A swanky new lounge has opened at Miami Airport
With a record of just under 56 million passengers who passed through it in 2024, Miami International Airport (MIA) is also home to 12 lounges in which travelers with either loyalty status or high fare class can spend time between flights resting.
Along with domestic lounges like Delta () 's SkyClub and the United Club () and Polaris networks, international airlines with lounges at MIA include Turkish Airlines, LATAM () and, now, the Colombia-based Avianca () .The latter airline's VIP lounge opened in 2015 but shuttered its doors in 2020 amid the travel plummet that took place during the covid-19 pandemic.
On March 21, the lounge formally reopened its doors following a major renovation to the 6,559-square-foot space expected to serve over 16,500 travelers in 2025.Relaunched in partnership with Portuguese flagship carrier TAP Air Portugal, the new lounge is located past security in Miami's Concourse J used for international flights and accessible for free for those with Gold status on a Star Alliance airline — the network includes United, Air Canada () , Air New Zealand () and Turkish Airlines among others — as well as those flying on one of these airlines in first or business.
Regardless of how one has the lounge access, one also needs to have a same-day ticket with one of these airlines to clear security. Another option to access the lounge is to purchase the Priority Pass membership that lets one join for an annual price of $99 a year and then pay $35 for day passes to enter a network of over 1,300 airport lounges.
Miami is particularly important to Avianca as it connects Latin and South American-bound travelers to the U.S.; the airline runs a total of 36 flights and 249 frequencies between the two continents weekly.
"With this investment, we are reinforcing our focus on comfort, convenience, and exceptional service, ensuring travelers enjoy an unforgettable experience while traveling through one of our most important markets, like Miami," Avianca CEO Frederico Pedreira said in a statement.
Similarly to other lounges, the Avianca VIP features both work and rest areas, Wi-Fi separate from the one available to the rest of the airport, a selection of breakfast and lunch buffet foods that get rotated out depending on the time of day and a self-serve bar stocked with, among other things, Colombia's Aguardiente liquor and Vinho Verde from Portugal.
The lounge will also be open 24 hours a day with the breakfast menu available from 12 a.m. to 12 p.m. at which point the hot dishes one can order from a QR code located on tables and common eating areas will switch to the lunch offering.
More on travel:Government issues new travel advisory on popular beach destinationThe revamped lounge is designed to hold no more than 337 guests but, with only 158 seats, would get crowded if at full capacity.
Unique offerings include a children's play area with televisions showing kid-friendly programming as well as a dimly-lit lounge area full of armchair seats in which weary travelers can take a quick nap; contrary to some select premium Centurion and Polaris lounges, the Avianca one does not have showers.
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