Airport Guide: From CIP Lounges to Grand Meals, Sleeping on Floors and Chairs, There’s Always an Airport That Leaves an Impression

When traveling abroad, the time spent in airports often exceeds flight time. Understanding the VIP lounges of airports, airlines, and banks, and using the various cards you hold to access CIP lounges, take a nap, enjoy a full meal, or even shower—these are indispensable for travelers to make their time at boring airports more comfortable. Flight delays, one- or two-day postponements, or even cancellations happen to frequent flyers sooner or later. International airports also involve immigration and customs, inspections of carried items and currency, and document checks, which can be troublesome. Unfair treatment is not uncommon; throwing tantrums is useless, and even if you are in the right, abroad you can easily get yourself into trouble. You have to solve things calmly. Nothing at an airport is trivial; you must make good use of it.

My favorite airport is the former Hong Kong Chek Lap Kok International Airport, which was rated the world’s best airport eight times in twelve years. It was my first choice for international flights—convenient from Shenzhen, with good service, lower taxes, and cheaper tickets. If you take a ferry from Shekou Cruise Homeport directly to the airport, you can even get a refund of the departure tax without entering Hong Kong. Two CIP lounges I frequently visited in Hong Kong Airport are both in Terminal 1, but their styles are completely different. One is the American Express Centurion Lounge, open from 8:00 AM to 11:00 PM. Holders of certain bank-issued American Express Centurion Platinum cards can enter and bring one guest for free. It offers Western-style meals, as well as fried rice, vegetables, pan-fried fish, and braised beef. It’s quiet, with no queues, and serves freshly brewed pure coffee, freshly squeezed orange juice, and fine spirits. Free shower rooms are available—ideal for taking a shower before a red-eye flight to avoid smelling bad on the plane.

The other is the Plaza Premium Lounge, open from 6:00 AM to 12:30 AM. Priority Pass, Dragon Pass, and certain bank-issued platinum cards grant entry. There are three Plaza Premium Lounges in the departure hall of Terminal 1; the busiest one is near Gate 1, often requiring a long queue when crowded. They serve authentic Hong Kong and Cantonese cuisine: fish ball noodles, wonton noodles, molten egg custard buns, egg tarts, spring rolls, meatballs, spiced eggs, fried rice, and more—all hot and local. Juices, red wine, beer, and coffee are also available. Even foreigners in the know love to eat there. When hungry or before a long flight, I’d rather queue than miss a full meal.

Delays are every traveler’s nightmare. My most memorable delay was a flight from Hong Kong to Honolulu (on a U.S. airline) that was one of the rare delays at Hong Kong Airport. We were about to take off at midnight when a taxiing malfunction occurred. The plane couldn’t be fixed; all passengers were sent back to the terminal and told to reboard at 3:00 PM the next day. My subsequent connections, accommodation, and car rental seemed doomed. While most people were fussing over rebooking, I approached the staff separately, explained my itinerary, and showed my connecting ticket, car rental, and hotel reservations. Eventually, I found the fastest solution: rebook to the next morning’s flight to Tokyo Narita International Airport, then catch a plane to Honolulu. I only lost one night’s hotel cost in Honolulu, and the airline agreed to compensate. They offered me a free hotel room in downtown Hong Kong for the night, but I didn’t want the hassle, so I spent a few hours sleeping on airport chairs.

In Japan, I caught the flight to Hawaii. Upon arriving at Honolulu International Airport, there is the IASS Hawaii Lounge in the overseas terminal. Since I needed to take a Hawaiian Airlines flight to Maui, I rushed to the inter-island terminal, which also has a Plaza Premium Lounge—but time was too tight, and I ran straight to the gate. It felt like takeoff and landing happened in 40 minutes; I arrived at Kahului Airport on Maui. This airport, only converted to civilian use in 1952, is small but packed with tourists from all over the world. Its best service is a bus that takes passengers to nearby car rental parking lots. There are clear signs for shuttle routes. I hopped on a free bus to my rental company’s lot, grabbed the car, and started my island road trip.

