Denpasar Airport, Qatar Airways Check-In, & Premier Lounge
Our ride from the Conrad Bali to Ngurah Rai International Airport utilized the new Bali Mandara Toll Road. It was fairly quick compared to the other rides we had taken on other roads in Bali that were sometimes crowded and sometimes in desperate need of repair.
We arrived at the airport a little less than 3 hours before our scheduled departure. The Qatar Airways check-in line was horrendously long (for economy passengers) – it stretched so far back that one couldn’t see the check-in agents from the back of the line. I noticed that there was no one waiting at the business class check-in counters, so, we made our way towards them. However, we were stopped and asked to show evidence of our business class tickets before we’d be let up to the counter (a little strange, but, as an outpost of the route system, I’m guess those running the check-in process are contract agents with some on-the-spot rule-making). I showed him the itinerary I typed myself with our seat numbers and “Business Class” and other flight details (because it was on top of my paperwork…I had the email confirmation from US Airways in there too). And, that appeased the gatekeeper.
Next, we stepped forward to the friendly check-in agent. I asked that our bags be short-checked to Chicago because we had a long overnight layover there and, um, other reasons
(I had a feeling that I might not make the ORD-CLT-SJU flights the morning after our arrival and wanted to ensure our bags were directed to ORD in case of irregular operations, missing/delayed bag, etc.), even though I fully understand that during normal operations (and, what happened in this event), we would need to claim our bags at a carousel upon arriving at ORD after clearing immigration. The agent had a problem with this (and I had no plans to push it because I knew it likely wouldn’t matter). He wasn’t sure he could do it. So, he asked a supervisor. The supervisor asked us how long our layover was. I told him. He requested confirmation that we didn’t need our checked baggage in Doha. I confirmed. He asked us if we understood we would need to claim the bags upon landing in Chicago and re-check them upon checking-in the next day. I answered in the affirmative. This seemed to be enough. He approved it; but, it took them a few minutes to figure out how to enter it in the system (during which I was a bit worried our bags would sit in Doha without us if they incorrectly entered the short-check into the system). But, when the bag tags were printed, they looked perfect. The rest of the check-in was a breeze and we were informed that we had and were given cards for access to the Premier Lounge.
After checking-in, we made our way through exit immigration and security quickly and found ourselves in the typical “please enter the terminal through the gift shop” duty-free shops. We needed nothing and speedily navigated through the retail gauntlet.
From FlyerTalk (and the Priority Pass website), I knew that the Premier Lounge was under construction. But, I didn’t know whether or not the new lounge was ready or whether we’d be visiting the
crappy underwhelming temporary lounges. Once we passed through the first duty-free shops, I looked up and, like a beacon guiding us toward comfort, I saw the freshly installed sign of the new permanent Premier lounge on mezzanine level.
We made our way through the impressive assortment of duty-free shops to the single elevator serving multiple lounges. The glass box whisked us up a single level to the mezzanine where the lounge awaited our arrival.
The Premier Lounge overlooks the terminal and duty-free shops below. Upon entering, we found the lounge to be modern and relatively spacious with plenty of available seating. It was nicely decorated. The food offerings were decent both in taste and selection (although, some of the food offerings did seem to frequently run out and need to be replenished), including pasta offerings available for order from the bar, and standard drinks were available from either the refrigerator or the bartender. There were many different kinds of seating, all with adequate power outlet availability, and even a small business center. There was an even smaller massage “spa” room with services available for a fee. The restrooms included a shower stall.
We found a quiet corner booth and settled-in. The wifi was unfortunately slow, so, I didn’t get as much catching-up on-line done as I wanted before we had to leave. The lounge did have background music that was a little loud for my tastes, though, it was interrupted by periodic flight departure announcements. The air conditioning was blasting.
A few minutes before the scheduled boarding time printed on our boarding passes, we left the lounge and headed to our departure gate.
Photo Below: Toll Road to Ngurah Rai International Airport, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia
Photo Below: International Departures Terminal Exterior - Ngurah Rai International Airport, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia
Photo Below: Parking Garage - Ngurah Rai International Airport, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia
Photo Below: Open-Air Entrance - Ngurah Rai International Airport, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia
Photo Below: Qatar Airways Check-in Line (very left shows line wrapping around) - Ngurah Rai International Airport, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia
Photo Below: Qatar Airways Business Class Check-In - Ngurah Rai International Airport, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia
Photo Below: Lounge Mezzanine Viewed from Duty-Free Shops - Premier Lounge, Ngurah Rai International Airport, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia
Photo Below: Directional Sign Next to Elevator - Premier Lounge, Ngurah Rai International Airport, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia
Photo Below: View of Duty-Free Shops & Terminal - Premier Lounge, Ngurah Rai International Airport, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia
Photo Below: Grand Opening Sign (of Similarly-Named Premium Lounge Next Door) - Premier Lounge, Ngurah Rai International Airport, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia
Photo Below: Entrance - Premier Lounge, Ngurah Rai International Airport, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia
Photo Below: Seating & Set-up - Premier Lounge, Ngurah Rai International Airport, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia
Photo Below: Seating & Skylight over Food - Premier Lounge, Ngurah Rai International Airport, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia
Photo Below: Various Seating Options - Premier Lounge, Ngurah Rai International Airport, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia
Photo Below: Seating Galore - Premier Lounge, Ngurah Rai International Airport, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia
Photo Below: Dining Seating - Premier Lounge, Ngurah Rai International Airport, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia
Photo Below: Decor - Premier Lounge, Ngurah Rai International Airport, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia
Photo Below: Lounge Seating - Premier Lounge, Ngurah Rai International Airport, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia
Photo Below: Massage Pricing - Premier Lounge, Ngurah Rai International Airport, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia
Photo Below: Massage Room - Premier Lounge, Ngurah Rai International Airport, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia
Photo Below: Food Options - Premier Lounge, Ngurah Rai International Airport, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia
Photo Below: Additional Food Options - Premier Lounge, Ngurah Rai International Airport, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia
Photo Below: Even More Food Options - Premier Lounge, Ngurah Rai International Airport, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia
Photo Below: Food and Juice - Premier Lounge, Ngurah Rai International Airport, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia
Photo Below: Bar - Premier Lounge, Ngurah Rai International Airport, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia
Photo Below: Tabled Seating - Premier Lounge, Ngurah Rai International Airport, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia
Photo Below: Juice, Tea & Coffee - Premier Lounge, Ngurah Rai International Airport, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia
Photo Below: Cold Drinks Refrigerator - Premier Lounge, Ngurah Rai International Airport, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia
Photo Below: My Tasty Plate - Premier Lounge, Ngurah Rai International Airport, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia
Photo Below: Seating Overlooking Terminal - Premier Lounge, Ngurah Rai International Airport, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia
Photo Below: Shower Stall - Premier Lounge, Ngurah Rai International Airport, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia
