Lounge Review: Turkish Airlines - Miami (MIA) E Concourse
Miami International Airport (MIA) was recently awarded the best airport in the United States for lounges, so I made time to visit some MIA lounges. While there, I was able to visit both the Turkish Airlines Lounge (H concourse) and Turkish Airlines Lounge (E concourse). Below is my review of their E concourse (Central Terminal) lounge from the morning of April 12, 2023. The lounge is open daily from 05:00 to 22:00 daily and is located just past security checkpoint.
The lounge is located on the upper level from the terminal, so you either have to take the (8) steps up or use the chair lift which is located in the terminal area (see below). Once you get to the second level, you walk down a short hallway to the entrance desk.
Lounge Access
This is a departure-only lounge that is available to Star Alliance Gold members, Priority Pass, Lounge Club, Diners Club, and Lounge Key members. For my review, I used my Priority Pass membership offered by my American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant credit card to gain access. You must show the desk agent your boarding pass and membership card for entrance. For some strange reason, they were not able to scan my paper boarding pass, so I pulled up my boarding pass on my phone, and it worked.
Dining and Bar
Like many other lounges there, is a hybrid food option. You can order from an online menu (via QR code), or you can do self-serve at the food bar and refrigerator. This lounge did not have a bar or serve spirits, instead, they offer self-serve beer and wine. The food on the buffet area was limited but with good options. I decided to order off the menu and get eggs and potatoes. I got a self-serve coffee and was excited to see Fanta Orange in the fridge. Strangely I was there early in the morning, and they were serving breakfast and lunch options at the same time.
- Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs, Waffles, Hash Browns, and Oatmeal. They also served cereal, bread, muffins, yogurt, and rolls.
- Lunch / Dinner: Sandwiches (Potato and Egg Salad on marble rye bread, Tomato, arugula, red pepper pesto on ciabatta bread, and a Hummus & Olive wrap), soups, salads, meatballs, falafel, spaghetti, and cheese plates.
- Desserts: Baklava, cupcakes, and cookies.
- Beverages: self-serve beer, wine, coffee, soda, clamato, and a few other options.
Seating and Tables
This was a relatively small lounge with decent seating and table options. I chose to sit at the window table with a view of the airplane gate area and taxiways (#AVGeek). But there were also tables and chairs for dining, comfortable seats, a conference table, and a private working room. The lounge has a stated capacity of 98 people, which sounds right for the size. The private work area also had a printer that people could use while visiting the lounge.
Restroom and Showers
I was unable to tour the restrooms or the showers. For some reason, there was only one open restroom, which was occupied the entire time I was in the lounge. As a side note, there are restrooms just outside the entrance to the lounge if the on-site restroom is occupied.
Service
The agent that checked me in was very polite and friendly. I only interacted with two other employees when in the lounge, and they were helpful but could have been more polite.
Other Things
This lounge was a bit worn, and the chairs and overall appearance of the lounge were a bit in need of some maintenance. The conference/work table was nice, but I can't imagine having an actual meeting while people were walking by, but if you are working on your laptop, this is a great location. The nearby isolated work room with the printer is nice, with the exception it does not have any windows.
Overall Rating: 3.0
Pros: order-to-table service, comfortable seating, floor-to-ceiling windows
Cons: no quiet area for relaxing, no bar, restroom was not available, no magazines, limited places to plug in for charging
Food: 3.5
Beverages: 3
Amenities: 3
Seating: 4
Service: 3.5
Views: 4
Wow-Factor: 3
Closing Thoughts
I really enjoyed the view and the coziness of this lounge. When I was there, it was only about 1/3 full, and there was lots of room to relax or work. Overall this was a decent lounge and fine if you are in the E concourse. I really liked the self-serve or table-service dining options. Since only certain concourses are connected at Miami (MIA) airport, getting to this lounge may require you to exit and re-clear security.
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