If you’re flying out of Munich’s Terminal 2, you may want to know that it currently doesn’t have Priority Pass lounges. Lufthansa lounges, for sure, but that’s about it. Then … how does one get to Airport Lounge World?
Consequently, if you have the time — and zeal — to get to a Priority Pass lounge, you will have to go through Terminal 1.
Tl; dr the lounge was fine, but the adventure from T1 to T2 wasn’t.
Not being familiar with Terminal 1, it was quite a walk to get from Terminal 2 to the T1 security checkpoint. I found airport information staff to be entirely useless — not one knew about the term Priority Pass, let alone if I could even use a different terminal’s lounge — so I just took a chance at T1 security.
Once I passed through the checkpoint is where things got interesting.
The reason? My flight was non-Schengen zone, so I had to pass through immigration.
However, somehow I ended up on a hallway on the mezzanine level, through which I coincidentally found the Schengen zone-only Priority Pass lounges, Airport Lounge Europe, and the Air France-KLM Lounge.
Basically, I wasn’t allowed into those places, but helpful lounge staff directed me to go further down the mezzanine hallway, go downstairs through immigration and then, take an elevator up to the goal, Airport Lounge World.
What???
Airport Lounge World is open daily from 05:15 – 22:15; whereas Priority Pass is accepted, there are many other card options to enter, too (more details are in the above photo).
I was there from around 20:20 – 20:50; there were four other patrons. Even for a bilevel lounge, it was quite a pleasant change from my usual lounge visits.
Food
Given the dearth of other passengers, I basically had the Airport Lounge World to myself. And it wasn’t bad it all. The highlights — as usual — were having local dishes available. In Munich’s case, pretzels with senf (mustard), and leberkäse, a baked loaf of beef, pork, and bacon.
As mentioned earlier, I only had about half an hour, as the bus from T1 to T2 left every twenty minutes (I believe from gate C8, the bus to T2 leaves on the :00, :20, and :40). Thus, I rushed through the meal, although there wasn’t much else going on in the lounge anyway.
If you happen to have a lot of time before your flight, or (naturally) are flying through T1 on a non-Schengen zone flight, then check out the Airport Lounge World. Otherwise, it’s not the most convenient spot.
I have Priority Pass and am arriving on United Airlines from Denver and have about 4 hours before I depart on Lufthansa to Paris. So the World lounge is the ONLY one I can get into and it’s worth it for that long of a layover?
Hi Ryan, since your subsequent flight is within the EU Schengen Zone, I believe you will be able to access either the Terminal 1 “Airport Lounge Europe,” or the Terminal 1 “Air France Lounge.” (source: https://www.prioritypass.com/lounges/germany/munich-franz-josef-strauss)
However, as you’re flying out on Lufthansa, you will likely have to take a shuttle to Terminal 2 for your flight.
We arrive into Munich at 7 am and checking to the Munich airport isn’t till later. Am I able to use the priority pass lounge?
I appreciate your comment, Cole.
If you aren’t checking bags, and can check-in online, I reckon you could visit the lounge. There is a chance security won’t let you go through if your flight is out of the other terminal, but just insist that you want to go to the lounge.
Keep in mind that not all lounges are accessible, depending on if you’re flying within the EU: https://www.prioritypass.com/lounges/germany/munich-franz-josef-strauss. They might not let you in anyway, if there’s too much time before your flight.
Thanks for the detailed post, it’s definitely helpful to know that accessing the lounge is possible from Terminal 2 for non-schengen travellers. There are buses available from Terminal 2 to terminal 1, do you know if it’s possible to take those instead of walking between terminals?
How much time should we have on hand to experiment going to the lounge?
Thanks
Hi Pratiksha, I appreciate your comment. However, I’ve only gone to that lounge once, so it would be unwise of me to make estimate how long things might take.
It was nice to grab a drink and a bite beforehand, but the transfer to the other terminal was certainly time-consuming. That’s the key takeaway!
So if you are flying to the US and go to the lounge at Terminal 1 do you still need to allow 3 hours to check in at Terminal 2 and drop off your luggage?
Hi Caroline, as long as you have your onward boarding pass, three hours sounds like too much time. Then again, I haven’t flown back from Germany in a while, and there may be some “security staff” questioning U.S.-bound travelers at the gate.
More importantly, it does take a while to get from T1 to T2, since the shuttle isn’t so frequent.
I will have a 3 and 1/2 hour layover in Munich, traveling on Lufthansa to Rome. If I visit the Priority Pass lounge, I will have to transit from T2 to T1 — and back. Do I have to go through security both times? Any advice?
Hi Margaret,
Since you will be on Lufthansa for both flights, it seems like a lot of annoyance just to get to the lounge in the other terminal.
But if you really want to go, I can’t truthfully answer your question about going from the Lufthansa terminal to the Priority Pass lounge while in transit. I imagine some of the workers might wonder what you’re doing, and even given you a hard time; in that case, try to explain/find someone that knows what the Priority Pass lounge is, and that it’s only in the non-Lufthansa terminal.