If you are flying out of Amsterdam Schiphol Airport AMS, you will need to know the best airport lounge to pick. The airport lounge you can access depends on what class of flight you have booked, which airline you are flying with, and whether you have high status with an alliance like Oneworld, Skyteam, or Star Alliance.
Amsterdam Schiphol is one of the world’s largest airports, with more than 71 million annual passengers. There are currently 8 Amsterdam airport lounges you can access, plus a private VIP lounge facility and an international rail lounge.
The access rules for each Schiphol airport lounge differ depending on the airline alliance. Paid entrance is also sometimes possible using cash or your American Express Platinum card (contact our concierge for a referral for extra free bonus points) or a Priority Pass. You can also, and you can also access most Priority Pass lounges for free using the free Amex Gold Card with its two free Lounge Club passes.
1. KLM Crown SkyTeam Intercontinental Lounge 52 (non-Schengen)
KLM has two wonderful flagship lounges at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. The KLM Crown SkyTeam Intercontinental Lounge 52 (non-Schengen) can be found on the upper floor of Lounge 3, between the E, F, and G Gates near the non-Schengen departures. You will use this lounge if you are flying somewhere long-haul, like Asia or America, and this is the best airport lounge in Amsterdam airport.
There is an entrance to this airport lounge between piers E and F, and you access the lounge via a shiny pair of escalators with walls literally encrusted in little Dutch houses by Delft behind a glass screen. These are the houses that are handed out at the end of long-haul flights in business class on KLM.
You scan your boarding pass or your Skyteam card to gain access to the KLM Crown SkyTeam lounge. Ultimate, Skipper, and C2000, as well as Platinum for Life members and their guests, are always welcome in the lounge for free too.
Once inside, the lounge is a bit of a maze with different areas allocated to different things; “Sea” is meant to be a quiet getaway to recharge and refresh with private nap rooms, which cost a fee, as well as private showers. “City” area is “a cool place to get a bite and a drink”. Both to the left or the right as you enter the lounge is “Polder” with a café to the left, “City” and “Sea” are at the end.
“Dutch Mountain” (is there such a thing?) leads up to the second floor. There are plenty of hot and cold drinks and hot and cold food with salad. There’s a mix of meat and vegetarian meal options. Up at the very top of the lounge is the 18m long Blue Bar and an outdoor terrace with great views out to the tarmac and planes. This restaurant and bar is largely chargeable with an a la carte menu. There are rumors that you will be able to spend your frequent flyer miles on this menu too. There are, however, lots of drinks available free of charge, as well as chargeable premium drinks.
The lounge’s overall look is very Dutch, with dark and light pines, bright colors, and a “classy IKEA” feel. It’s a great modern lounge, and one side has floor-to-ceiling glass windows, making it light with nice views. The only problem with this lounge is that it can be jam-packed with only one area for the free food buffet. It can be difficult to find a free seat or table at peak times.
You can access either Amsterdam KLM Crown Lounges if you are:
- Flying out from Amsterdam airport in Business Class or First Class on Air France, KLM, Delta, or any other Skyteam airline on the same day. a ‘same-day’ ticket
- Flying out from Amsterdam airport and have Blue Platinum or Gold and SkyTeam Elite Plus and are flying on a Skyteam operated flight (plus one guest)
- Flying out from Amsterdam airport and have Flying Blue Silver status if you are prepared to pay a fee. In this situation, you are not able to take a guest in, but the payment to access this lounge is well worth it because this is a great lounge
- Flying out from Amsterdam airport and are a Delta SkyClub member on Skyteam flight
- On payment of a fee (no guests)
Skyteam airlines operating from Schiphol include Aeroflot, Air Europa, Alitalia, China Airlines, Czech Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Garuda, Kenya Airways, Korean Air, and TAROM.
2. KLM Crown SkyTeam Lounge 25 (Schengen)
The other KLM flagship airport lounge at Amsterdam Schiphol airport is Lounge 25, the Schengen (European flight) lounge situated on the upper level between Lounge 1 and 2, near the D gates.
The Schengen Lounge 25 is for European departures and, as such, does not have such extensive facilities as the non-Schengen lounge. It has a bright blue check-in area and can be quite busy. It’s not as nice as the Non-Schengen Crown Lounge that we reviewed above, but it remains a very decent airport lounge nonetheless.
There is loads of seating in this lounge, some with really nice soft reading lights and all with electrical outlets to plug into. There’s a dark, circular TV room in the center and workstation seats.
