Singapore Airlines isn’t alone when it comes to offering an exclusive facility dedicated to certain grades of frequent flyers. Yet like Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines is among the few to offer a worse lounge for frequent flyers. Enter the KrisFlyer Gold Lounges, the lowest-grade facility within the Singapore Airlines lounge system. At its home in Changi Airport, the airline operates two of these lounges – one each in Terminal 2 and Terminal 3. Opened in 2022, the latter lounge presents a significant improvement to the historical offering of the airline’s frequent flyer lounges.

Location

Just like the SilverKris Lounges at Terminal 3, the KrisFlyer Gold Lounge is located on Level 3 – above the terminal’s central shopping arcade. After clearing immigration, turn left and head towards the direction of A Gates A. You’ll find a pair of escalators next to Perfumes and Cosmetics by Shilla and across MGM. Head up the escalators to Level 3, where you’ll find the entrance to the KrisFlyer Gold Lounge across from the escalator landing.

Lounge Access Requirements

The KrisFlyer Gold Lounge is a standard Star Alliance Gold Lounge. Just as such, it is purposed primarily to serve Star Alliance Gold flyers flying in Economy Class on a Star Alliance carrier. This of course includes Singapore Airlines’ own KrisFlyer Gold members, as well as equivalent tiers like ANA Mileage Club Platinum, Lufthansa Miles and More Senator, United Mileage Plus Gold, among others. In alignment with the Star Alliance lounge policy, Star Alliance Gold members are permitted to invite a guest to the lounge. I’ll note that First and Business Class passengers are also welcome, though you’re better off using the SilverKris First Class and SilverKris Business Class lounges, respectively.

KrisFlyer Gold Lounge

After spending the better of eight hours between The Private Room, the SilverKris First Class Lounge, and the SilverKris Business Class Lounge, I decided to wander about the airport. Instead, as if I hadn’t seen enough lounges in a day, I decided to pay a visit to the KrisFlyer Gold Lounge. I had actually forgotten that this lounge existed until I noticed its signage as I walked through the Terminal 3 shopping arcade.

At the reception, the lounge agent was taken aback when I presented my Suites boarding pass. She apologised and insisted there was a much better lounge I could access a short distance away. Once I told her that I had seen enough of the other three lounges, she quickly understood and happily invited me in. Hah, I guess they don’t see too many Suites passengers visiting the KrisFlyer Gold Lounge!

Seating

Unlike the SilverKris Lounges, the KrisFlyer Gold Lounge opens into the terminal, allowing for an airy and spacious feel. Combined with its modern furnishing and stylish curved light pillars, the lounge feels appropriately fresh and up-to-date.

The sitting room makes up the majority of the lounge. It is composed mainly of sofa chairs arranged facing each other, in a typical airline lounge arrangement. There are console tables between each pair of seats, which are hollowed out for cabin luggage.

To the side, by the entrance, there are also a couple dozen chairs which are a bit more spaced out from each other. There are also high-top tables scattered close to the entrance area, in addition to the traditional armchairs. Furthermore, while privacy isn’t a strong point for the KrisFlyer Gold Lounge, I did like that the seating areas are divided into smaller sections with the blue partitioning bench seats that run along the length of the lounge.

While the lounge itself looks very nice, I found it surprising how bad the chairs were. In particular, the seats are upholstered with faux leather. As the material is not breathable, the seats really heat up after a while. Combined with less powerful air conditioning in the open-air setting, this makes the lounge rather uncomfortable. Looks like they spared every expense when picking out the new furniture! 😉

Regardless, I always very much appreciate that power outlets are abundantly available in the lounge. Specifically, you’ll find universal power outlets and USB-A ports equipped to the console tables or under the seats themselves. Some seats even feature tables with wireless charging pads, which is quite impressive despite being slow at charging.

Dining

Past the main sitting room, you’ll find the small dedicated dining area. Regardless, this section consists of ten tables, most of them seating four people. Four of these tables feature sofa bench seats, which are better cushioned compared to the slimline dining chairs.

Free from adornments, this is where the lounge starts to look bare. With its basic dining tables, the area looks more like a contract facility, say operated by the Marhaba Lounge, than a Singapore Airlines Lounge. Perhaps, the dining area wouldn’t look too basic when you account for the decent self-serve buffet arranged parallel to it. 😛

Food

As you would expect at this point, dining in the KrisFlyer Gold Lounge merely consists of a buffet spread. Regardless, I was impressed to see a diverse assortment of food available, incorporating dishes from Singaporean, Chinese, Indian and Western cuisines. Furthermore, the selection and quality appear identical to that of the SilverKris Business Class Lounge, albeit on a smaller scale. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Furthermore, in addition to the salad bar and the hot dishes, there is also a selection of chilled food. This includes a selection of sandwiches (Tuna and Egg & Mayo), various fruits, cakes, and sushi rolls, as well as choices of cereal and dry snacks.

