Prior to our flight to Hong Kong, we spent a bit of time at the Travel Club Lounge Chennai Terminal 2. This is a fair lounge overall; not crowded and certainly a step-up over what used to pass for a lounge. IMPORTANT NOTE: the lounge actually consists of two separate areas. One is reserved for Business Class and status passengers, and the other for Priority Pass, day passes, etc. This review covers the Business Class portion of the lounge.
Note: this post is part of my trip report series covering our family’s trip to India and Korea in July, 2025. Click here for the trip report index and introductory post.
Travel Club Lounge Chennai Terminal 2
Location
On the 3rd floor, past security and immigration. After going through security, follow the signs for “CIP Lounges”, and look for this to head upstairs.
This lounge serves passengers in the international terminal (Terminal 2). There are separate Travel Club lounges for domestic passengers using Terminals 1 or 4.
Access
There are several ways to access the Travel Club Lounge Chennai Terminal 2, including:
- British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Malaysia Airlines, Qatar Airways, and Sri Lankan Airlines Business Class and status passengers
- Priority Pass members
- Diners Club cardholders
- Dragonpass members
- Certain Indian-issued Mastercard credit cards
If you don’t otherwise have access, the lounge does sell single-use passes, space permitting. I’m not 100% sure on pricing, but I’ve seen rates from $32 to $55 online. The lounge operates 24 hours daily, 7 days a week. However, if using the lounge via a credit card or Priority Pass, visit time is limited to 3 hours.
Review
Date of visit: July 19, 2025 (around midnight)
As mentioned, there are two separate areas of this lounge, one for airline-specific passengers, and the other for Priority Pass. The first line you see is for Priority Pass. Keep walking to the end of the corridor for the entrance to the airline-specific section. There were a few people in line for the Priority Pass section, though it didn’t look like there was a waiting list or anything.
The lounge overall is in a horseshoe shape, though with one side kind of straightened out. You’ll find the main seating area along a wall overlooking the terminal. While there aren’t any actual windows to sit by, sitting three floors up, you can get decent views of the ramp through the terminal windows during the day. Though I found the lounge kind of dark, daylight should bring in plenty of natural light. I did appreciate the variety of seating choices, from traditional lounge seats to larger sofas. Also, for what it’s worth, I found the side closest to the entrance a bit brighter overall.
While there are no sleeping rooms, there are a few quasi-nap chairs along one end. It’s not very private, but good enough to grab a nap if you need one.
The centerpiece of the lounge is probably the oversized dining area in the center. This is a quite large seating area, with combo booth/tables on the buffet side, and lounge seating with dining tables on the other with the coffee machines.
At one end of the dining area is a separate seating area that doesn’t seem to attract much traffic. If you’re looking for a quite place to sit, I’d suggest heading this way.
If you prefer traditional lounge seating, there is a similar area on the other side of the railing. It also seems to attract little traffic, if you’re looking for a quieter area to sit.
As far as the food selection goes, the Travel Club Lounge offers a selection of veg and non-veg items on the buffet. At midnight, the dinner selection includes fish and chicken curry in the non-veg section. In the veg section, options include daal (lentil) curry, curd rice, noodles, and a couple of Western selections. Pickle accompanies literally everything in south India, and you’ll find no shortage of options here.
There is also a selection of soups, cheese and cold cuts, and and an Indian dessert. Moong daal halwa was this night’s selection.
There are even a couple of live stations available, even in the middle of the night. One station offers various types of dosas, and the other a selection of omelettes.
As far as the beverage selection goes, there is a push-button Lavazza coffee maker. While it’s not a substitute for a handmade beverage, it’s acceptable enough. (Though c’mon, folks – in a part of the world famous for filter coffee, not offering it is a big whiff.)
In one corner of the buffet, next to the bread, is a selection of chilled and room temperature bottled water, apple juice, and the ubiquitous mango Frooti.
For other soft drinks or alcoholic beverages, you’ll have to go to the opposite end of the lounge to the bar. The liquor selection was pretty average, with a pretty wide selection but mostly bottom-to-mid shelf options. I did find the setup nice overall, similar to what you’d find in a star hotel.
WiFi is password protected and free. Thankfully, you don’t need an Indian mobile phone number to receive a code, previously a bit of a problem at Indian airports. Speeds were ok, but honestly, fast WiFi is shockingly hard to find in public spaces in India.
Final Thoughts
I haven’t visited a lounge in an Indian airport since early 2014. Things have certainly come a long way in that time. I found the Travel Club Lounge Chennai Terminal 2 respectable enough, with decent seating options and food selections. Would I show up early just for the lounge, no, but it’s good enough to kill some time while waiting for your flight.
