SkyTeam Sydney Lounge Review

Points Finder Lounge Rating:

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• Pros
• Cons
• Lounge details

The SkyTeam Lounge is nestled next to the American Express lounge in Terminal 1 at Sydney Airport. The lounge services passengers travelling on SkyTeam airlines including China Airlines, China Eastern, China Southern, Delta, Garuda Indonesia, Korean Air, Xiamen Air and Vietnam Airlines, the airline I was travelling with to reach Hanoi.

In a sudden twist of fate, our 3pm flight was delayed by six hours, so I spent a considerable amount of time in this lounge on a quiet Monday afternoon, all the way up to 9pm.

What I liked:

• • Very quiet. This lounge was never close to being at full capacity during my stay. It was pleasant and relaxing. There were no announcements either, which was great – especially as the afternoon wore on thanks to the delay.

• • Pleasant atmosphere. The lounge has a nice bright orange colour scheme and a large plant feature on one side. It also has a lovely view of the tarmac, where I was treated to a view of arriving planes, including large A380s from Qantas, Qatar and Emirates.

• • Clean and tidy. The service in this lounge was great. Used plates, cutlery and glasses were cleared quickly, and all tables as well as the bathroom were spotless. Apart from the tired carpet, the rest of the furniture looked close to brand new.

• • Fast Wi-Fi. This lounge had impressively fast Wi-Fi, although it did regularly kick me out and force me to re-sign in every 20-30 minutes.

• • Showers. This lounge also has shower facilities, and passengers can request access from staff. I hadn't packed a carry-on change of clothes, so I didn't check them out.
  • Decent selection of meals. There were four to five basic hot meals on offer when I was in the lounge. This included vegetarian tacos, spaghetti with meatballs and chicken cacciatore. There was also a soup on offer, a pancake maker, some cold salads, cheese and a small selection of desserts. As the day wore on, some new dishes were added, including noodles with vegetables.

What I didn't like:

• • Small. This lounge was quite small and had low ceilings. If the lounge were at capacity, I imagine it could get very cosy.

• • Workstation is part of the main room. There was a small workstation with three current Mac computers plus a printer. However, these aren't in a separate room, so anyone working on the computers would definitely be affected by the noise if the lounge were busy.

• • No barista coffee. There were two automatic coffee machines in this lounge, but unfortunately no barista, which is understandable given the small size of the lounge.

Points Finder Lounge Rating: 3/5 stars

THE FINDER LOUNGE REVIEW PROMISE: Our lounge reviews are based on a visit to the actual lounge during normal operation. We offer an honest and open critique from one of our frequent flyer experts, and update with any relevant news as it comes to hand. Being in a lounge should always be more pleasant than just being stuck with waiting at the gate, but we won't shy away from highlighting issues. Learn more about how our scoring works.

SkyTeam Sydney Lounge details

Location: Airside, Terminal 1 Pier B next to gate 24
Opening hours: 6am - 10pm.
Who can get in? SkyTeam Elite Plus passengers as well as first and business class travellers flying with China Airlines, China Eastern, China Southern, Delta, Garuda Indonesia, Korean Air, Vietnam Airlines, Xiamen Air.