BWI’s Airspace Lounge [classic article]

I recently had the opportunity to try the new Airspace Lounge at Thurgood Marshall BWI Airport’s Concourse D.  If you are a ticketed passenger on a plane in or out of the airport, you’ll find it a soothing, cost-effective way to cast away the strain of air travel.

Let’s face it: these days, air travel is burdensome, tiring, draining and just not fun. The Airspace Lounge has ways of erasing some of the pain. For just $17.50 for a day pass — or a complimentary for certain credit card holders — you can get a complimentary sandwich and well drink or domestic beer, as well as FREE WiFi, workstations with computers, printers, charger outlets (even at the bar), a FREE pressing of your clothes, a FREE ammenties bag (which I found to be an unexpected necessity after a “certain” airline delayed my baggage all day and night). Airspace Lounge always opens 45 minutes before the first departure in Concourse D.

Modern ambient music plays in the background, but softly enough to carry on a conversation. Food comes from Maryland’s Silver Diner, so there’s a quality level that matches the food people eat outside airports, such as classic breakfast sandwiches or the D.C. roast beef with rare roast beef.

Delicious sandwiches from the Silver Diner at BWI’s Airspace Lounge

Peet’s coffee and Pepsi products are self-serve in large mugs and sleek, modern glassware. You can even get your meal and coffee to go, if your connection is tight. By the time you get $9 WiFi elsewhere in the airport and a snack at a restaurant, you’ve already overspent.

There’s a high level of quiet, discreet service at the lounge; people value service and privacy. Though the door to the lounge is glass and one can peep into it, the actual people enjoying it are largely out of view. There’s an elegance of the space, with clean lines and subdued lighting. It’s in a former airline lounge. I learned that airlines are getting out of the VIP lounge business in non-hub airports, so this available-to-all lounge fills a big void at BWI.