Review: the new oneworld (BA) lounge at Amsterdam Schiphol airport

This is our review of the brand new oneworld non-Schengen lounge at Amsterdam Schiphol airport.

On Wednesday, oneworld finally unveiled its second official oneworld-branded lounge, following the opening of the oneworld lounge in Seoul earlier this year.

Amsterdam has long been rumoured as the second location with speculation rife online. oneworld has done well to keep it under wraps until today, the official preview date. You can enter from 5.30am on Thursday.

Like the Seoul lounge, this is owned by oneworld directly. Management has been outsourced to Swissport via its Aspire subsidiary. The so-called oneworld lounge in Los Angeles is technically owned and managed by Qantas and therefore not considered a proper oneworld lounge, with oneworld’s design language.

Rob was officially the first person across the threshold after the official ribbon cutting ceremony, in a dash to get ‘people free’ pictures!

British Airways used to have a lounge in Amsterdam

Pre-pandemic, British Airways owned and operated its own lounge in Amsterdam. As you can see by this 2015 review, it was not the most impressive facility in the world, with the only fresh food available a single, dilapidated-looking sandwich.

In 2022, it was announced that the BA lounge would not re-open following the pandemic, with BA passengers sent to the Aspire lounge next door.

This was followed, in March 2023, the announcement of the closure of the Aspire lounge as it underwent a refurbishment program. It was at that point that speculation around a new, larger oneworld-branded lounge began, with oneworld having announced the launch of its own series of lounges back in 2019. The first one was supposed to be in Moscow …. but we all know how that went.

Initial expectations that the British Airways lounge and Aspire lounge would be knocked together didn’t quite materialise. The oneworld lounge seems to have cannibalised a small portion of the Aspire lounge, leaving a fully refurbished Aspire lounge behind – see our exclusive first look here.

Having a oneworld-branded lounge in Amsterdam makes sense, as it is an airport virtually all oneworld members fly to but none call their home base. With no dominant member at the airport, an alliance-branded lounge shares the burden and costs of a lounge and makes a larger space more feasible.

The only issue is that it sits in the non-Schengen area, although if you are flying BA this is not an issue. Apparently some media who flew in from Spain did not realise that they would need a passport to reach the lounge!

oneworld Amsterdam lounge location

If you’ve ever been to the British Airways or Aspire lounges at Schiphol, you will know exactly where the new oneworld lounge is located.

Designated Lounge 41 (Schiphol signage operates similar to lounge signage at Heathrow Terminal 3, with each lounge designated a number) it is immediately accessible from the mezzanine floor as you exit security.

You’ll immediately see the unique entrance corridor on your left, along with a reception desk which is shared between the new oneworld and Aspire lounges. The arch is meant to be a nod to Amsterdam’s illuminated canal bridges:

It is “no more than 10 minutes away from the alliance member airlines’ departure gates” according to the press release.

oneworld Lounge Amsterdam Schiphol access requirements

Standard oneworld rules apply: you need to be flying a oneworld airline, either in business class, first class, or hold oneworld Sapphire or Emerald status with any one of them if flying in economy.

Amsterdam Schiphol is currently served by the following oneworld airlines:

• American Airlines
• British Airways
• Cathay Pacific
• Finnair
• Iberia
• Qatar Airways
• Royal Air Maroc
• Royal Jordanian

Alaska, Japan Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Sri Lankan Airlines and soon-to-join member Oman Airlines do not currently fly to Amsterdam Schiphol, but you can still use the oneworld lounge assuming you hold status – either oneworld Emerald or Sapphire – in one of their programs and are flying one of the airlines listed above.

It’s possible to use the lounge if you are flying to a Schengen destination (such as Helsinki or Madrid on Finnair and Iberia, respectively) although you do have to clear passport control twice.

Status members of Fiji Airways, which is a oneworld Connect partner (rather than a full member) only get lounge access when travelling on BA, Cathay, Qantas and, soon, American.

There is no dedicated First Class / Emerald area. It is a single shared space.

Inside the Amsterdam Schiphol oneworld lounge

If you’ve seen photos of (or indeed been inside) the oneworld Seoul lounge then the oneworld Amsterdam lounge will look familiar to you. It is specced to the same oneworld ‘Travel Bright’ design.

