Erste Premier Lounge at Prague Airport
Erste Permier is the main airport lounge in Terminal 2 at Prague PRG Airport.
Since I live in Prague and fly most often from Terminal 2, this lounge is familiar to me and I visit it sometimes several times a month.
How do I get to the lounge and is it worth paying for entry?
Opening hours and lounge location
The lounge can be found in Terminal 2 for all departures to Schengen area countries.
It is located on the 1st floor above the departure gates "D".
The walking distances to the different parts of the airport are roughly as follows:
- D-gates approx. 2-5 minutes
- C-gates approx. 5-10 minutes
You can check the exact location of the lounge on the airport map: prg.aero/erste-premier-lounge.
Opening hours are daily 5:00-22:00.
Dedicated security checkpoint
A huge advantage of the Erste Premier Lounge (and the neighbouring FastTrack Lounge) is the dedicated security checkpoint for passengers who are only eligible to enter the lounge.
Only Erste Premier credit card holders can officially use this security check.
The security check is located on the 3rd floor on the right side of the Terminal 2 departure lounge, at the opposite end of the lounge from the standard security check.
Entrance - who has access to the lounge
The Erste Premier Lounge is a paid lounge open to passengers on all flights, plus business class passengers or holders of higher status frequent flyer programmes on some airlines.
- Paid access - 860 czk
- Lounge stay limited to 2 hours
- Free entry for holders of credit cards with Erste Premierinscription
- unlimited time in the lounge
- Free entry for the following cardholders - Priority Pass, Lounge Key, Dragon Pass, Revolut with Ultra plan (get Revolut here)
- Lounge stay limited to 2 hours
- Free entry for premium class and frequent flyer passengers of the following airlines - AirBaltic, Air France, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Bulgaria Air, Croatia Airlines, Finnair, Icelandair, Iberia, KLM, KM Malta Airlines, LOT, Lufthansa, Luxair, SAS, Smartwings, Swiss, TAP, TAROM
- unlimited lounge time
- other airlines use the adjacent and significantly less equipped Menzies Lounge
If you want to pay for access to the lounge, it is definitely advisable to book online via the official website.
In the event of the lounge being fully booked, priority access is always given to Erste Premier cardholders. Even business class passengers may be refused entry if the capacity is full.
Find out which lounges you have access to if you are flying in business class, first class or holders of higher airline loyalty programme statuses in our Prague Airport Guide.
Official lounge website: prg.aero/erste-premier-lounge.
Space and atmosphere - more people than seats
Although the lounge is the largest in Terminal 2, it is relatively cramped and tends to be very crowded at peak times.
Expect the biggest crowds between 5:00-7:00, 10:00-13:00 and 16:00-18:00.
The Erste Premier Lounge has two roughly equal-sized and virtually identical sections, divided in half by the reception and main entrance.
Along the windows, which have no view of the airport apron, there are comfortable armchairs with small tables that are also suitable for dining.
In the middle of each of the two sections of the lounges are a few more chairs, but no dining tables.
On the side after that you will find a bar table and classic dining tables with chairs.
The food and drink offer
This lounge is one of the below average ones in terms of quantity and especially quality of food.
To the right of the reception you will find hot and cold food and juices, while to the left of the reception you will find alcoholic drinks, soft drinks from the postmix and various chips or nuts.
The food rotates throughout the day and a full hot meal menu is usually not available until around 10:00.
There are usually two hot meals and a soup on offer. However, the meat dishes are often very tough and I didn't enjoy the main meal on either of my visits.
Of the cold dishes, you can choose from three types of cheese, ham and salami, but the menu is strikingly reminiscent of the cheapest products available from the Billa supermarket, which is located in the public area of the airport...
There are also some vegetables and fruit, but usually only olives, cucumbers, tomatoes and grapes.
The only thing I would rate as really good are the spreads. I always enjoy those in the Erste Premier Lounge.
Unfortunately, not so much on the pastries, which go well with the spreads - the pastries are often old and hard.
Sweet food is represented by only a few marmalades, granola, muesli and usually only one kind of sweet pastry.
You can pour your own juices from the bottles in the fridge. However, there are absolutely no storage spaces for glasses, so pouring juices is quite cumbersome.
The other part of the lounge offers beer (bottled only), a very poor selection of wines and a mediocre selection of liquor and hard liquor.
In both parts of the lounge you can also use the postmix, where you can pour drinks like Coca Cola, Coca Cola Zero, Fanta or plain soda.
Lounge facilities
In addition to food and drink, the Erste Premier Lounge also offers other services.
Showers
Shower facilities are available opposite the lounge (approximately 30 metres from the entrance). You must request a key from reception to enter.
Only one shower is available, but as there are no long-haul flights from Prague Airport Terminal 2 and few passengers know about the shower, there are no long waiting times.
Wi-fi
Internet access is available via free wi-fi.
The internet speed is very good and suitable for playing and downloading videos.
