Air India Business Class Lounge Review – Chennai Airport (International)

By | July 6, 2022
Air India Maharaja Business Class Lounge - Entrance
Air India Maharaja Business Class Lounge – Entrance

I recently flew Air India Business Class from Chennai (MAA) to Singapore (SIN) and so had access to the Air India Business Class lounge which they usually call it as a “Maharaja Lounge”. Infact i totally forgot the existence of their Maharaja lounge in Chennai Airport until i was given the lounge pass invite during flight check in.

Overview

TypeBusiness Class Lounge
Allowed forAir India / Star Alliance Business & First Class
LocationOpposite to TFS lounge (ground floor)
Plug pointsYes
AmbianceDecent interiors with comfortable seating options
Food optionsLimited food spread & average taste

Chennai Airport has so many lounge options. if you don’t like this lounge or if its getting crowded by any chance, you may always move to the TFS lounge located just opposite to this lounge.

Check-in

So i got the Lounge pass in hand and i noticed they made a spelling mistake. Well that’s fine, headed to the lounge to check if my friend who’s not flying business class could also join me. They denied and so he went to the TFS lounge located just opposite to Maharaja Lounge.

Wish they allow the co-traveller to join, like they do at GVK Business Class lounge in Mumbai (domestic). Check in was quick and i got seated in one of their comfy chair.

Air India Business Class Lounge Invite card

Seating & interiors

They interiors were quite good for a Business class lounge but i expected more as this beige colour looked like an old design to me. The best part is the chair which is really comfortable with good cushion and back support. Must appreciate this part really atleast, as everything else didn’t go that well.

Air India Business Class Lounge – Seating
Air India Business Class Lounge

Food & Drinks

I went to grab some bites, just to know that the food spread is very less – disappointed already. Atleast i was happy to see my favourite Medhu Vadai, not so long that i realized it was not tasty as well. I didn’t expect this level of food spread nor the quality in a Business Class lounge.

They did have a bar area, but as i took my flight on Republic day, it was a dry day.

Annoying Lounge Staff

So i decided to take some snaps of the lounge. As my iPhone camera went faulty a week back, i got to click with my DSLR, hence went ahead to inform the lounge staff that i’m gonna click some snaps (and not people). He said OKAY, and i went on taking some snaps of the food spread.

Within a minute he came to me with a soft tone and said not to take photos of food and that i need to DELETE the taken ones. Well, i went ahead and got that done for him.

Now i moved out of the food area and started clicking the other areas. Just after few mins he came back with a question “Are you from Media?” and now said not to cover other areas too. Hmm, who cares, i just said okay and left the lounge to join my friend at TFS lounge located just opposite.

And know what? This guy came to TFS Lounge too to make sure i’ve deleted all snaps that i’ve taken. I had no plans to spoil my flight experience and so I deleted all he wants to and kept 2 or so for reference that you see above.

Bottomline

  • CardExpert Rating: 3.5/5

Its yet another lounge with comfortable seating but with poor food spread and taste. The TFS lounge also has the similar spread, infact its the same food, though much crowded place to be.

Overall, my experience was okay but this annoying staff made it worse. I would have been happy if he said that at-least when i informed it upfront. That aside, I think they can improve the food options to differentiate the experience for business class travellers.

Anyway, have you been to this lounge or, maybe any other so called Maharaja Lounge? Do share your experiences in comments below.

15 thoughts on “Air India Business Class Lounge Review – Chennai Airport (International)

  1. Mohit

    Have you visited some Lounge in Singapore too?

    Please share about that also.

    Reply
  2. Vinod Kannan

    Thats Air India for you!!! Just like the Local Town bus in Tamilnadu.

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      Service – yes, in most aspects. But the experience in sky was quite good 🙂

      Reply
  3. Siddharth

    Have you come across the HDFC jetprivilege credit card offer? Seems they are offering 15000 JPMiles daily to the top spender..

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      Haven’t received any such communication yet. Still wont be interested as “top spender” is very broad and tough to hit.

      Reply
  4. Parth Buch

    Recently visited the Vistara Lounge at T3 and has similar issue with guest.
    I actually had an extra e-voucher with me yet they refused entry to the guest. Didnt want to sit separately and given that the Vistara Lounge is at gate 41 while other lounges are at mezzanine level, we decided to give it a miss.

    Donot understand why these places have such rules ? From lounge’s point of view it should not matter who is using the voucher right ?

    Reply
  5. Chand reddy

    I have never had a credit card or a loan. I live in a rented home that is different from what is my permanent address and I work for a foreign company but there is no employer employee relationship i am a contractor i have just have invoices from them every month, i crave for a credit card but i couldnt find any options for my profile, i live in hyderabad

    Reply
  6. Saravanan

    Did u redeem miles for business class ticket? If yes, how? Or did u pay for the upgrade?

    Please share buffet images too when reviewing lounges.

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      Upgrade using miles. Coming up next in detail 🙂

      P.S. As mentioned, these guys didn’t want me to take the images of their tasty(!) food.

      Reply
  7. Sidy

    Siddharth, thanks for the article post.Really thank you! Great.

    Reply
  8. Madan

    Worst I have visited, Actually I am Velocity platinum Member and I had a chance to fly with Singapore airlines, as a Partner airline with Virgin I had. issued a Lounge pass to visit Maharajah Lounge, I have faced worst service from the team, During my visit noticed Internet server did not working, Food quality is below average, only they could issue 2 mini bears or l bear and 1 liquire, Air conditioning is not doing his job etc. Even I am not interested to give 1 rating

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      You must have checked out the other regular lounge then. Better food there but usually crowded!

      Reply
  9. Nash

    One of the worst lounges I’ve ever visited. Quality of food is terrible, place is dirty, understaffed and the employees arent very friendly.
    Being a business class traveller for years, I wish the Air India would focus on these aspects because after all, not only do we have to pay a hefty amount for the ticket, plus the tax and on top of that get this kind of quality?

    The lounge facilities are minimal and I would request all buisness travelers to avoid this lounge as it is very morose and dull!

    Reply
  10. Sobhanbabu

    It’s the worst lounge one can think of. I was here on 2 weeks back and again today. No seats, no food and no one to hear you. It’s a shame to call it a lounge. Singapore airlines should move sweat from this. It’s spoiling their image

    Reply

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