Dublin – Dublin Airport (T1 Lounge)

I’m still merrily writing up the trip that Liam and I made to Dublin two weeks ago, but that increases the anticipation for my three readers. Anyway, this is us arriving at Dublin Airport after being transported there via the Crowne Plaza shuttle bus.

There’s only one lounge operational at the airport at the moment due to the reduced capacity and it’s oddly placed in the middle of the security area. Or, the entrance to it is at least. There were no issues with me guesting Liam in, so we then went upstairs to the lounge area after a wait in the queue of around three minutes.

It’s a sizeable lounge, with some basic food options available such as cereals, yoghurts, olives and biscuits. The lounge is operating on reduced hours at the money, so closes in the early afternoon, so I suspect that this was the limit of the choice for the day. There was also a self-service hot drinks machine, although there was a more decadent coffee maker that staff could use for those customers with more precise needs.

I went for a can of fizzy orange, olives and a mini carrot cake. We’d already had a really rather substantial breakfast at the Crowne Plaza about thirty minutes before, so this was already more than we needed.

It was all relatively busy and there weren’t many free seats available across either of the two sections of the lounge. It was clean and tidy throughout, with staff members winding their way around the tables on a regular basis cleaning them quite thoroughly.

The alcohol wasn’t self-service, so I asked at the counter if they had any small beers to calm my nerves before the flight. I accept that my nerves don’t need calming as I like flying, but it’s a handy excuse to myself. Anyway, the friendly lady behind the counter mentioned that they had Heineken or something equally pointless (my words, not hers) in small bottles, but they had pints of Guinness in cans. I’m not sure that I needed a pint of Guinness at 10.00 in the morning, but I panicked and said yes to that. Anyway, it was lovely and I was in Dublin. I noted that Liam didn’t order a Guinness, he’s a bit more moderate and sensible.

There were announcements in the lounge when flights were departing, but I get stressed easily about potentially missing a flight, so I thought it would be a good idea to leave earlier than needed. The lounge was comfortable though with plenty of power points and suitable snacks and drinks, although I’m not sure that it’s worth the €20 per person for a maximum two hours which is the walk-up rate (and I think that’s discounted at the moment). I got access with British Airways, but it’s included in the Priority Pass and similar schemes as well.