The Club Lounge at BUF

Access:

The Club Lounge at BUF is part of The Club Airport Lounges group. It is not associated with any airline and has lounges all over the US, from San José to Boston to Atlanta and even London Heathrow and Gatwick. The easiest means of entry into the lounge comes from a Priority Pass card, which is included free with high end travel credit cards such as the American Express Platinum Card or the Chase Sapphire Reserve. Without Priority Pass, you can buy access upon arrival and eventually, through The Club’s website, both for about $40. In addition, you can buy access though LoungeBuddy if you want to put your $100 yearly credit with the American Express Green Card to good use. The lounge is open from 4 am to 8 pm every day.

Location:

The location of the lounge could not be better. Buffalo Niagara International Airport is a small, one terminal airport. The lounge is located directly after security, and I could see the lounge before I went through the metal detector. The location of this lounge is that it allows you to avoid going out of your way to get to your gate. It is a quick and easy stop in the direction in which you are already headed. 

Design:

The design of the lounge is simple and modern. It is much wider than it is deep. It has a thin strip of seating that is right up against the clear glass windows that allow for a great tarmac view. The lounge is divided into five sections. There is a food section with counters on both sides. The bar is located in the corner and there are a number of two person tables opposite the bar. There is a business section that is great if you are trying to catch-up on some work before getting on your flight. It has desks as well as cubby chairs with tray tables for your laptop. The next section almost runs the entire length of the lounge, being a thin strip of seats along the windows. The final section is at the farthest end from the food and seems to be purposed as a quiet room, as it has lounge seats and a darker environment. Overall, the design of the lounge is good. It is clean and simple. My only complaint is how small the lounge is, although there is no need for the lounge to be bigger since BUF is such a small airport with a limited number of flights.

Food and Beverage:

I was not nearly as impressed with the food. Previous to my visit to The Club, the last airport lounge I visited was a Turkish Airlines Lounge at IAD, which in comparison did not stack up as well. Overall, the lounge had a decent food selection, but I would have called it more of a snack than a meal. It was nice to have a variety of healthy options, including a small make your own salad bar, as well as a brussels sprout salad and chickpea salad. The chickpea salad was particularly good, and I went back for seconds after tasting the pasta. The other cold options included a tuna wrap and a vegetarian southern wrap. For hot options there was pasta and a cream-based soup that was called “chicken and dumplings,” yet it lacked any dumplings. The pasta was not to my liking, as it seemed to be overcooked due to being there so long. There was a good selection of candy, and the dessert options were limited to brownies with frosting, which were okay at best. The drink selection was as expected in most lounges. There was soda, a fancy coffee machine that made everything from espresso to hot chocolate, and a water tap that had fizzy and regular water, as well as the bar that made custom drinks. There was even a waitress who offered to get us drinks multiple times and took away our used dishes. Overall, it definitely was not the worst food selection I’ve seen in an airport lounge, but I would have preferred to go to the Duffs or Anchor Bar in the airport for a full meal, especially for some authentic buffalo wings.

Overall:

Although there wasn’t any amazing amenities such as a spa or even showers, The Club at BUF is still a great lounge. There is everything that you would need and expect in such a lounge with flight monitors, good WIFI, a surplus of outlets, and a clean environment with good views. The service was great and I had staff come up to offer me assistance on multiple occasions. They were quick in response everytime and always offered to take away used dishes. I would highly recommend this lounge, especially if you can get in for free or if you have a long wait in the airport. However, if you plan on running in for a quick bite and are paying out of pocket or even with an AMEX Green Card lounge buddy credit, I would recommend saving the cash or credit and just going to get some good old fashioned buffalo wings…