Impressively, there is also a manned noodle bar, serving Singapore’s famed Laksa all day, on request. Despite lacking a full-fledged noodle bar, this is surely a welcome addition to the historically spartan offering at the KrisFlyer Gold Lounge.

Drinks

Drinks are an entirely self-service affair at the KrisFlyer Gold Lounge as there is no dedicated bar or coffee station. While the selection is a noticeable downgrade from the SilverKris Business Class Lounge, the beverage choices remain decent.

In terms of alcoholic drinks, available were Absolut Vodka, Bombay Saphire Gin, Myers Platinum White Rum, Johnny Walker Red Label, The Ardmore Single Malt, and Chivas Regal 12 Years, as well as Tiger Beer and Heineken available in cans.

There are also two beer machines dispensing Asahi and Tiger Beer, respectively, as well as wine dispensers featuring red and white wine. Complementing that is a selection of soft drinks in the chiller, featuring Schweppes soda water, tonic water and ginger ale; Coca-Cola classic and light, and Sprite; Marigold apple and orange juice; as well as Kagome tomato juice.

In addition, there are three Boncafé coffee machines, accompanied by a varied selection of Singapore’s own TWG tea. There is also milk and two kinds of oat milk (regular and chocolate), to the side, complementing the selection of cereal.

Work Spaces

At the very back of the main area, you’ll find a row of desks arranged by the back partition of the lounge. Complete with power outlets and ergonomic chairs, these are excellent as a workspace. There is also a individually-controlled desk lamp for when it gets dark.

I imagine these are provided in place of the productivity pods available in the SilverKris Lounges. Funnily enough, these are actually better compared to the pods considering how much more table surface the desk offers – well, that is if you discount the lack of privacy, however.

In addition, there are also a handful of high-top communal tables next to the desks and scattered around the lounge. Equipped with wireless charger pads and power outlets beneath the table, these tables double as a workspace on top of its main purpose as a dining table.

Dining Lounge

Finally, behind the work area, you’ll find a quasi-dining section that easily doubles as additional lounging space. Compared to the dining area, seating here is a lot more relaxed. Besides several proper dining tables, most seats here are composed of padded sofa seats with dinner tables, in a lounge-like arrangement.

With its warm wood-patterned elements bathed in warm lighting, this part of the lounge definitely feels a lot more cosy compared to the rest of the lounge. However, perhaps owing to its relatively concealed location in the back, the area remained deserted for the entirety of my visit.

Being enclosed, air conditioning is also more noticeable in this area, making the faux leather seats a lot more tolerable. Moreover, I’ll note that all of the sofa seats are equipped with universal power outlets either under or on their side. This further exemplifies how suitable this space is as a work and relaxation area on top of being solely an extension of the dining section.

Amenities

Showers

Just before the buffet spread, you’ll find the corridor leading to the showers and washrooms. Just outside the corridor, you’ll find the shower reception. It is essential to reserve a shower here, seeing that the lounge only has four shower rooms.

The shower rooms themselves are bright and clean and look quite nice if not a bit bare. Unlike the SilverKris Lounges, the shower does not feature an ensuite toilet or a rain shower. Instead, one will have to make do with merely a hand-held shower stall, alongside a basic vanity. While not quite well-appointed, the showers do it job well.

Washroom

On the same corridor as the shower rooms, you’ll find the lounge’s washrooms, which are gender-segregated. The washrooms are clean and brightly lit, sharing the same grey marble-patterned porcelain tile as the showers.

Furthermore, the toilets feature hand-held bidets, a very common sight in various parts of maritime Southeast Asia. Curiously, absent were the smart bidet toilets you’d find in the SilverKris First Class Lounge and The Private Room.

WiFi

The KrisFlyer Gold Lounge is connected to a relatively fast WiFi network separate from the Changi Airport’s otherwise great WiFi connectivity. While the network is password protected, the password is conveniently displayed on placards throughout the lounge.

Overall

Despite the awful furniture quality, I found the KrisFlyer Gold Lounge much better than it is often made out to be. The lounge features all the bells and whistles you would expect at any respectable Business Class lounge. From the nice showers, the up-to-par food and beverage selection, and its generally nice surroundings, there’s little not to like about the KrisFlyer Gold Lounge. While it is still regrettable that the facility isn’t to the level of the SilverKris Business Class Lounge, I feel that Singapore Airlines has finally come close to offering an agreeable lounge to its frequent flyers.

Read more from this trip here!