5 Hours in the Airport?!?!??

Whatever the circumstances may be, 5 hours in the average airport is not part of anyone’s ‘dream vacation’ or even work trip.   This is unfortunate because most airports have a huge amount of space.  Why not create money-making facilities which could make the time spent in the airport more bareable or even enjoyable for the passengers?

No, I’m not talking about the duty free.  No wonder why the airlines are losing money.  They have their ultra snooty VIP lounge which is really just a bunch of chairs left over from the 70s with a moseleum like atmosphere but for the average person they have nothing.

Plaza Premium Lounge

I didn’t know what to expect for my first time getting my Thai visa in a foreign country so I booked a late return to Bangkok which boards at 8:50pm.  I remember the airport being very far away (about 1 hour) so I didn’t want to take any chances.  I hooked up with a taxi driver who was hustling at the embassy and probably got over-charged but I ended up arriving to KUL or the Kuala Lumpur International airport at around 4.

I begged the lady at the ticket counter to let me on one of the 3 or 4 AirAsia flights to BKK before my ticketed plane to no avail as I tried to keep my composure.  I passed through security and passport control in a jiffy and ended up at the boarding gate a whopping 4 hours before my boarding time.  I was beginning to panic as I saw no chargers for my laptop and the usual mix of sports bars, junk food peddlars, and of course the duty free when I saw the Plaza Premium Lounge.

At first I thought it was one of those first-class-only types of exclusive clubs but it wasnt.  I talked to the receptionist and she told me it had a fee which I gladly paid w/ my last remaning Malasian Ringgets for 5 hours of (as far as I was concerned) 5 hours of a power adapter and charge for my laptop.  To my surprise it included a lot more than a simple chair, desk & charger.

It actually included “massage chair” which sounded like those crap coin-operated ones at most airports but the Plaza Premium Lounge includes a free massage!  It also included a free all-you-can-eat buffet, all you can drink drinks including cans of diet coke, movies, newspapers, magazines and even showers w/ all the amenities for the filthy backpackers!

I’m sitting here right now and thinking how fortunate I am to have this oasis among the hell of sorts which is an international airport’s boarding gate.  By the way for 5 hours in KUL I paid 128 ringgits which about $36USD which I think is totally fair when you consider how much you would spend at an airport milling around buying overpriced junk and junk food.

I look on the Plaza Premium Lounge website and I see the other locations in the region which I will definitely keep in mind when planning my next trip. By the way, the picture on this post was taken with my low quality laptop webcam camera and certainly doesn’t do the plaza premium lounge justice, you just have to check one out.

• Hong Kong Int’l Airport
  
• Guangzhou Balyun Int’l Airport
  
• Beijing Capital Int’l Airport
  
• Shanghai Pudong Int’l Airport
  
• Malaysia Int’l Airport
  
• Singapore Changi Airport
  
• Vancouver Int’l Airport
  
• Toronto Pearson Int’l Airport
  
• Muscat Int’l Airport

Last 5 posts by Mike Behnken

• Places to Visit in Thailand: Sukhothai - January 15th, 2011
• Part III: Places to visit from Pokhara: Sarangkot - January 15th, 2011
• Things to do from Pokhara: Part II - Sunrise at World Peace Stupa - January 8th, 2011
• Places to visit in Nepal: Pokhara - Part I - January 8th, 2011
• Places to Visit from Kathmandu- Nagarkot: Part II - November 19th, 2010