Lounge Review: Priority Lounge at Frankfurt Airport

Frankfurt is home to a solid selection of lounges available for Priority Pass users. Almost all of these lounges are located in Terminal 2 which is the non-Lufthansa/Star Alliance terminal. If you’re flying in Terminal 1, you’ll need an AMEX Platinum or Elite status to visit the Lufthansa lounges.Frankfurt Priority Lounge Terminal 2

Recently, I had a flight from Frankfurt to Dublin, Ireland. I booked the flight for a solid 80 euros on Ryanair which made it an impulse buy. That is why makes Europe so amazing in my opinion. Ryanair flies out of Terminal 2 in Frankfurt Airport as it is a non Star Alliance (or any alliance) airline.

Terminal 2 in Frankfurt is split between Schengen and Non-Schengen areas. As Dublin is not part of the Schengen, I went to the top floor of Terminal 2 to the D and E gates that belonged to the non-Schengen flights.

There are three lounges in the Non-Schengen area of Terminal 2, the Korean Airlines SkyLounge, the Primeclass Lounge, and the Priority Lounge. I’ve been to the first two already on separate trips and you can read my reviews for those if you’re interested. This post will focus on the Priority lounge.

 

How to visit the Priority Lounge in Frankfurt


The Priority Lounge is a standalone lounge that anyone can pay for entry or for those that have Priority Pass. It was once the lounge for Etihad. The Middle East carrier has moved to Terminal 1, leaving the club vacant. The space still sports much of Etihad‘s elegant design, though the lounge is now operated independently. The Priority Lounge welcomes select Sky Team Elite Plus customers, as well as all passengers departing from Concourse E on a pay-in basis.

This lounge is fully accessible for Priority pass users. To get a Priority pass membership, you can either pay a yearly subscription fee or open a premium credit card like the Chase Sapphire Reserve or AMEX Platinum. This is well worth the annual fee especially if you’re planning to travel international often like myself. Living in Frankfurt and traveling frequently around Europe, I could never go without a Priority pass membership now.

 

Locating the lounge

The Priority Lounge is located in Terminal 2 – Non Schengen area. It is nearby to gate E6 in the E wing nearby. If you have a Schengen flight, you could visit this lounge technically by clearing immigration. You would then have to re-enter before boarding your Schengen flight. The good thing about the Non Schengen area of Terminal 2 is that you don’t need to clear security to go to this lounge as security is all done at the gate.Frankfurt Priority Lounge Terminal 2

 

Accessing the lounge if your flight leaves from Terminal 1

If you have a Non-Schengen flight leaving from Terminal 1, I can confirm you can visit this lounge as I met some travelers flying on Star Alliance (which is part of Star Alliance and leaves from Terminal 1). You just need to make sure you give yourself enough time to exit the lounge, exit the terminal, and transit to terminal 1.

The skytrain that connects Terminal 1 and 2 is fast and reliable so I would recommend giving yourself 20 minutes to get from the lounge to the entrance of Terminal 1. Because Terminal 1 has no Priority Pass lounges except for the Luxx lounge which is located before security (and is not that great), this is your only option if you need a lounge. However, I would only do this if you have hours upon hours to spare because you’ll need to clear security twice, once in terminal 1 and once in terminal 2. Not worth the headache in my opinion.

If you have that much time, I’d recommend just going to Frankfurt and spending a few hours there. 

 

Frankfurt Priority Lounge Details

As for the Frankfurt Priority Lounge, here are all the details you’ll need

Location of Lounge: Frankfurt Airport, Terminal 2 – Non-Schengen next to Gate E6

Opening Hours: 05:45 to 20:15 daily

Price of Admission: €39 for a three hour pass without Priority Pass

Showers: No

Wifi: Yes

Hot food: Yes

Full bar: Yes

 

Checking into the Priority Lounge


I came to the Priority lounge around 6pm as my flight to Dublin was at 8pm. Check in was a breeze and they accepted my Priority Pass without issue.

The lounge was busy when I entered but not overwhelmingly so. 6pm is rush hour after all so you can expect it to be its busiest. Nevertheless, I didn’t find it overbearing and there were plenty of seats to be had.

 

Layout of the lounge

The Priority Lounge in Frankfurt is a smaller lounge and not the most aesthetically pleasing of the lounges I’ve been to. The lighting in particular is a bit too bright for my liking. They should definitely change their lighting to a more warmer yellow like their next door neighbors, the Primeclass Lounge.Frankfurt Priority Lounge Terminal 2

The furniture is comfortable with dark plush couch chairs and a large TV in the center of the room with CNN on. There is a separate area with tables for dining.Frankfurt Priority Lounge Terminal 2

I wasn’t particularly impressed with the overall feel of the lounge. It feels a little cramped as the ceilings are low. It is also outdated in my opinion. The best option is to go to the Primeclass lounge next door, but only after you’ve had the food here. More on that down below.

 

Food and Drinks

This is one of the few lounges that offer a full kitchen with a hot meal. Most of the other lounge shave steamed wursts with bread as their hot option but this lounge had a full on meals. For dinner, they were serving baked chicken roulade that was grilled and stuffed with parmesan cheese and shallots. They also had rice with steamed veggies to accompany it. While the meal was nothing to write home about, I was actually quite impressed with the chicken. It was tender, flavorful, and above all filling.

They also had an assortment of cold cuts, breads, fruits, jams, and the usual “lounge” food you’d expect.

As for drinks, the Priority Lounge had a full bar with beers, wines, bottled water, and liquors. There were various wine brands as well that was put on ice, ready for you to pour as self service.Frankfurt Priority Lounge Terminal 2 Frankfurt Priority Lounge Terminal 2

Restrooms

They have a restroom on site and it was cleaner than I expected. It’s not the largest bathroom, and there are no showers, but it is more than enough for a lounge stopover.

 

Wifi

As you’d expect in 100% of lounges in the world, the wifi exists and is free to use. The wifi at this lounge was quite fast as I could get up to 30mbps download and 15 mbps upload. Was enough to stream some Netflix during my short stay here.

There are no computers you can use at this lounge.

 

Best Lounge in Frankfurt Airport Terminal 2 – Schengen

The best lounge in Terminal 2 is still the Primeclass lounge in my opinion. However, when I visited the Priority Lounge, I went next door to the Primeclass lounge immediately after eating my meal as they are located right next to each other, and the layout of the Primeclass lounge is much more pleasant.

However, I think the food at the Priority Lounge is probably the best. That chicken was among the better foods I’ve tasted at a lounge so for my next non-Schengen Terminal 2 flight, I will first eat my dinner at Priority Lounge, and then move next door to the Primeclass lounge for drinks. I’d highly recommend this approach for others as well!

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