Background
Cathay Pacific opened its lounge in Changi Airport’s Terminal 4 (T4) at the end of October 2017. Unlike its lounges in Hong Kong that each bear unique names in order to differentiate them, the T4 lounge is simply dubbed the “Cathay Pacific Lounge”. The lounge has seating capacity for around 200 people, but doesn’t feature separate areas for first and business class passengers.
Cathay invited me to try this lounge on my way back from Singapore to Hong Kong on Sunday morning, and I was keen to see how it compares to Cathay’s lounges in its home base of Hong Kong International Airport.
Where is it?
After clearing immigration and security, I turned left through duty free and proceeded straight until coming to an escalator…
The lounge is just to the right of the top of the escalator.
Who can access?
First class and business class passengers flying on either Cathay Pacific, Cathay Dragon, or another Oneworld carrier. These passengers can also bring one guest.
Regardless of cabin class flown, Marco Polo Club silver members on Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon flights can access the lounge without any guests. Gold members on Cathay Pacific, Cathay Dragon or another Oneworld carrier can access the lounge and bring one guest. Diamond members on Cathay Pacific, Cathay Dragon and Oneworld carriers can access the lounge and bring two guests.
Cargo Clan Elite members on Cathay Pacific, Cathay Dragon or another Oneworld carrier can access the lounge and bring one guest.
Oneworld Emerald and Sapphire members on Cathay Pacific, Cathay Dragon or another Oneworld airline can access the lounge and bring one guest.
Fiji Airways Tabua Plus cardholders can also access this lounge and bring one guest.
What's it like?
Upon first entering, I was impressed by the artwork hanging on the wall to my right…
There is a good selection of newspapers and magazines at the entrance, including, of course, Business Traveller Asia-Pacific…
Just to the right of the entrance, there is a small room with three computers…
Compared to The Pier Business Class Lounge in Hong Kong airport, this lounge is noticeably smaller, being divided into just two sections: an enclosed section with Cathay’s popular Noodle Bar…
…and an open air “outdoor” section, which has a buffet and more comfortable seating…
Unfortunately, there are no showers or sleeping area. The first descriptive that came to mind when I entered the lounge was that this is “The Pier-lite”. It’s understandable that this lounge be smaller, given that Cathay has far fewer passengers coming through Singapore than its main hub of Hong Kong, and I feel that in proportion to the number of flights it is a decent size.
Considering that I arrived at the lounge around 5.30am, there was a good selection of food and drink available…
My only grievance about the food was that there was no egg station, but instead you had to take the eggs from a metal container. No one wants to eat a fried egg that has been sitting in a container for any length of time. Personally, I’d rather have an egg station than a noodle bar at this time in the morning, but that may just be my Western perspective.
I did like the water station, however, with its tap that lets you easily choose from hot water, cold water and cold sparkling water…
Verdict
While it doesn’t have the ‘wow’ factor of Cathay Pacific’s The Pier First Class Lounge and The Pier Business Class Lounge in Hong Kong International Airport, this lounge has good catering and other facilities, making it a great place to relax before boarding your flight out of Singapore.
Fact file
- Opening hours 04:00-01:00, daily
- Location Departure Transit Hall, Mezzanine level