It was designed by D/DOCK, a Dutch architecture firm. The company’s art director, Jochem Straatman, said:

“The Amsterdam lounge is a futuristic, vibrant setting that blends open spaces to encourage relaxation, especially as the Dutch skies are omnipresent through the immense windows, which are a fantastic feature of this lounge. With a Travel Bright twist, guests can also experience a mesmerising luminous horizon, theatrically revealed by lifted curtains.

We have delivered a contemporary, premium lounge experience with typologies, fittings and furnishings that pay homage to life in the Netherlands. The lounge experience makes travel simple, relaxing and enjoyable. While this and the Incheon lounge have their own distinct identity, both share the same unique oneworld look and feel, creating a sense of familiarity across our lounges.”

The lounge is 473 sqm in size and is big enough to accommodate 118 guests. There is mood lighting that changes throughout the day.

Some elements, such as this lantern installation, will clearly become iconic oneworld lounge elements:

Behind it you can also see a unique ‘gong’ installation, identical to Seoul:

On the inside of the gong you’ll find a funky booth:

As you can see, the design is heavily influenced by the oneworld logo with lots of rounded shapes in rich ‘oneworld’ blue/purple and other complementing colours.

There is a variety of seating available for every occasion, including a row facing the expansive windows:

and

If you fancy getting some work done then there is a large, shared hotdesking zone:

and

Or you can pop into one of the arched booths, which I’m sure will be popular:

There are a couple of sound-proof phone booths available as well, should you need privacy:

Unlike before, when you had to leave the (BA) lounge to access the toilets, these are now provided inside. There are also showers:

Bar and buffet

The lounge features a staffed horseshoe bar, as you can see here:

We have been told that cocktails are included, and there is a proper, commercial-sized espresso machine. There are some cute design touches above the bar including these little birds:

The buffet area is fresh and bright:

and

It’s not clear what will be on offer day-to-day as we were at the lounge opening event which had special catering. However, wines and beers appear to be on self-pour with spirits available at the bar.

Conclusion

The new oneworld Amsterdam lounge is an impressive space. It would be an understatement to say that it is an upgrade on the previous British Airways lounge, and passengers are the clear winners here.

It’s great to see that oneworld hasn’t shied away from creating a space that is visually impactful. All too often lounges can end up as dreary, uninspired spaces, but this is anything but. The lantern lights and silver gong feature are sure to become iconic elements as oneworld launches further lounges.

Amenities have also been upgraded in the refurbishment, including with dedicated toilets and showers, whilst the space’s strengths, including fantastic airport views, have been retained. Overall, you can’t fault the new oneworld Amsterdam lounge although the real test will be when real passengers start trying it out.

The new lounge is open daily between 5:30am and 10:00pm, starting tomorrow (Thursday). You can find out more on the oneworld lounge information page here.

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How to get FREE airport lounge access via UK credit cards (April 2024)

Here are the four options to get FREE airport lounge access via a UK credit card.

The Platinum Card from American Express comes with two free Priority Pass cards, one for you and one for a supplementary cardholder. Each card admits two so a family of four gets in free. You get access to all 1,300 lounges in the Priority Pass network – search it here.

You also get access to Eurostar, Lufthansa and Delta Air Lines lounges.  Our American Express Platinum review is here. You can apply here.

If you have a small business, consider American Express Business Platinum instead.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for the first year. It comes with a Priority Pass card loaded with four free visits to any Priority Pass lounge – see the list here.

Additional lounge visits are charged at £24.  You get four more free visits for every year you keep the card.  

There is no annual fee for Amex Gold in Year 1 and you get a 20,000 points sign-up bonus.  Full details are in our American Express Preferred Rewards Gold review here.

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard gets you get a free Priority Pass card, allowing you access to the Priority Pass network.  Guests are charged at £24 although it may be cheaper to pay £60 for a supplementary credit card for your partner.

The card has a fee of £195 and there are strict financial requirements to become a HSBC Premier customer.  Full details are in my HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard review.

PS. You can find all of HfP’s UK airport lounge reviews – and we’ve been to most of them – indexed here.