Lounge Review: Plaza Premium Lounge - Dallas (DFW) Terminal E
I recently had a long layover at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) on March 13th, 2024, so I took some time to visit some lounges! One of the lounges I visited was the Plaza Premium Lounge in Terminal E. I picked this lounge first since it does not use the 3-hours prior to departure rule, which is found at many other lounges.
Location and Access
The lounge is located in Terminal E, near Gate E31, beside the Skylink (train) stop, and is open daily from 06:00 to 20:00 (8 pm). When I arrived at the lounge (2 pm), it was about 75% full, and there was no waiting line or delay to enter. I gained access to the lounge by using my Priority Pass card associated with my Capital One Venture X card. You can also gain access to the lounge if you have an American Express Platinum or American Express Centurion Card, Dragonpass, or a Smart Traveller membership. They also offer a day pass, which costs $30 or $50 depending on how long you want to stay in the lounge (1 hour vs. 3 hours).
Lounge Amenities
The lounge is one of the smallest lounges I have ever been to and has a capacity for around 60 people. The lounge has five televisions (TVs); three of them were showing ESPN, and the other two were showing CNN. There was also a flight status board that was showing departure information from Terminal E, including American, Spirit, Frontier, Delta, United, and Turkish Airlines. There were no magazines, games, or other activities in the lounge. The lounge was enclosed in a single room with no outside windows or natural lighting. One final thing I wanted to comment on is how nice the staff was; not only were they very busy, they were also very polite and kept the lounge clean.
Seating and Work Areas
When I arrived in the lounge, there were tables and chairs available for sitting. I grabbed a leather chair with a small side table. There were also small tables with chairs and a bar area with 4 bar stools, for a total of about 45 chairs for seating. Besides the tables, a sofa and a high-seating table looked into the terminal area. There were really no business working areas such as copier, printer, conference rooms, etc.
Food and Beverage
The lounge offered very limited food and drink options but still had options to accommodate most passengers. I was there around the lunch/dinner time so they were serving the following items:
- Food: Cavatappi Pasta & Meatballs, Chicken Thai Rice soup, Tomato Basil soup, Turkey and Veggie Wraps, Potato Salad, fruit, cookies and brownies.
- Beverages: coffee, water, sodas, white wine, red wine, prosecco, and beer. They also have bottled beer and other paid cocktails. The only beer they had on tap was Coors Light.
The hot items like soup and pasta were served by the staff behind the counter; everything else was self-serve. I tried the veggie wrap and tomato basil soup, along with a glass of Pinot Grigio. The soup was very good; I would rank it above average. The wrap was good and fresh-tasting, but nothing amazing. One thing I noticed is the lounge did not have small snacks like pretzels, crackers, chips, or other snack-like items.
Restrooms and Showers
The lounge did not have a restroom or shower, so I had to leave the lounge and use the restroom in the terminal.
Internet and Noise
- Internet speed was very slow, with a speed test result of 1.88 Mbps down / 3.35 Mbps up with 9 ms latency.
- Noise levels were loud, with a two-minute average resulting in 68 dB.
Overall Rating: 2.8*
Pros: comfortable seating and tables, multiple TVs, great staff.
Cons: no restroom, no snacks, slow Wi-Fi, no outside view, noisy, slightly cramped.
- Amenities: 2.7
- Food: 2.5
- Beverages: 2.8
- Seating & Tables: 2.2
- Service: 4.5
- Wow-Factor: 2
* scored using Nerd Score 1.0
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Closing Thoughts
I spent about one hour in the lounge catching up on some emails while I had a bite to eat and a glass of wine. The lounge was never overcrowded but did have a steady flow of people. The staff was very nice from my initial check-in, bar service until my departure. However, the pricing for their paid drinks seems way expensive, in my opinion (see bar menu).