Among overseas airports, Osaka’s Kansai International Airport in Japan is the best—ranked in the top ten globally and awarded the Global Airport Gold and Silver Awards. At immigration, Chinese-speaking staff guide you through procedures; it’s the only entry point where I never worry about being harassed. There are also Chinese-speaking volunteers. The staff’s service attitude truly matches the awards of a world-class airport. Once, I took a domestic Chinese airline flight back to China and experienced two delays. After the announced boarding time following the first delay passed, they announced another delay. When the second revised boarding time came, I thought I had enough time and went to the duty-free shop to buy gifts for my parents. But the flight boarded earlier than the announced time. Amid the commotion, I heard my name called over the PA. I dashed out of the shop and immediately found an airport staff member. She radioed the gate and, worried I might get lost, ran with me in high heels—I was grateful but also worried about her heels. Once on board, a flight attendant told me that if the Kansai Airport staff hadn’t insisted on waiting, the plane would have left without me—and I hadn’t exceeded the announced boarding time.

On a return trip from Alaska, I flew from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to Hong Kong. I arrived at the airport in a rainstorm; the night flight was canceled, and the next available flight was a day later. Going back to downtown Seattle to find accommodation would be troublesome and expensive. I decided to look for an alternative connection. I first approached a female Chinese-American staff member of the Hong Kong airline. I clearly heard her speaking Cantonese with a colleague, but she spoke only English to me and was very impatient. A male colleague who spoke Mandarin was nicer, but he couldn’t handle rebooking. So I found a staff member who looked like a local American. She spoke English but patiently listened to my needs. Knowing I had a valid Canadian visa, she rebooked me from Seattle to Vancouver, then on to Hong Kong.

After rebooking, it was already past 1 AM. I had planned to eat at The Centurion Lounge in the Seattle airport concourse, but the rebooking took so long that the lounge had closed. I couldn’t go through U.S. outbound immigration yet, so I couldn’t enter the concourse. All the restaurants in the public area were closed. I hadn’t eaten for eight hours. An airport cleaner told me that the only small shop in the hall was still open. I rushed over, bought a big bottle of water, a burger, and two bananas. I sat on the airport chairs, dangling my legs over my suitcase, closed my eyes, and dozed for two hours. At 4:30 AM, I finally processed outbound immigration and entered the concourse. I found the Centurion Lounge, which opened at 5 AM, and waited at its door. As soon as it opened, I went in with my American Express Centurion Platinum card. I sat at a window table overlooking various planes at Seattle Airport, but I started feeling sleepy. I had a large glass of orange juice, a big bowl of yogurt with granola, and a plate of Western pastries, eggs, and mixed fruit. I filled myself with high-calorie food, then drank two large Espressos to fight off heavy drowsiness.

After a 50-minute flight, I arrived at Vancouver International Airport in Canada—spacious, bright, with clear signage, truly the best airport in North America. I searched on my phone and found that the SkyTeam Lounge in the concourse had good reviews and accepted Priority Pass. I took the elevator upstairs; the space grew larger and larger. To my surprise, the SkyTeam Lounge had a Noodle Bar offering noodles, fish balls, wontons, fish dumplings, siu mai, smoked salmon, and other Chinese-style snacks. For convenience, they gave me a bilingual menu in Chinese and English; I just checked what I wanted. I also drank two cups of coffee and a glass of liquor. After a full meal, I noticed shower facilities. Having not washed up in Seattle overnight, I made a reservation with my passport. They provided a full set of toiletries and a towel, and returned my passport only after I finished. The attendant was an elderly Chinese-Canadian lady who spoke “Chinglish” like me; she was very kind. When I left, I tried to give her five dollars as a tip, but she refused.