Charging plugs
Plugs for charging electronics are available for most chairs and all work surfaces.
All plugs are "European" type F only.
Desktops with computer and printer
In the Erste Permier Lounge you will find several Erste computers connected to a printer, where you can print anything for free (black and white only).
However, there are woefully few comfortable workspaces for working with your own laptop. More specifically, there are no dedicated areas suitable for quiet work outside the hustle and bustle of the lounge.
You can work with your laptop at the dining tables, but you won't have much quiet to work in.
Children's corners
The Erste Premier Lounge has a small play area for children aged 3-6.
Conclusion and my review
I find this lounge difficult to evaluate objectively.
I visit it most often of all the lounges in the world, as Prague Airport is my home base and it is from Terminal 2 that I fly most often.
It makes me even more sad that the main lounge of my home airport remains so below average.
Positives
- Different types of seating - good for relaxing, working quickly and eating
- Fast wi-fi
- Paid access for all passengers
Negatives
- Poor quality food - below average cheap ingredients
- Frequent overcrowding
- No quiet zone to work in
- Poor selection of alcoholic beverages (especially beer)
Any questions left?
If you have any questions or comments about the article...
8 comments
The lounge can be accessed from Landside and then go through a dedicated security check after use? Or does one go through security first? The Lounge Key app states Airside - after Security Control regarding location.
Dedicated security check is before entering the lounge, but it is only for visitors to Erste Permier and FastTrack Lounge.
The lounge itself is therefore in Airside.
If there is a security check before the lounge, how do I prove that I am a visitor to the Erste Premier lounge? Is it enough to show the free passes in the Lounge Key app?
No. Fast Track is for Fast Track Lounge visitors only - you get a sticker for BP, or for Erste Premier clients with a valid credit card. LK/DP/PP/Business passengers do not have access to this dedicated check when visiting the Erste Lounge.
So I remember the Fast Track lounge differently - first entering and then checking in after using it.
However, the discussion is about the Erste Premier Lounge. If you enter it on LK (and therefore not eligible for the dedicated security upstairs at the lounge), you need to go through standard departure security down the hall, pass the D gaiters, and exit (go up) to the floor opposite D2.
Fast Track before the security check, Erste Premier after the check.
What's that sign they got by the booze? "We monitor your drinking, we only got about 20 euros for you, whoever drinks more than two euros will be publicly flogged"?
Morning rush at 5:00, queue for 20 minutes. Unfortunately, it was no different in the cafes or the Marché...
Summer's here with a rush of bathers!
There's nothing like spending it wandering the Czech meadows and groves...
If you come in the evening with a sleeping bag, like when Popeyes opened on Wenceslas Square, you'll be first in line. A regular traveler's travelhack.
The fast food place was also good at letting customers in only after five, so there was always a big line outside and therefore advertising.
But there have been worse in the past.
The first McDonald's in the USSR. The wait for a hamburger was seven hours - Aktuálně.cz
A reasonable company would have opened earlier with that kind of demand. Oh, a state-owned enterprise...
Is it somehow mandatory for all lounges in PRG to offer scary spreads? 🤣
It would not be bad to add hummus with virgin olive oil, which would certainly tune the palate to the following delicacies mainly in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern destinations ...
Or, on the contrary, it spoiled the taste. 😂
It's also interesting that the author is upset about the shitty food and beer (which I can't help but agree with), but he's singing the praises of the oil with added chemicals called "spreads". I can't even imagine how long it sits there, and then how the passengers have to fight over the toilet on the plane....
They don't have dumplings, and the receptionist looks like he's into boys.
Unfortunately, they have neither Kartoffelknödel , nor Semmelknödel , like in MUC or VIE.
The delicious Kaiserschmarrn as in Vienna Loungi can also be forgotten ...
Pastry is never fresh. Always spicy and hard bread.
Below average lounge.
The advantage is the separate security check before entering the lounge. Passengers don't have to go through that labyrinthine security checkpoint downstairs where the check-in counters are.
Totally agree with the not so positive review, but just unlimited number of entries at the domestic airport is nice, price/performance ratio still actually OK. For me the main advantage is the mentioned dedicated security check, although one can actually use that even if one doesn't go to the lounge afterwards :)
The last time I was in this Erste Loungi was last year, when it was possible to enter with a CSA voucher.
They don't know fresh pastry like they do in Vidnia.
Last year, when I left at 6 and wanted to have breakfast in the morning, I skipped priority security (which opens at 5 just like the lounge) and went through the regular one downstairs after 4:30. Thanks to that, I stood at the front of the crazy line in front of the lounge and managed to have a coffee and some grub and trot off to the gate at 5:30.
Otherwise, the lounge is not very special in terms of offer, but after my experience in SJU this April, I will always find it amazing and colourful :-D
What actually happened in the lounge at San Juan - Puerto Rico Airport (SJU) that could have preceded this "first premiere lounge" in PRG T2?