My upcoming flight in SAS Business Class granted me access to the SAS Lounge in Stockholm in Terminal 5. Unfortunately, a rookie mistake left me stuck without access to it (more on that later). As a consolation prize, I had access to the Stockholm Arlanda Lounge through Priority Pass. It’s an alright lounge, though no substitute for a true flagship lounge.
Note: this post is part of a longer series about my trip to Brussels and Stockholm last November. Click here for the introductory post and trip report index.
Stockholm Arlanda Lounge
Location
In the non-Schengen gates of the F Pier. After clearing passport control, head up the escalators, and the entrance is to the right. And this is where I made my rookie mistake. I failed to check the location of the SAS Lounge ahead of time. It’s in the Schengen area of Terminal 5. And I cleared passport control before I figured that out. Oops. If you visit the SAS Lounge, or the two non-Schengen Priority Pass lounges, allow extra time to clear passport control. For what it’s worth, outbound passport control literally took about 90 seconds. This was about 1 pm on a Monday.
Access
Several airlines provide Business Class passengers access to the Stockholm Arlanda Lounge, as detailed on the lounge’s webpage. Among these include Emirates, Qatar, and China Eastern. In addition to Priority Pass, Lounge Key and Diners Club provide access to their cardholders. Finally, any passenger can purchase a day pass for SEK 250 (~$28).
Review
The agent seemed confused when I presented a SAS boarding pass, but quickly completed my check-in with my Priority Pass card. The lounge is L-shaped, with a long main room, then another side room to the left. The main room begins with an interesting looking wall near the check-in desk.
Behind the wall are a few funky “bean bag”-type stools and a bench along the window. Quite Scandinavian, I’d say.
The room then opens up into a large, open dining area. Food is on the left, while a large communal table fills the middle. There is also another communal dining table along the window, along with a few relaxing chairs.
Meanwhile, a few more dining tables are at the end of the hallway, along with a few traditional lounge seats. This seemed like the most popular part of the lounge.
As far as the food selection itself goes, well, don’t expect too much. You have your usual cold cuts, cheeses, and snack mix.
There were also a couple of hot selections (sorry I couldn’t get a photo of the food itself). Judging by other reviews of the lounge, the lasagna’s a long-time staple here. Unfortunately it clearly sat under the heat lamp too long on this visit; it was quite dry.
The lounge’s drink selection is similarly limited. The selections consists of beer, wine, and soft drinks only. I had a glass of the Merlot; I found it drinkable though unspectacular.
Back to the lounge – there’s a small children’s play area to the left at the end of the hallway.
Finally, behind the play area is a small work area, with a few seats along the window. This area didn’t seem too popular; there was nobody here so I camped out for a little while to enjoy some peace and quiet. Unfortunately, while the windows make this area especially airy, the lounge faces the wrong side of the airport, and thus, there are no ramp views.
One thing you’ll notice – there area plenty of power outlets throughout the lounge, including the dining area. WiFi was also pretty fast.
Final Thoughts
It’s a stylish lounge, though small and with a mediocre food selection. It’s fine for a Priority Pass lounge, though it leaves something to be desired if you’re here as a Business Class passenger. FYI, Priority Pass cardholders have two other options at Arlanda Terminal 5. These are the Menzies Executive Lounge in the F Pier, just before passport control, and the Norrsken Lounge, in the A Pier.