Many airports offer good food, but some have unique characteristics. The Warsaw Chopin International Airport had good candies and chocolates in its lounges. I chose one near my gate—I forget whether it was Preludium Lounge or Executive Lounge. There were plenty of food choices, a huge variety of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks (a whole wall filled with refrigerators), abundant fruit, and especially excellent desserts, coffee, candies, and chocolates. I had several espresso shots. According to online rumors, their sweets were great, so I broke my rule and had one candy, then a few pieces of chocolate—very authentic, rich and creamy. If I hadn’t felt embarrassed, I would have taken some candies onto the plane.

I often encountered beautiful flight attendants at overseas airports, but I rarely took photos for fear of being looked down upon. During a 15-day trip to Sri Lanka, I was photographing the hall at Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo when a beautiful woman in a long skirt walked into the frame, then another came wearing the same skirt. I realized it was a uniform. Unlike the high-end professional uniforms of Saudi Arabian Airlines flight attendants, SriLankan Airlines flight attendants wear long blue skirts patterned with peacock feathers; they walk like fairies. Colombo Airport has the Lotus First Lounge and Palm Strip Lounge, but back then I didn’t know how to get in and had no card, so I just sat in the main hall. I also took some close-up shots of flight attendants. Once, while flying AirAsia to the Philippines and about to enter immigration at Mactan–Cebu International Airport, an AirAsia flight attendant holding an airline sign was greeting passengers. She was smiling, with long hair cascading, a straight nose, and especially a set of snow-white teeth—a natural, healthy beauty. In her red uniform, her looks were enough to be the airline’s brand ambassador.

I have visited Malaysia seven times, and every time I pass through Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Terminal 2 (K2) is one of the busiest international airports in the world, with self-check baggage, Chinese broadcasts, and Chinese signage. It has won awards like Best Global Airport. Although the environment can’t compare with Hong Kong, many lounges are open 24 hours. Several times I took low-cost flights to Kuala Lumpur for connections, almost always at midnight or early morning. Having food and drink at that hour was all I could ask for. K2 also has a capsule hotel charged by the hour (minimum 3 hours); those who don’t want to stay up can try it. I love the Plaza Premium Lounges; I visited several different ones at KLIA2—all small but with decent service. They have bilingual menus featuring my favorite Malaysian street food—Laksa. I always have a glass of rich Carlsberg draft beer, and of course, for those burning the midnight oil, a couple of cups of freshly brewed Malaysian coffee are a must.

At Casablanca Mohammed V International Airport in Morocco, both Terminals 1 and 2 have Pearl Lounge lounges, accessible with Priority Pass. I had heard that the desserts at this lounge were excellent because Moroccans have a sweet tooth and make good sweets. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to visit on arrival. When leaving Morocco, I departed from Marrakesh Menara Airport, which also had a Pearl Lounge, but there were four of us, and they couldn’t bring in guests for free, so we didn’t go. Casablanca Airport left a strong impression: local SIM cards are very cheap. I remember there was a booth in the arrivals hall giving out free phone cards; you just needed to register with your passport. Even without topping up, you could make a few calls. Later I topped up twice, and the rates were not expensive. However, a friend of mine entered Morocco with a drone, probably without prior declaration, and it was confiscated. He had to either come back to retrieve it or mail it home. In the end, like me, he flew back from Marrakesh, and mailing it home was very expensive.

The most troublesome part of international airports is always immigration and customs. It’s often nerve-wracking and you might encounter tricks. At an airport in Southeast Asia, the immigration officer casually flipped through my passport while asking me questions, seemingly making small talk: what I did for a living, how much local currency I carried. Luckily, I usually carry a few coins as souvenirs and spend all foreign currency before leaving. I said I only had a little money left for airport food. He kept my passport, called another staff member, pretended to investigate me. Seeing that I wasn’t nervous and wouldn’t offer a bribe, he grumpily tossed my passport back. I later learned that if you exceed the currency limit, some people would take the opportunity to demand bribes, and your money could be confiscated or you could be penalized. Another time, when entering Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, a friend had stapled a visa-on-arrival letter to a passport page. At that time, they did not recognize our passport featuring the national border pattern. The immigration officer rudely tore it off, almost damaging the passport. If the passport had been torn, it might have been invalidated.

