Today I visited the Extime lounge located in terminal T2D in Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. There are several lounges in the CDG airport in Paris but there is definitely not much to chose from given that the airport has several terminals that are far away from each other and you are basically stuck with the options in your current terminal. To make matters worse, terminal 3 has no lounges at all, and for example, Iberia does not have any lounges in CDG because of this. Although, Iberia does have one in Orly.
The lounge is located in the Schengen area which already sets the bar to the level of a mid-range lounge. Usually premium lounges are reserved for international flights in many EU airports because those flights are the ones that bring in more money anyways. My general experience with lounges that aren’t run by an airline is that you might get something from a terrible to an okayish experience. The worst ones just serve you salad and crappy sandwiches – trust me! Extime, although not run by any airline, was actually very good. 😃
Location
Extime is located in T2D in CDG. It is a bit hidden, but not too difficult to find. As soon as you have cleared the extremely slow security (in France everything that involves queueing takes ages), you will see two cafeterias. Just walk past between them and you will see a door with a sign stating Salon VIP on top of it. Take the lift to the 3rd floor and walk through the hallway until you see the lounge. The lounge has a rather outdated list of airlines in front of it. They have an extremely old Finnair logo, which instantly shows how outdated the list is. Apart from Finnair, they also list airlines like Royal Air Maroc, which doesn’t use this lounge according to Oneworld and Aegean and Lufthansa that don’t list this lounge on the Star Alliance lounge finder either… 🤷🏼♂️.
It’s clearly confusing who can access this lounge as there were some Italian people getting in before me with their ITA Airways boarding pass and an elite credit card. They were turned away and they were told that the elite card only gives them access if they fly Saudia… I don’t know better myself but the chances are they were kicked out for no reason. The lounge staff was even puzzled when they saw my economy class Finnair ticket before they realized my oneworld status. 😵💫
Decoration
The lounge just looks stunning. Many Schengen lounges that aren’t run by an airline look often outdated and worn out. Not this one, though! Extime louge has plenty of space and clean and comfortable chairs. There are big windows to two directions which makes plane spotting a delight 😀.
The bathrooms were clean and well maintained. Although the sign for men and women was a bit too artistic for me to figure out immediately (see the door in the picture above). There was also a shower room for those who would need such a facility. This is not something that can be taken for granted in Schengen lounges.
Food and Drinks
My favorite part of the lounge was definitely the food section. The lounge had a buffet of cold food such as ham, cheese, bread, croissants and another buffet for hot food, which for breakfast included things like scrambled eggs and bacon.
There were also several sweet desserts like brownies, tiramisu, pannacotta, and so so delicious macrons. Fresh fruits were also available. All in all, there are many options for everyone.
As for drinks, there is basically everything you could expect: fresh juice, water, soft drinks, coffee and tea. As for the alcoholic beverages, there’s a lot to choose from: wine, champagne, beer, vodka, gin and so on.
Overall verdict
Charles de Gaulle Extime lounge offers a solid lounge experience. You have everything you would expect from a lounge: good food and a lot of variety, nice chairs to sit and relax on and a generous selection of beverages. Oneworld customers can access this lounge if flying Finnair as this is the lounge Finnair uses in Paris. If you were to pay for this lounge, it gives you a whole lot for your money… Way more than the average.
