I arrived early for my Singapore Suites flight from Frankfurt to New York, affording plenty of time for lounging. Although a premium class ticket on Singapore affords you access to Lufthansa lounges, Singapore actually directs First Class passengers to the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Frankfurt. So I headed there first before checking out other options. On its own, it’s a surprisingly good lounge, better in many ways than Lufthansa’s crowded Business lounges at FRA. But a First Class lounge it definitely isn’t.
Mr. Dozer coincidentally visited the lounge about the same time I did. You can read about his experience here (I did borrow a couple of his pictures, though).
Note: this post is part of my trip report series about my trip to Finnish Lapland in October, 2022. Click here for the trip report index and introductory post.
Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge FRA
Location
In Terminal 1, Concourse B at Frankfurt Airport. Head towards Gates B41-B48, and then follow the overhead signage to the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge. Near Gate B43, take the escalator up, which brings you to the lounge entrance. You really can’t miss it, with the big overhead sign out front, along with the wood paneling at the entrance.
Access
Air Canada provides numerous ways to access Maple Leaf lounges:
- Air Canada or Star Alliance Business and First Class passengers
- Altitude Super Elite and Aeroplan 35k, 50k, and 75k members, traveling on AC or Star Alliance carriers, plus spouse, up to 5 dependents, and one guest
- Star Alliance Gold member, traveling on AC or Star Alliance carriers, plus one guest
- Certain Aeroplan premium credit card holders, plus one guest
- Chase Sapphire Reserve cardmembers
- Customers traveling in Premium Economy or on Latitude, Comfort, or Flex fares in Economy can purchase access for CAD 49-79 (must purchase in advance)
- Passengers may bring additional guests for CAD 59
Hours of operation are 6 am to 4:30 pm daily.
Review
Date of visit: October 25, 2022
I’ll start off by saying, at the time of my visit, right around 7 am, I found the lounge maybe 1/3 full. That made my time hear quite relaxing and enjoyable. I’ve read numerous complaints online, however, about overcrowding in this lounge. Should you visit at a more crowded time, your experience may vary.
Upon entering, you’ll see the ubiquitous Air Canada model Dreamliner hanging in the air, one of my favorite lounge decorations. This photo was actually from the old Maple Leaf Lounge at LaGuardia, but it’s basically the same one.
Behind the entrance is a small business center, with a handful of cubicles and workstations. From what I’ve read, this area largely remains unused. So if you find the rest of the lounge overcrowded, check here before leaving.
From the entrance, the lounge first opens up into the dining area. Here, you’ll find a couple of communal tables in the center.
For breakfast, the buffet includes limited hot selections, in this case, scrambled eggs, bacon, and baked beans. I took some of the nice German bread from the breadbasket and enjoyed some classic baked beans and toast. I also found the bacon quite good, not too greasy with just the right crispness.
There’s also some (not very good for you) sweet and salty snacks in the corner.
Besides the few hot selections, items consist of the usual cold cuts, cheese, yogurt, and diced fruit. I did quite enjoy the cheese selection, one of the perks of European lounges.
The lounge features two push-button coffee machines, still and sparking water, and a soda fountain. In the morning, they also had some boxed juices. That’s a fairly large selection, though I found the lack of fresh juices slightly disappointing.
And if you’re a fan of a little hair of the dog, you’ll find this lounge satisfying. Even at breakfast time, there’s an extensive selection of wine, champagne, draft beer, and mid-range liquors. (No, I did not partake.)
Overall, while the food selection is average in terms of variety, it’s pretty good in terms of quality. That said, I’d consider myself disappointed if the lunch spread was similarly small.
As far as seating, it essentially radiates from the dining area in an oval pattern, surrounding a central sculpture. The seating area starts off as an extension of the dining room, with a few single tables along with booth/table combos along the wall. You can also enjoy the paper airplane artwork along the wall. Or whatever’s on the common TV, if you must.
Continuing around the central room, things open up into traditional lounge seating. Here, you can see the orange pair of hands sculpture in the center, with a large couch surrounding and some (uncomfortable looking) lounge chairs strewn in the middle. I give credit to Air Canada for thinking outside the box a little with the center room. The sculpture and orange lighting adds some welcome character to an otherwise generic lounge space.
Around the other side of the sculpture is additional seating along the windows. During the day, you can enjoy some nice views of the ramp area. Unfortunately, with the sun not up yet, I couldn’t get in any plane spotting on this visit. Also unsurprisingly, the window seating filled up first, the only area of the lounge I found even a little crowded. This corridor leads back to the dining area if you get disoriented.
Meanwhile, there’s an additional large seating area in the back of the lounge. There’s even a few “relaxation rooms” with relaxing chairs and a personal TV screen. You can grab one on a first-come, first-served basis. Surprisingly, I found a couple still unoccupied during my visit. Note that the rooms lack doors, so they’re not quite full-on sleep rooms. Nevertheless, they’re nice to have if you’re on a long layover and need a nap.
I found power ports plentiful throughout the lounge in all areas. Perhaps most helpful, the outlets in the business center and dining area feature both Euro and universal outlets. Thus, you’re not SOL if you forgot your adapter at home. WiFi is password protected, and I found it reasonably fast.
Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge FRA Final Thoughts
On its own, the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Frankfurt is actually a pretty good one for a Maple Leaf Lounge. I found the food high quality, if limited in selection, there’s a good variety of seating, and AC did a nice job with the design. In general, I find it preferable to the Lufthansa Business Lounges (though my opinion might change if this one were overcrowded). My main complaint here is that if you’re flying in Singapore Suites, this most definitely isn’t a First Class lounge. It surprised me they sent passengers here instead of the nearby Lufthansa Senator Lounge. Stay tuned, as I made my way over there before heading over to the gate.