Lounge Review: Munich Terminal 2 Lufthansa Business Lounges

Recently, I had a flight from Frankfurt to NYC with a 5 hour layover in the wonderful Bavarian city of Munich. This time, I was finally flying internationally on Lufthansa airlines. I had been dying to have one of these flights because I wanted to use my American Express Platinum card to access the Lufthansa Senator/Business lounges.

From now until the end of October 2019, AMEX Platinum card holders (and Centurion holders) can access the Lufthansa Business class lounges in Frankfurt and Munich airport. However, there are many Lufthansa lounges in both airports and this benefit only relates to certain lounges.

American Express Platinum and Lufthansa Lounges

The AMEX Platinum is the ultimate lounge card in my opinion. The AMEX Centurion lounges are by far some of the best lounges in the world and certainly the best non-business/first class lounges. This current promotion with Lufthansa runs as follows:

Platinum Card Members have complimentary access to Lufthansa Business Lounges (regardless of ticket class) and Lufthansa Senator Lounges (when flying business class) in the Satellite area of T2 in Munich Airport and in T1 Concourse B in Frankfurt Airport through 10/31/19.  To access the Lufthansa lounges, Platinum Card Member must present a government issued I.D., a same-day boarding pass showing confirmed reservation on a Lufthansa Group flight (Lufthansa, SWISS and Austrian airlines) and a valid Platinum Card.

This means you need to be flying on Lufthansa, Swiss, or Austrian for a same day reservation that leaves from these terminals. This means those flying United (also Star Alliance) will not be able to access this lounge. This also means you can be flying the lowest class of economy and still access the business class lounge which is fantastic. If you’re flying Business class, you can upgrade for free and use the ultra lux Senator lounges which are reserved for first class passengers. If you have the AMEX Black card, you can use the first class Senator lounge flying even the lowest economy class.

As I was transiting through Munich, I will focus primarily on the Munich lounges. This promotion has been active since 2018 and has already been extended once by AMEX. I expect (and hope) that this promotion becomes a permanent fixture for the AMEX platinum. That would make the value of this card extremely valuable for people that regularly fly Lufthansa between the USA and Germany.

Munich Terminal 2 Lufthansa Lounges

Munich has two terminals that Lufthansa operates out of, Terminal 1 and 2. Terminal 2 is brand new and it is one of the most impressive airport terminals I’ve seen. It’s not a surprise it was rated the best airport terminal in the world recently. In order to use your AMEX platinum, you flight must be departing from Terminal 2 or the international wing of Terminal 1. They call terminal 2 the satellite terminal for whatever reason. Just think of it as the new terminal.

Within T2, there are two Lufthansa lounges, one in the L gates, and one in the K gates. My flight to NYC left from the L gates which is for non-Schengen flights. The K gates service Schengen flights only. If your flight leaves from one of these gates, you can access both lounges without issue. I specifically asked this question to the attendant at the L gate lounge after he told the previous customer that their flight was out of Gate K and it was actually a nicer lounge. Now I had to go check out the other one.

Alternatively, flights from gates H also qualify. I had a non Schengen flight to Kiev from Munich flying out of Gate H (this is not in the Satellite Terminal 2), and I was also able to access the lounges in the K/L gates in the satellite terminal. I was not allowed to visit the terminal in Gate H. They instructed me to go to the satellite terminal instead.

He told me I would have to re-clear immigration to go to gate K and warned me that I could get in trouble for clearing immigration so many times. However, as I am an EU Blue Card holder, immigration does even stamp my passport anymore (kind of sad) so this isn’t an issue. Even if you’re not a resident of Germany, I don’t expect this to be a problem as I’ve cleared immigration numerous times for the purpose of using lounges.

Munich Terminal 2 Non-Schengen Lufthansa Lounge

First up is the Lufthansa Business lounge in Gate L for non-Schengen flights. This lounge is located near Gate L11, I arrived around 7:30am and it was pretty empty. You can tell these lounges are on the newer side of Luthansa’s lounge arsenal. They come with great views of the tarmac, high ceilings, great light, and a modern sleek design.

The lounge is on the smaller side when it comes to business lounges. While it was not busy when I was there, it soon got busy before lunch time. In fact, there was also most no seats available when I left. The main area of the lounge consists of modern armchairs with large side tables as well as another couch for lounging. There are also four reclined seats on the right side perfect for those looking to take a serious nap.

As it is the norm for Lufthansa lounges, there is an extensive choice of national and international newspapers. These are complemented by several different magazines available at the reception desk as well as three TVs playing the news. There are also computers you can use to get work done. The wifi is provided by Deutsche Telekom and while not the fastest I’ve seen (20 mbps / 20 mbps), it is plenty fast enough to get work done or watch Netflix.

The dining area has several high tops, and stylish tables with views to the outside. There is also a full service bar where someone will pour you a drink so make sure to enjoy a nice Weissbier while in the Bavarian capital. I had one at 8am so there are no time restrictions!

For breakfast, there was a good spread of eggs, wursts, pastries, fruits, and breads. It was not as impressive as the breakfast spread at the Primeclass lounge in Zurich that I visited but you will certainly not go hungry at this lounge. This is a perfect lounge to kill a few hours. Thankfully, I had 5 hours so I moved on to the Schengen lounge next.

The bathroom here is clean and well taken care of, and there are also free shower facilities. There are also lockers to store your bags if you an extra long layover and want to go into the city.

Munich Terminal 2 Schengen Lufthansa Lounge

After a few hours of relaxation at the Non-Schengen lounge, I decided to visit the Schengen lounge in the K gates.

I  cleared immigration after a very confused immigration official asked me why I wanted to clear immigration. I told him I just wanted to check out the lounge and he couldn’t really understand but just stamped me anyway.

After immigration, I took the escalator downstairs to the K gates. There is an awesome market and restaurant in this area that I would definitely be hanging out at if I didn’t already have access to the lounge.

The downstairs K gate area of Terminal 2 is laid out exactly like the upstairs L gate area. The lounge is located in the same area near gate K11. I thought the lounge was going to be different but it turns out the lougnme is laid out exactly the same as the Non-Schengen lounge! The only difference is there is no serviced bar here (pour your own drinks). Also, as it is on a lower level, the views of the tarmac are not as great. They also served bacon here as opposed to the sausages in the Non-Schengen lounge.

I stayed here only to take a few pictures, before going back through immigration and returning to the L gate non-Schengen area lounge.

Overall, the lounge is just an absolute great perk to have with the American Express Platinum. I really hope they extend or make permanent the promotion going forward!