After a great weekend in the Texas capital, it was time to go back home.
As a reminder, here is the itinerary followed:
Check-In and ground experience
I leave my hotel about 1h40 before the departure of my flight to Chicago. The Uber I ordered the day before failed me miserably and I had to cancel my ride and order another one on the fly, then contact Uber customer service to get a refund.
15 minutes later, I arrive in front of the Austin airport terminal. The check-in area was bustling but I did not need to go through it: Il just stopped at the kiosks to get a paper boarding pass in addition to the Passbook cards I already had on my phone.
I then headed to the security checkpoints. The TSA Pre line was quite long, but the regular line was deserted.
The control was very fast but the shoe trees in my boots triggerred a secondary inspection of my cabin baggage, that was very courteous.
Location and welcome
The United lounge is located on the mezzanine of the boarding gates. It is reacheable by stairs or elevators.
When I arrived at the entrance of the lounge, the attendant was busy with other passengers, but invited me to scan my boarding pass on the reader. She did not ask me for my SAS Eurobonus card, unlike my experiences with my BA card at American.
But a very disinterested welcome.
Lounge design
The lounge seems recently renovated, at least on part of the furniture. It is quite small in size, but that is not surprising given the overall size of the airport.
There is a food section, a full bar, lounging areas and work spaces.
It was quite crowded on this early weekday morning.
Catering
Even if an effort of presentation is made, the catering offer is very marginally better than the one I knew more than 10 years ago now.
I will take a meager selection from the buffet. Only the espresso was excellent, as well as the flavored waters offered in a fountain.
Bottom line
For a short stay, this lounge does the job… But I don’t see myself there for more than an hour.
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