The most thrilling experience was last Chinese New Year, after finishing a self-drive campervan tour of New Zealand’s South Island. It coincided with the most severe period of airport travel restrictions due to the pandemic. Several friends’ Chinese flights were suddenly canceled or delayed for days. Fortunately, I had booked a foreign airline: fly from Christchurch to Melbourne, then connect to Hong Kong. At Christchurch International Airport, I smoothly checked in for the Melbourne flight and even got a boarding pass for the Melbourne-Hong Kong leg. Christchurch Airport has a Manaia Lounge where passengers can stay for three hours. The food is simple, all Western cold dishes. There is a huge coffee machine that can froth milk, and a hot water dispenser. The lounge has many sofas and plenty of charging ports, with signs in various languages saying “Relax.” At that time, masks were mandatory in all domestic public places in China, so I had masks in my pocket. There was no such requirement here. Sitting on the sofa drinking coffee was satisfying enough.

On the flight to Australia, all Chinese passengers were wearing masks, but the foreign passengers and flight attendants were not. Upon arriving at Melbourne International Airport, I was worried they wouldn’t let me fly to Hong Kong. After one security check, I found an entrance to the international transit area without entering Australia, but I had to sleep in the airport for one night. The sun shone on Melbourne International Airport; the concourse was empty except for me. I sat lazily on the carpet. Thinking I could return home before the lockdown, sleeping on the floor was worth it. It was a rare chance to shop in the airport. I had a bowl of noodles at a restaurant. Later, someone told me that I could have gone to a lounge that evening for dinner and used it again the next day, but I didn’t try. There weren’t many people sleeping in the airport. At first, I felt lying on the carpet was undignified, so I looked for a row of chairs. Some rows at Melbourne Airport don’t have armrests separating each seat, so you can lie across three or four chairs. It’s quite friendly for transit passengers who don’t have time to go to a hotel outside.

Melbourne has various VIP lounges: Plaza Premium, American Express Centurion, Marhaba Lounge, REX Lounge, etc. During a previous trip to Melbourne Airport, a foreign traveler told me the Amex lounge was better, so this time I decided to go there. At night, I lay on a row of chairs, using my backpack as a pillow. Half-asleep, I heard cleaners working. I endured until 6:00 AM when the American Express Lounge opened. The food selection was slightly better than Plaza Premium, still mainly cold dishes with various sauces, all labeled in Chinese and English. Hot items were limited to bacon, Western cakes, pancakes, etc. The area was larger, and the sofas and facilities were slightly better than Plaza Premium. The decor had a pink tone, designed with a LGBTQ+ theme. I guessed that since most food was cold, Chinese tourists weren’t used to it—I only saw foreign tourists. Regardless of whether the food was hot or cold, I had a big meal, even eating a piece of stinky cheese—supposedly the stinkier, the higher the protein—to compensate for the all-nighter.

I can’t forget the time at the airport when I dropped my passport and boarding pass in the security tray and frantically searched for them before boarding. I also recall the deliberate harassment at departure when I forgot to remove my belt and the police made me stand as if punished. And I can’t forget the cold face of immigration officers when I refused to pay a bribe. I could talk about airport stories for days and nights. My only regret is that I took too few photos at airports, and I never dared to take pictures in lounges. However, no matter what troubles arise during the journey, there is always a solution. Don’t worry excessively; enjoy the exotic moments at the airport. While I was sitting alone in Melbourne Airport, a foreign traveler walked to a piano in the center of the hall and played a passionate piece, soothing my loneliness and sending me off on my journey home.