Star Alliance Paris CDG Lounge

The Star Alliance Lounge Paris CDG is a new lounge in the very old Paris Terminal 1. It services all the airlines which don't have their own lounge, such as US Airways, Thai and Singapore. Lufthansa and SAS have their own dedicated lounge after security, which are a whole lot more convenient. As a result you may have difficulty accessing this lounge on a Lufthansa or SAS flight, but in theory access is well within Star Alliance rules. For many years United Airlines passengers were banned from the Star Alliance lounge, but the Paris United Club closed in the summer of 2012, and now the Star Alliance lounge will accept them. The Star Alliance Lounge at Charles De Gaulle Airport is in the non-Schengen area: this can be a pain. You have to go through passport control to get to it, and then back again if you are on a non-Schengen flight (such as on SAS and LH: the reason why these airlines have their own lounges. The entrance is on level 11 - take one of the three lifts just after passport control - and you then go down to level 10 if you are in Business: There is no lift, just the stairs: it isn't very well designed. It is quite small, but with so many other Star Alliance lounges, that isn't really a problem. The First Class floor has only 33 seats, while on the 10th floor the Business Class area has 182 seats, and runs over about 6000 square feet. The Paris CDG Star Alliance lounge really is a bit of a dogs breakfast: cheap, but light and airy. Lots of space, but little food. There is a large bar - but no champagne. If you are in First Class, it is well worth while fighting your way into the First Class lounge section on the upper floor - there are windows where, where as the lounge for business class is dark and has no view of the tarmac. The Paris CDG Star Alliance Lounge has the usual Star Alliance branded lounge furniture, very similar to that at Heathrow Terminal 1 and Los Angeles: imagine classic if dull armchairs, a stripped pine floor, and long padded benches with small white tables. However, one bright spot is the Star Alliance Paris CDG Lounge is also host to some striking local photography by Cedric Doux and Michael Levy.

Food

Food in the Paris CDG Star Alliance lounge is notorious poor. Imagine cereal and cold pastries for breakfast, then biscuits and nuts for the rest of the day. There are sandwiches in the evening, but they are few in number, and eaten very quickly. No champagne (in France!!!) and no better on hot drinks - not even cafáé lattáé or real cappuccino available on the machines, and no tea! The only food - other than peanuts etc - was breakfast stuff (croissants etc) at 4pm

Bar

If food is bad in the Star Alliance Lounge Paris CDG, the bar is worse. There is only very basic spirits, wine, and beer. There are two bottles of wine on the counter: with one red and one white. There is No champagne at all - a major miss in France. Spirits are basic, with one bottle of Beefeater gin, one of Bacardi, Creme de Cassis and a bottle of no-name blended whisky. There is a very bad selection of hot drinks - there is not even cafáé lattáé or real cappuccino available on the machines. There is no tea.

Bathrooms

Toilets are available in the lounge. No showers.

Business Facilities

There are business centres on both levels, as well as free wifi intenet access . In the business section there is one big screen television.

Access

At Paris CDG you have the 'luxury' of no less than five possible Star Alliance Lounges in Paris CDG Terminal 1. There is the main Star Alliance lounge itself in the centre of Terminal 1, which has both a business section, and a First Class section. This has taken the place of the United Airlines Paris CDG Unitedclub, which closed in April 2012. There is Lufthansa lounge, which is split into a Senator Lounge, and Frequent Traveler Lounge. And then there is the SAS Lounge. The problem is access - you can't get 'back' from the Lufthansa lounge in the non-Schengen area to Schengen, and equally you have to leave Schengen to get to to the non-Schengen Star Alliance Paris CDG lounge. The only solution is at the Lufthansa checkin ask for a pass to the Star Alliance lounge - you don't need it for the lounge but if you have a non-European passport you will need it for the agents at immigration. Then, when you leave the lounge, leave a little more time, since you need to clear immigration another time if you are on a Schengen flight.