There are various buffets with pretty fruit, bread, cold-cut meats, cheese, and snacks, including a massive table of stroopwafels and other cookies. There is then another buffet area with an enormous array of food, including hot pasta, hot noodles, hot soups, and loads of salads. More than enough to fill you up and of a decent quality.
There are also shower rooms in this lounge (free of charge), although there can be around a 15-minute wait for them.
Hot and cold, soft and alcoholic drinks are available. There’s no champagne, but there’s enough choice to amuse your bouche. This is a very good lounge, just not as good as the KLM Crown SkyTeam Intercontinental Lounge 52 (non-Schengen) above.
Both KLM lounges are open daily from 4:45 am until the last KLM departure.
3. Star Alliance Schengen Lounge
The Star Alliance-branded lounge can be found Airside at Departures 2 in the European Schengen departures area on the Panorama terrace level, right next to the Aspire Lounge 26. It was only recently opened in March 2019 and is operated by Aspire and Swissport.
The lounge can be used by departing business class passengers on Star Alliance flights, Star Alliance Gold members in any cabin, and Air Canada Maple Leaf or United Club lounge members.
This new lounge is really nice with dark wood parquet floors, pictures of Dutch houses on the walls, and a decent spread of food. The lounge caters for up to 150 guests, and usefully, there are power ports, with USB ports at every seat.
Floor-to-ceiling windows along the entrance mean that there is loads of natural light, and the lounge is well-designed with a private feeling, and cozy seating areas. There are also newspapers/magazines and a relaxation area available.
The food here is very appealing. They offer nice cheeses and cold cuts along with sandwich wraps and salads. Unlike many other lounges, this is just the sort of light bite I feel like eating at an airport. There are also cute cakes, and the buffet area is super stylish. Plus, there is a Dutch Heineken tap, which is a very refreshing beer. Hot food includes beef in a red wine sauce, and there are plenty of wines to try.
Bathrooms are at the far end of the lounge and are also super snazzy, featuring Rituals Black Oud fragrance diffusers, but there are no showers in this airport lounge as this is a short-haul European lounge (even though there are showers in the short-haul KLM lounge).
You can access Star Alliance Schengen Lounge if you are:
- Flying out from Amsterdam airport in Business Class or First Class on a Star Alliance Airlines departing to Schengen Area destinations. These airlines include Adria Airways, Aegean Airlines, Austrian Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, SAS, Swiss and TAP Air Portugal
- Flying out from Amsterdam airport and are a Star Alliance Gold member
- Flying out from Amsterdam airport and have an Air Canada Maple Leaf Club worldwide membership
- Flying out from Amsterdam airport and are a United Club member
You can access this lounge even if you’re flying to a destination outside the Schengen Area with a Star Alliance airline, but you would need to go through passport control to enter the non-Schengen departures area of the airport. Allow more time than usual if you want to visit this lounge instead of the Aspire Lounge 41.
4. British Airways OneWorld Lounge
BA has a Galleries lounge at Lounge 40, right next to Aspire Lounge 41, on the second upper level of Lounge 2, near the D & E gates for non-Schengen departures. This lounge is open from 5:30 am – 9:30 pm (Mon-Fri), 6:00 am – 8:30 pm (Sat and Sun).
This is a great BA lounge, partially as there are so many BA flights that travel between the UK and Amsterdam. The lounge enjoys great views over the tarmac and planes as one wall is made up of floor-to-ceiling windows.
The entrance to the lounge is through a pair of sliding doors. There are lots of square tables with stylish seating ideal for eating the array of food at the buffet. The color scheme is dark, seating in a very classy, bright environment. Also in the lounge are televisions and shared work tables as well as sofa seats with lower tables.
The food is fresh but cold, with a Four Seasons Salad and Pasta Salad on offer. There are also olives, pickles, grapes, and bread rolls, as well as warm soup and cheese and cold cuts. Snacks also include crisps. The are plenty of spirits, including vodka, gin, and whiskey, as well as wine for free.
There are coffee machines with tea and hot chocolate, juices and bottled waters (sparkling and still), and cans of beer. The only downside to this lounge is the lack of hot food. Otherwise, it’s a very good BA lounge.
You can access British Airways Lounge if you are:
- Flying out from Amsterdam airport in Business Class or First Class on British Airways
- Flying out from Amsterdam airport in Business Class or First Class on Cathay Pacific
- Flying out from Amsterdam airport in any class with Silver/Gold/Premier and Oneworld Emerald/Sapphire and are flying on a Oneworld flight
The British Airways lounge at Schiphol is now accessible with a Priority Pass too and you can also access it via the free Amex Gold Card 2x Lounge Club passes.
