The 10 best airport lounges: October 2026

This month's ten

These are the ten best-rated lounges in our directory for October 2026, among the lounges we have photographed and that are open today. Each lounge is scored from 1 to 5 on up to 15 measures, from food and drinks to showers, quiet and workspace, and the overall score is the average.

Twenty-four open, photographed lounges now tie at 4.9, so the top of the table is crowded. Within the tie we list lounges alphabetically by name, and the ten below are the first ten of that group. The list is frozen as published. November will bring a fresh edition.

What changed since September

Three lounges left and three arrived. The Cathay Pacific Lounge at Seoul Incheon closed, and Cathay now sends its passengers to the oneworld Lounge near gate 28. The Emirates lounges in Munich and Rome still score 4.9, but neither has a photo on file at the moment, so both drop out until one is added.

Their places go to the ITA Airways Piazza di Spagna Lounge in Rome, the Marhaba Lounge at Melbourne, and the No1 Lounge in Gatwick's South Terminal. Two of the three take Priority Pass, which makes this the most open top ten we have published.

Two closures keep strong lounges off the list for now. Cathay's The Wing Business in Hong Kong is shut for a rebuild until 2027, and the Qantas First Lounge at Los Angeles is still closed after flooding in June. Both score 4.9 and both return to the table the day they reopen. Munich's two Lufthansa First Class Lounges also score 4.9 but have no photos yet, so they sit this one out as well.

The airline flagships

Airlines hold six of the ten places. The Air France Lounge in Hall L of Terminal 2E at Paris is the biggest of them, with room for about 500 people and ten showers. American's Flagship Lounge at Miami pairs craft cocktails with six showers and sits by gate D30. The British Airways Club Lounge in Gatwick's South Terminal is the quiet one of the group, and the Delta Sky Club at Honolulu is the smallest, with about 130 seats and a view across the apron.

The Emirates Lounge in Heathrow Terminal 3 is the largest airline room on the list, at around 400 seats with four showers and a full bar. The ITA lounge in Rome is its opposite: a single shower, a full bar and a design that leans on the city it is named for.

Four you can buy your way into

Not every lounge here needs a premium ticket. Blossom Lounge in Singapore's Terminal 4 is open around the clock and takes Priority Pass, LoungeKey and DragonPass. The Marhaba Lounge in Melbourne's international terminal and the No1 Lounge at Gatwick take the same cards, and No1 also sells entry on its own website. Encalm Privé in Delhi's Terminal 3 is a DragonPass lounge with a cocktail bar and four showers, and it is the only entry from India this month.

The fourteen just behind

The other 4.9 lounges include the Virgin Australia Lounge in Melbourne, Qantas's domestic business and international first lounges there, three Plaza Premium lounges in London and Rome, the SkyTeam Lounge in Frankfurt's Terminal 3, the Centurion Lounge at Dallas Fort Worth, the Turkish Airlines Business Lounge in Istanbul, and United Clubs at Newark's C mezzanine and Dulles's D concourse. All of them are a tie-break away from this list.

How we score

Our scores are editorial and set by the Lounge Frog team; our methodology explains each measure. For the full ranking, see the top 100 lounges. For the lounges a Priority Pass membership opens, see the October Priority Pass edition.