Mexico City is an international destination that is located a fair distance from many parts of the world; the America’s, South America and Europe. Being the capital city for the Republic of Mexico, it’s got to have a decent international lounge available for it’s many visitors. On our travels, we visited the home of One World international departures in the Iberia Business Premier GIS Lounge.

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This post is one chapter on our trip to Mexico City, Mexico and Easter Island, Chile. This trip was enhanced through Alaska Mileage Plan and through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.

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Review: Iberia Business, Premium Traveller GIS – One World Lounge, Mexico City International Airport – Terminal One, Mexico

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Getting to Mexico City International Airport:

We took an UberSUV from The W Mexico City in Polanco, CDMX to the airport. There were heaps of Uber Black and Uber SUV’s available at all times during our stay in the Polanco neighbourhood. It was only a 17 kilometre distance, but the ride took about 70 minutes during the afternoon rush hour. We had allowed ourselves plenty of time. With traffic like this, it’s easy to understand why.

Arriving to Mexico City International Airport:

The old Mexico City International Airport – Terminal One is a bit of a dump. It has a lack of natural light and had a very institutional feel to it. Despite this, it was much cleaner and in a better state of repair than some areas of our usual home airport of Seattle Tacoma in the United States of America.

We checked in at the LATAM desks at two hours and forty minutes before our LATAM Business Class Mexico City – Santiago flight. For some reason, the desks were totally deserted and we were helped at the LATAM Preferente line right away. There were no questions or raised eyebrows at our deeply discounted tickets (only $1,110 USD round trip!). Our check in was processed promptly. I had checked in online earlier without any issues; hoping to stave off any last minute questions or awkward “denied boarding” conversations over what may have been a mistake fare. We were given instructions to collect our bags in Santiago, despite the bags being tagged through to Easter Island. We were given instructions to go to the Iberia Business Lounge.

There didn’t seem to be many interesting things on the public side of the Mexico City International Airport, so we immediately went through to the secure side. There was no immigration exit stamp for Mexico and we were through security really quickly.

Locating the Iberia Business Lounge:

We located the elevator to the lounges on the secure side of the airport. The lounge is somewhat confusingly branded. It was known as the Iberia Business Lounge but also appears to be known as the Premier GIS Lounge.

There was an AAdmirals Club available as well, along with a United Club on the second floor. I think the Admirals Club probably had half the space that we had downstairs in the spacious Iberia Lounge.

We rode the elevator up one level in order to access the Iberia Business Lounge.

Accessing the Iberia Business / Premier GIS Lounge:

The lounge is typically accessed by flying Business Class on a One World airline. The lounge caters to One World carriers Iberia, British Airways, and LATAM.

After getting off the elevator, we were welcomed at reception. There was no line at check in and there were not a lot of travellers at this hour. We were given access and wifi codes on the way in.

Inside the Iberia Business Lounge:

The initial impressions of the Iberia Business Lounge were quite favourable. It appeared that the lounge had been recently refurbished as everything looked fresh and new. Getting into the lounge, the lounge’s colours were light wood hues.

In the primary seating area of the lounge, there was a medium sized seating area. There wasn’t a broad selection of loungers, but they were configured in a variety of areas allowing for different seating options.

The lounge, along with the theme of the airport, didn’t have much natural light. There were some windows that overlooked a glass atrium in towards the airport but it didn’t look all too inviting to sit back there.

We went to find a place to sit. There were a few loungers but most of them were taken. We ended up in the back corner against the wall with some nearby power outlets.

Food and Beverage:

There were some tables throughout the back of the lounge that were set up for eating or dining. The food section wasn’t too popular so this zone was empty during our visit.

The bar was a fully manned bar with drinks on request. Despite the services, it was also not a super popular place to be. It was also lacking any real bar stools similar to other lounge bar’s that I had visited.

In terms of food, there was some very basic food offerings. These included pannini’s, soup, pasta and some other unidentifiable hot item(s). The food was more snack oriented rather than meal oriented.

The bar was the most impressive part of the lounge. Shortly after I took a photo of it, I was approached by the manager and the interrogation started. Were these pictures for personal use? Was I a representative from another airline? “Because you know, these people come in here. . .” After the shame test, she left but wasn’t at all apologetic. I didn’t want to spell out that there were probably dozens of travel bloggers coming through thanks to the deeply discounted LATAM fare.

In order to deal with this stress, I had some snacks here along with 3 gin and tonics. We eventually headed off for our LATAM Business Class Mexico City – Santiago flight.

The Bottom Line: The Iberia Business / Premier GIS Lounge

The strangely branded Iberia Business / Premier GIS lounge was a spaciously and newly refurbished place to relax before our international flight to Santiago. The lounge didn’t offer much in the way of delicious food and beverage, but it did offer a full service bar. As a result, I’d mark this one up as I’m happy to have visited, but there isn’t a large rush for me to get back here.

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If you visited the Iberia Business Premier GIS Lounge in Mexico City, what were your impressions ?

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