Conclusion: Plaza Premium Lounge Sydney
The Plaza Premium lounge in Sydney is a tiny space with typical catering, and the free house wine and beer with upcharges for “premium” drinks is typical of other Plaza Premium lounges. However, if this is the only lounge you’ll have access to, the lounge does have a coffee menu that punches above its weight.
Realistically you’ll have a better option than this lounge in a vast majority of cases – if you have the AmEx Platinum card you can use the AmEx Centurion lounge, whereas Priority Pass members also have access to the ex-Etihad The House lounge, which looks much nicer (I didn’t drop by this time round). So the use cases of this lounge are quite limited, and I’d recommend going to one of the other lounges if possible.