The British Airways lounge is also next door to the Aspire lounge, so if the BA lounge is full, you can use your Priority Pass to access the Aspire lounge instead.
5. Lounge 41
There are two Aspire Lounges at Amsterdam Airport, which you can pay to access even if you’re flying in Economy or Premium Economy. You can also use your Priority Pass to access, or you get “free” access if you have paid for a business class ticket on a Star Alliance airline. These lounges are run by Swissport runs 2 Aspire branded lounges at Amsterdam Schiphol.
Business and First class passengers of Aeroflot, Aer Lingus, Air Astana, Air Baltic, Air Lituanica, Air Malta, Air Serbia, American Airlines, Arke, Bulgaria Air, Croatia Airlines, Egyptair, El Al, Emirates, Estonian Air, Etihad, EVA Air, Finnair, Flybe, Garuda, Icelandair, Iran Air, Malaysia Airlines, Qatar Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Royal Jordanian, Singapore Airlines, Surinam Airways, Turkish Airlines, Ukraine International and United Airlines get access to these lounges.
The Aspire Lounge 41 (non-Schengen) is located on the second upper level of the departure area of Lounge 2 near E Gates. You can enjoy drinks and light snacks as well as shower facilities for an extra fee. This lounge does get busy during peak flight times.
If you are flying on Singapore Airlines, you will use this lounge, but you will be seated in a separate section within the lounge. ABN Amro Preferred Banking clients get free access to the Aspire Lounge 41 too.
6. Lounge 26
The Aspire Lounge 26 (Schengen) is located on the upper level between Lounges 1 and 2, near the D gates. You can enjoy drinks and light snacks but no shower facilities. This lounge can be found next door to the Star Alliance Schengen Lounge. Lounge 26 does get busy during peak flight times.
If you are flying on a Star Alliance carrier and are using the Schengen area (see below), you have access to a separate lounge outlined above. If you fly on a Star Alliance airline for a non-Schengen departure, you will be using lounge 41. Singapore Airlines has a separate section within that lounge.
While this lounge is decent, we prefer the Star Alliance lounge next door, so if you have the choice, go for the Star Alliance lounge.
7. Privium Club Lounge
There are two lounges you can pay for a membership to access, called Privium lounges. These lounges can be accessed by those passengers who have a membership card from the Privium program, run by Schiphol airport, enabling members to cross the Dutch border control using their iris scan machine.
The Privium Club Lounge is a 600m² airport lounge located between Departure Halls 1 and 2 near the check-in desk, row 9. It offers drinks, snacks, seats, and business facilities but these lounges aren’t overly exciting as they have no windows or showers.
8. Privium Airside Lounge
Privium has a second, small lounge beyond security near Pier E (non-Schengen zone). This lounge offers seats, food, drink, free Wi-Fi, and has lots of pictures of beachscapes. This lounge can also be used as an arrivals lounge by members.
To access both Privium Lounges, you need to be based in the European Economic Area and Switzerland and pay around 215 Euros for a Privium Plus membership, which gets you free unlimited access to these lounges. If you buy a Privium Plus partner card, the cost is around 85 Euros, and you can buy guest vouchers for 30 Euro per person. Privium Basic membership costs 130 Euros per year but does not include lounge access.
9. Schiphol VIP Lounges
Groups of up to 20 passengers can pay for a VIP service, which includes separate security, baggage check-in, and transfer to the aircraft by luxury vehicle. Access is granted to one of 7 private lounges at the Schiphol VIP Centre, located at Arrivals 4.
However, this option is costly at around €315 EUR for the first passenger plus €125 EUR per additional passenger. For transfer passengers, it is even more at €445 EUR for the first passenger plus €185 EUR per additional passenger. Most flyers would not want to pay for this kind of privacy.
10. Other Lounges: Schiphol Plaza Arrivals
There is an NS International Railway Lounge for First Class rail passengers and Rail team elite members at Schiphol Plaza Arrivals 4 area. The lounge has a seating area, a workspace and offers drinks and food as well as a bathroom but no showers. This lounge is open Monday to Friday, 8:00 am – 8:00 pm, on weekends and public holidays 10:00 am – 6:00 pm.
You can access the NS International Lounge at Schiphol Airport station if you are traveling in First Class internationally on Eurostar, Thalys, or Intercity Brussels. You can take one guest into the lounge with you. You can also access this lounge if you are a Rail team elite card member.
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