SkyTeam has six co-branded open lounges across the world with their seventh now open in Vancouver, Canada. The new lounge is the first North American location after Beijing, Dubai, Hong Kong, Istanbul, London Heathrow, and Sydney. I was fortunate enough to transfer through Vancouver (YVR) just two days after the Skyteam lounge’s soft opening on 11/12/17. The lounge is so new, SkyTeam has yet to even announce the opening!
Once entering the lounge there is a magazine rack and a small business center. Free WiFi is available through the airport network.
Next is a wine bar with plenty of seating to be social. In addition, there is a TV with the news playing and lots of locally grown wine. Serve yourself and go wild!
Currently the wine bar is 100% self-serve. It does appears that the space in front of the wine bar could become a full service bar. In the meantime, drink wine and be social!
Choose between red or white wine. All wines are from British Columbia.
Between the wine bar and the main dining room there is plenty of places to sit back and relax. There is even two lounge chairs for sleeping.
The entire lounge is above the shops and provides an open air experience. The openness of the lounge is great, as the airport terminal below is not very loud. In addition, the lounge has great tarmac views!
Food & Drink
Like most of us, eating and drinking is a highlight to a lounge visit. The Vancouver Skyteam lounge is open 24 hours and offers food all day long. Alcohol is available from 9 am to 4 am daily. The kitchen is in the back of the lounge towards the bathrooms.
In the morning there is warm breakfast options along with fruit and cereal.
After noon, lunch options replace the breakfast items.
The true highlight to the YVR Skyteam Lounge food offering is the fresh noodle soup and dimsum. This is available after 10 am.
I would argue that this is as tasty as the dan dan noodles available in the Cathay Pacific lounges! Plus dim sum is a nice touch!
For those who prefer something different than wine, there’s self-serve alcohol and both local and international beer. The Vancouver SkyTeam Lounge does try to keep things local!
Showers & Bathrooms
The Vancouver Skyteam Lounge has two bathrooms, each with several stalls. There are also two showers which are available to all guests on a first come, first served basis. The showers have a toilet and toiletries. Compared to other showers I’ve seen in airports, these seem very basic. But if you need to rinse off, they will do.
Vancouver Skyteam Lounge Final Thoughts
The Vancouver Skyteam lounge is a priority pass lounge which offers a great new addition to both Skyteam flyers and Priority Pass card holders. The open and airy space provides a retreat from the terminal below and offers all the basic amenities one would expect in a lounge.
The staff are very friendly and helpful and the Vancouver Skyteam lounge employees a diverse staff. Several staff members speak Mandarin, as Chinese Skyteam members have a heavy presence in Vancouver. Other staff members are fluent in English, French, Korean, Tagalog, and more.
The lounge is open to First and Business class passengers, and Skyteam Elite Plus passengers departing on AeroMexico, Air France, China Airlines, China Eastern, China Southern, KLM, Korean Air, and Xiamen Air. Travelers on Delta traveling to the United States do not have access to this lounge. Priority pass members can also access this lounge. Remember though, this lounge is in the international terminal and those traveling on pre-clearance flights to the USA and within Canada cannot access this lounge.
