The Priority Pass lounge at Noi Bai Airport Hanoi can be found just after clearing customs at the top of the escalator. When we visited it was not crowded, had great food options and friendly staff.
Priority Pass is one of the benefits your get from some credit card providers including the Westpac Altitude Black . It provides access to over 1,000 airline lounges around the world including Noi Bai Airport Hanoi.
We had just finished an amazing two day tour of Halong Bay with Halong Hub Tours and were heading to the next stop on our itinerary, Da Nang. Flying with Vietnam Airways meant that we had no status and no lounge access.
While you get two free passes with the Westpac Altitude Black card, you can also buy your way in. Each additional visit will cost USD32 or around AUD50 per person. It doesn’t matter who you are flying with, you still get access to the lounge.
This lounge can also be accessed with your CommBank World Debit Mastercard under the Mastercard Lounge Key program. You get two passes on this program as well.
Hanoi Airport is a modern, clean and efficient airport. We got through security 90 minutes before boarding and were pretty tired from our two days of touring.
This is where the Priority Pass comes into its own. Both Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 in Hanoi have Priority Pass lounges.
Song Hong Priority Pass Lounge Noi Bai Airport Hanoi
The Song Hong Priority Pass Lounge in Hanoi is located at the top of the escalators just after you go through security. It is across from the Vietnam Airlines lounge. Internally it is branded both Bamboo Airways and VietJet Air.
Access to the lounge was simple and efficient.
Make sure that you have the Priority Pass app installed on your phone and you have signed in with a user ID and Password. Another reason why I like the Vodafone $5 plan. I had changed phones prior to leaving Australia and had to reset my password during the taxi transfer to the airport.
The front desk will automatically scan you membership QR code which will show how many passes you have available. It’s just a matter of signing in on the screen and you are in.
The lounge was not too crowded with modern new furniture. It has a great view over the tarmac and a few people had grabbed some prime positions to create some hyperlapse videos.
While they had lots of power outlets I could not find any USB chargers.
Great food choices
One of the surprising things was the variety and amount of fresh and prepared food in the lounge.
There were 13 hot dish options available, if you include rice and conjee. I tried the noodles, roast pork, spring rolls and sweet potato (dont judge me, I was peckish from a long day!)
They also had a fresh pho counter preparing the Vietnamese national dish to order. As I had already eaten pho elsewhere that day I passed. You could also order fresh egg any way you want them.
One of the interesting food options was pickled duck egg. Something I had never tried and was sorely tempted, instead, going for the low risk sweet tray.
Alcohol was a bit more limited. There was Hanoi Vodka, Beer, and a choice of Vietnamese red or white wine. Julie enjoyed the Dalat White and I tried the Dalat Red. Even though there are claims of French influence in Vietnam it did not extend to wine.
TIP Try some of the canned juices that you can’t get at home. I tried both the Soursop and the Mango juice which I enjoyed.
For desert there was was a choice of cakes and taro pudding. I may have had two taro puddings, it was another new flavour, mild and not too sweet.
Finally they had great fresh fruit. One of the highlights of Vietnam is the passionfruit which is fuller, sweeter and tastier than what I have had previously. To top it off they also had dragonfruit, pineapple and seeded watermelon.
Summary: Priority Pass is a great option for those times you don’t have lounge access. Especially in countries where you need to kill some time after a day on the road. You can recharge your phone and your body. It’s a solid benefit from a number of card providers.
