A First-Hand Review of the Escape Lounge in the Minneapolis Airport
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Million Mile Secrets team member Meghan had a layover in the Minneapolis airport during her recent trip to Europe. So I asked her to write about her experience at the Minneapolis Airport’s Escape Lounge.
Meghan: Having The Business Platinum Card® from American Express comes with a lot of great perks. One of those is access to airport lounges, including Delta Clubs, Priority Pass Select locations, Centurion Lounges, International American Express Lounges, and Escape Lounges!
Here’s more about the Escape Lounge in Minneapolis’ airport, including where to find it, the snack spread, quality of the Wi-Fi, seating options, and more!
About the Escape Lounge Minneapolis Airport
The Escape Lounge in the Minneapolis airport is part of the American Express Lounge Collection. So you have to hold the personal or small business AMEX Platinum card to enter.
This particular lounge used to be a part of the Priority Pass network. But in mid-2017, it left that program.
With lounge access, you can bring up to 2 guests for free. But you’ll need to pay for a day pass ($45 each) for any additional guests. It’s open daily from 4:00 am to 8:00 pm.
How to Find the Lounge
Finding the lounge is easy, because the Minneapolis airport isn’t hard to navigate (like some airports that go on forever!). It’s located on the Mezzanine Level above the entrance to Concourse E. That’s accessible from the Airport Mall, where you’ll find most of the airport’s shops and restaurants.
Lounge Amenities
The lounge isn’t huge. But it’s divided into 3 sections.
There’s a seating area near the food, another area by the bar where drinks are served, and a third area at the opposite end of the lounge that has more private seating, including small couches, comfy leather chairs, and a few large round tables.
The Wi-Fi is fast and reliable. And because of the separate seating areas, it was easy for us to find a quiet spot.
It was near closing time when we visited at ~7:30 pm on a Friday, so there wasn’t much going on. But the noise level might be different during another time of day.
When we arrived, the staff had already cleaned up certain sitting areas. But were still serving food and beverages.
The bar was well-stocked with a wide variety of options, including complimentary beer, wine, and liquor (with the premium drinks costing $4 to $15). There was also a small nacho bar, some warm sandwiches, a salad bar, and a variety of desserts.
Check out the beverage menu and the food menu.
As for the food selection – I wasn’t overly impressed. But that could have been because it was toward the end of the day, and things didn’t look that fresh.
We did find a few decent options at the salad and dessert bars, including a pasta and bean dish, and delicious chocolate chip cookies!
For the Priority Pass Crew
Here’s a fun tip! If you also have access to Priority Pass lounges, with a card like the Chase Sapphire Reserve, for example, consider the PGA MSP Lounge.
It’s right next door to the Escape lounge, and each guest can get a $15 voucher for food at Ike’s at the Airport, a well-known restaurant and cocktail bar.
On our return trip, we picked up our food vouchers from the PGA MSP Lounge, placed a to-go order at Ike’s, and took it back to enjoy in the Escape Lounge in peace and quiet. 😉
Between our 3 vouchers, we had $45 to spend! We ended up with 2 orders of chicken fingers and fries, lettuce wraps, and a Caesar salad to share. It was TONS of food!
Bottom Line
Team member Meghan recently visited the Escape Lounge in the Minneapolis Airport during a layover on the way to Europe. She had free lounge access because she’s an AMEX Business Platinum cardholder.
Overall, she found the Escape Lounge to be spacious and relaxing, with reliable Wi-Fi, and a decent food and beverage selection. And said she’d happily visit again if the opportunity arises!
Have you ever been to this Escape Lounge?
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