One of the drawbacks of flying Southwest is that they do not (yet!) operate their own airport lounges. However, there are many Priority Pass lounges that are accessible when flying Southwest. In this series I am highlighting which lounges you will be able to access while flying Southwest and what to expect from these lounges.
There are two The Club Priority Pass lounges in San Jose airport, located quite close to each other near gates 15 and 8 in Terminal A. Even tough Southwest uses Terminal B, the lounges can be a short walk through the terminal connector, especially if you are departing gates 17-20. Earlier this week I had time to check out lounge near gate 15 before my flight. Overall, it was on par with most The Club locations in the US with the additions of a la carte food and a larger space than most others.
The lounge is located on a mezzanine level but is clearly marked. You go up the stairs and immediately find the entrance. During my relatively short visit, the lounge was not very busy.
Layout and seating
This lounge was essentially broken into 1 quite large open room that had a variety of tables and seats, along with the bar on one end. It also had the buffet style food and drink station. The other area had more individual seats and some workstations at a shared table. Some of the individual seats also had swiveling tray tables which would be convenient for working or eating. Both sides had big windows with plenty of natural light as the lounge spans the entire width of the relatively narrow terminal.
The seats in the smaller section had more options with power outlets. There were some in the main area, but they were definitely less plentiful. However, I did appreciate the wide range of seating types. Overall this lounge is on the large side compared to other locations of The Club.
Food, drinks, and amenities
While the buffet style food was pretty ordinary, this lounge also features a la carte ordering through a QR code on each table. See that menu here. The food was pretty limited (chips and queso and quesadillas with cheese, vegetables or chicken, and a Cali lemon leche cake dessert), but it was nice to offer something on demand. For breakfast, the made to order option is a vegetable omelet with roasted potatoes.
The buffet had two soup options, rice with vegetables, cookies, chips, and a decent salad bar, pretty typical of The Club lounges in the US.
The bar selection was much more extensive with traditional cocktails, signature cocktails, wine, and a nice selection of beers. There was also a fruit infused water station, soda machine, and two coffee machines with a range of different coffee drinks available.
This lounge has restrooms but no showers, along with the other typical amenities such as WiFi and a digital board with flight info.
TL;DR: Southwest flyers at San Jose (SJC) can access The Club near Gate 15 via a short walk from Terminal B. This larger-than-average Priority Pass lounge offers plenty of natural light, a solid bar selection, and a la carte QR code menu to supplement the standard buffet.
