If you have a Priority Pass membership through your credit card and you happen to be flying through Bogotá, Colombia, you are in luck. The LATAM lounge in Bogotá airport punches above its weight compared to most Priority Pass lounges. It is especially nice considering that the Bogotá airport is one of the more hectic ones I’ve been in recently.

On a recent trip through Bogotá I was flying Avianca in business class, which meant that I had access to both of the Avianca lounges at Bogotá airport. The problem is that both of these lounges are loud and the opposite of relaxing. One of the Avianca lounges is slightly better than the other (the better one, called Diamante, is reserved for business class customers, where the other one is for frequent Avianca flyers) but they both lack a calm atmosphere.

Fortunately, the LATAM lounge is there to provide refuge. The LATAM lounge is located on the higher floor of the airport overlooking the main floor, just like the Avianca lounges, but the LATAM lounge feels worlds apart. For one thing, its location slightly away from the windows makes it less bright. Also, the design of the lounge provides lots of space and separation between guests. Finally, the fact that Avianca is the Colombian flagship airline means that most flyers through Bogotá are likely to be flying Avianca and hence are using Avianca lounges. The LATAM lounge, then, has less people– only LATAM flyers, people with status on OneWorld airlines, and Priority Pass members can enter. In some other airport this could create a busy lounge but at Bogotá the LATAM lounge was pleasantly under-occupied both times I passed through.

LATAM Lounge Amenities

The first thing you will see when you enter the LATAM lounge is the wine wall, which is many feet high and makes a strong visual statement when you enter. It makes sense, I guess, when you realize that LATAM is a merger of LAN Chile and TAM Brazilian airlines. Chile is known for its wine, so that must be why they made the wine wall the center of the lounge.

Behind the wine wall is the food and drink bar. A beautiful marble island holds the day’s champagne as well as bottles of white and red wine. Behind the wine island is a counter holding many types of small tapas snacks, from meats and cheeses to small sandwiches. I didn’t find the snacks to be tremendously tasty, but they were perfectly adequate as snacks prior to boarding. You’ll want to make sure you’re going to have a meal on the plane, or buy a meal in the airport, if you are hanging out in the LATAM lounge because the snacks don’t make a full meal.

Lounge Seating

The lounge seating in the LATAM Bogotá lounge is pleasantly varied. There are cool modernist strappy lounge chairs where you can sit and watch the action below and on the tarmac. There are also tables along the inner areas of the lounge, with plenty of privacy screens so you don’t feel like you are in a cafeteria. The lighting in the lounge is dim (even during the daytime, though these pictures were taken at night) so you can work on your laptop and relax without feeling overly stressed by bright lighting.

All in all, my recommendation is that if you are traveling through Bogotá airport you should definitely choose the LATAM lounge to spend your time. The Avianca lounges are busy and crowded, and don’t have anything that the LATAM lounge doesn’t have. The fact that LATAM has champagne is an extra bonus.