New York Stories #1 – The outdoor terrace at Hamburg’s Senator lounge
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I am in New York this week. However, as the trip is very similar to the one I wrote up in detail last Spring, I don’t intend to write too much about it. I am planning instead to run a series of posts highlighting things of interest.
We start in the Senator lounge at Hamburg Airport. The Lufthansa lounge system is similar to BA – you have a lounge for passengers travelling on business class tickets (the ‘Business Lounge’) and then you have a separate lounge for First Class passengers and Star Alliance Gold card holders (the ‘Senator Lounge’).
Except, of course, Lufthansa has no long-haul flights out of Hamburg and so there are no First Class passengers.
You have the slightly odd situation whereby someone holding a business class ticket gets sent off to the lower quality lounge. Someone like me, holding a Turkish Airlines Gold card which he received as a status match from his British Airways Gold card, gets to go in the smarter bit.
My memory may be playing tricks on me, but this lounge seems to have improved. British Airways could take a leaf out of their book for the Gatwick lounges.
There was only one hot food option but it was a decent chicken tikka masala. There was a decent selection of cold options and a trolley with some individually prepared deserts. There was a decent drinks selection but no champagne – as is normal for Germany. They did have a decent sparkling rose and sparkling white though.
The real high point, though, is the outdoor terrace:
I have never been on an outdoor lounge terrace overlooking the airport apron before. It is impressive. You can sit at a table with your drink and watch the planes come and go. Amusingly, newspapers and napkins are banned from the terrace in case they get blown away and interfere with the aircraft.
Tomorrow I will take a look at the Lufthansa short-haul business class product which – in terms of seat pitch and seat layout – is a precursor to what British Airways is bringing in.

How to get FREE airport lounge access via UK credit cards (December 2021)
As a reminder, here are the three options to get FREE airport lounge access via a credit or charge card:

The Platinum Card from American Express
30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review
The Platinum Card from American Express comes with two free Priority Pass cards, one for you and one for a supplementary cardholder. Each card admits two so a family of four gets in free. You get access to all 1,300 lounges in the Priority Pass network – search it here.
You also get access to Plaza Premium, Delta and Eurostar lounges. Our American Express Platinum review is here. You can apply here.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold
Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review
American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for the first year. It comes with a Priority Pass card loaded with two free visits to any Priority Pass lounge – see the list here.
Additional lounge visits are charged at £20. You get two more free visits for every year you keep the card.
There is no annual fee for Amex Gold in Year 1 and you get a 20,000 points sign-up bonus. Full details are in our American Express Preferred Rewards Gold review here.

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard
A huge bonus, but only available to HSBC Premier clients Read our full review
HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard gets you get a free LoungeKey card, allowing you access to the LoungeKey network. Guests are charged at £20 although it may be cheaper to pay £60 for a supplementary credit card for your partner.
The card has a fee of £195 and there are strict financial requirements to become a HSBC Premier customer. Full details are in my HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard review.
PS. You can find all of HfP’s UK airport lounge reviews – and we’ve been to most of them – indexed here.
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