On our last day around the area, we took a van from Courchevel to Geneva’s city center, where my parents, the children traveling with us and I all got to buy our hearts content (if you’re wondering what I got, there’s a great chocolatier based in Geneva). We decided to head towards the airport at 3:00 PM for our 6:20 PM flight, and got there at around 3:30 PM.
Wow, Geneva Airport is a dump. We did our tax-free procedures for our French goods with the help of some staff at the Swiss ticketing center, which required going over to the French side of the airport, then back to the Swiss side.
Geneva Airport Departures Hall
I’ve explained the shenanigans we’ve had with online check-in before, so I won’t beat a dead horse – but check-in was straightforward, and Hailey was given seat 7A.
Immigration was quick, as there was a separate priority queue for business class passengers. Unfortunately, there’s only one priority lane, and as it’s an electronic gate, it’s pretty missable – my parents had me go through immigration first because I had a few gifts to buy, and when I looked back behind my shoulder, all of them had missed the lane. I made eye contact with them and motioned for them to come back so they could go through the priority gate, as the main line was going to take pretty long.
I got a few boxes of chocolates for some people, and met a very friendly Hong Kongese saleswoman along the way. Geneva Airport is functional, I guess, but it’s crowded beyond oblivion due to how small it is – let’s not mention the dots on the wall that prevent any avgeek from taking photos.
Geneva Airport Airside
Lufthansa uses the Swiss lounge at Geneva Airport, which is also a Priority Pass lounge. That should speak quite a bit for the quality of the lounge, though I was still keen to check it out.
I made my way up an escalator and followed the signage into a small hallway pointing me towards the Swiss lounge.
Geneva Airport Hallway to Lounges
We passed the British Airways Galleries lounge, which seemed to be crowded, so I was glad I wasn’t flying a oneworld airline out of Geneva that day. The Swiss business lounge is located at the very end of the hallway.
Geneva Airport Hallway to Lounges
Next to the Swiss lounge is the Air France/KLM lounge, which, in pictures, probably seems like it would be the nicest lounge at the airport.
Swiss Business Class Lounge Geneva Entrance
I was admitted after a short queue, as the father was flying economy in the family of four in front of us and he would be accessing the lounge using his Priority Pass membership.
Swiss’ lounge in Geneva is basically one big room, though one side is designed for relaxing, and the other side is designed for dining.
Swiss Business Class Lounge Geneva Seating
While the lounge was moderately crowded, I was more than impressed by the amount of natural light in the lounge. I also loved the decor – while Swiss’ decor doesn’t work in some cases, it certainly worked here.
Swiss Business Class Lounge Geneva Seating
The relax area comprised mostly of sofas with power ports, where one could decide to have a short nap, work or just relax and wait for their flight. It’s worth noting that the WiFi in the lounge is usable, though not high speed by any means.
Swiss Business Class Lounge Geneva Seating
The lounge emptied out midway, before filling up for another rush of flights (that included ours). All the couches were comfortable, though as noted in a previous post, I do like a variety of seating sometimes, which wasn’t really available here.
Swiss Business Class Lounge Geneva Seating
The only “real” other seating option was bar-style seating which I ended up working by – not because those seats were comfortable, but because of the gorgeous Etihad A330 parked right in front of those seats.
Swiss Business Class Lounge Geneva Seating
Etihad Airbus A330-200 from Swiss Business Class Lounge Geneva
On the console between every two couches there was a French style power port, a Swiss style power port and a UK-style power port. While I appreciate the abundance of power ports, USB ports would have helped, and this really just makes me wonder why they didn’t just place a few universal power ports and call it a day. I was still able to charge, though, so I didn’t mind in the least.
Swiss Business Class Lounge Geneva Power Ports
There were also power ports by the bar, though they weren’t universal, so if you want to juice up a computer you’d want to work by the armchairs unless you have a Swiss plug.
Swiss Business Class Lounge Geneva Power Ports
If you don’t have your own computer with you (or are travelling to the U.S. or the UK through one of the banned countries), there are computers to work from. Otherwise, there’s more bar seating, but as far as I remember there weren’t any good tarmac views.
Swiss Business Class Lounge Geneva Seating
The dining area featured a couple of sofas, which were comfortable. On the other side of the buffet, there were even more of the sofas that I had seen by the relaxing area.
Swiss Business Class Lounge Geneva Seating
This area was consistently more crowded, so I couldn’t get great pictures.
Swiss Business Class Lounge Geneva Seating
The actual food spread was fine, and everything tasted good, though not great. There were a couple of warm options, and a couple of cold options.
Swiss Business Class Lounge Geneva Food Spread
It was a decent spread, similar to what you’d get at Swiss’ Zurich A lounge or their D lounge. It wasn’t especially expansive or tasty by any means.
Swiss Business Class Lounge Geneva Food Spread
Swiss Business Class Lounge Geneva Food Spread
Swiss Business Class Lounge Geneva Food Spread
The drink spread was also fine, and I appreciated that alcohol drinkers have quite a few options to choose from. In terms of non-alcoholic drinks, I appreciated that there was quality cold sparkling water, though options were otherwise limited.
Swiss Business Class Lounge Geneva Food Spread
Swiss Business Class Lounge Geneva Food Spread
There was a coffee machine, which didn’t seem to be used all that much.
Swiss Business Class Lounge Geneva Food Spread
Beer drinkers will also be happy to know that there was beer on tap at the lounge.
Swiss Business Class Lounge Geneva Beer on Tap
In terms of other reading options, there are newspapers and magazines, though that’s probably the amenity I value least in an airline lounge.
Swiss Business Class Lounge Geneva Newspaper and Magazine Choices
Soon my Lufthansa app said that the flight was ready for boarding, but it was still 30 minutes before the scheduled boarding time. I asked the lounge attendant, who was free at the time, and she told me to head over in another 10-15 minutes. I approached her a couple more times during the visit, and while she was pretty abrupt at times (at one point she actually snapped “Listen”), she was really helpful, and all her information was correct – unlike the Lufthansa app. I decided to head to the gate 15 minutes before boarding anyway, since I had nothing better to do in the lounge.
I was bummed that I couldn’t get great pictures due to the dots on the window at Geneva Airport, especially with the stunning sunset in the background – at least I managed to get great pictures on the plane.
Lufthansa Airbus A321 Geneva Airport
Brussels Airlines A320 Geneva Airport
Lufthansa Airbus A321 Geneva Airport
The gate area was pretty crowded, though that’s a function of the lack of seats near the gate. Once again, there was an aura of people circled around the gate area ready to pounce once boarding was first announced.
Gate Area Geneva Airport
Much like at Zurich Airport, this gate had self-boarding, though I was entitled to use the manned priority lane as a business class passenger.
Gate Area Geneva Airport
Boarding began, and I was, by a long shot, the first onboard. I actually had about a minute to myself before people started trickling down the gate and into the plane. If only there weren’t dots by the wall at Geneva Airport…
Lufthansa Airbus A321 Geneva Airport
Conclusion: Swiss’ Lounge Geneva Airport
First of all, Geneva Airport is a bit of a dump. It was also pretty clear that Swiss’ Geneva lounge isn’t one of their “hub” lounges. It was fine, though by no means a great lounge. I guess I should’ve seen that coming, since the lounge is also a Priority Pass lounge.
I definitely wouldn’t arrive early to visit this lounge, though if you’re flying from Geneva in economy without priority customs and immigration, I’d suggest leaving plenty of time to catch your flight.
