If you travel a lot, you’re well aware that not all airports are created equal. Some are, of course, huge, while others are tiny. Some have one or more on-site hotels, while others require you to exit airport property to find a place to stay overnight. Some airports also have a better variety of restaurants, lounges and other amenities in them than others.
AllClear Travel Insurance is based in the UK. Their mission is “to help anyone with pre-existing medical conditions to get the insurance they want and need.” They specialize in travel insurance for those over the age of 70, and they are, “passionate about offering value to customers of any age, with any condition.” They continue that their “…heritage in travel insurance means that we help customers travel anywhere in the world.”
Since they insure travelers who go all over the world, AllClear decided to see which airports provided the most luxury. Here’s what they said:
…some airports are certainly better than others when it comes to the level of comfort. With delays, and layovers that can feel like they go on forever, comfort is the top priority – particularly if you’re an over 70’s traveller and hoping to get to your destination feeling relaxed and ready to enjoy your holiday. With all of this in mind, we decided to investigate which of the world’s airports offer the most luxurious experience, giving travellers the utmost comfort before they take to the skies.
AllClear analyzed over 1,800 airports before cutting them down to a shortlist of 69, based on how many had a significant selection of passenger lounges available (they used a minimum but off of 10 lounges as their base). Each airport was then scored on several factors, from how many designer shops it has, to how many 4- and 5-star hotels are located nearby. Each airport was also given a score based on how many lounges are available to passengers, and whether you can find a champagne bar or caviar house to rest at while waiting to board.
Their Methodology:
A list of every airport in the world was collated, before using Loungebuddy to find out how many lounges each airport has available to passengers.
The list was then streamlined to only include airports that offered at least 10 lounges. A variety of data points were subsequently collected for these airports.
Due to discrepancies in airport’s showcasing the full lists of shops available on their websites, several ways of analyzing the amount of designer stores were used. We created a list of 25 of the most found luxury brands in airports and assessed how many of these 25 could be found in each airport using a variety of sources, including articles, press releases, each airport’s official website and data from InMapz, which uses indoor mapping technology to create digital twins of buildings like airports.
The number of 4-star and 5-star hotels in the vicinity of the airport was calculated by using Google’s Hotel Search and eliminating any hotels further than 3 miles away from the airport.
Desk research, InMapz and each airport’s official website was used to discover whether the airport offered champagne bars or caviar houses.
All these data points were then given scores using a weighted formula, to provide an overall ‘luxury’ score out of 100.
All data was. correct as of February 2024.
The Top 5 of the Top 20
These were the top 5 airports for luxury according to AllClear:
1. Dubai International Airport (DBX)
Dubai is well known for its wealth, so it shouldn’t be surprising that, with a luxury score of 83/100, it ranked as the #1 luxurious airport on the list.
DBX boasts some of the world’s best facilities, including a 5-star hotel on site, over 15 lounges available for both First/Business/Elite Status flyers and walk-in/single visit/day rate guests, as well as a spa, health club, indoor gardens, movies, shopping, dining, and free showers.
2. London Heathrow Airport (LHR)
London Heathrow scored just below DBX, with a total score of 82/100.
LHR offers lounges with showers, relaxation rooms, wellness spas, newspapers, and magazines. It also has 8 meeting rooms and private workstations. Shopping and dining options range from chains to high-end.
3. Hamad International Airport (DOH)
Located east of Qatar’s capital of Doha, Hamad Int’l replaced the nearby Doha International Airport as Qatar’s principal and main national airport in 2014. It got a score of 73/100.
DOH offers world class dining and shopping, with opportunities to purchase luxury brands such as Hermès and Montblanc. Multiple 4- and 5-star hotels are also nearby. As Qatar is a Muslim country, DOH offers separated prayer rooms for men and women.
4. Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG)
With a score of 66/100, CDG, the second busiest in all of Europe, was #4 on the list.
This airport offers a wide variety dining opportunities, and if you’d like to shop for high end brands such as Louis Vuitton to Yves Saint Laurent and Bvlgari, CDG is the airport to visit. Several high end hotels are nearby, and transportation into the city is great.
Sydney International Airport (SYD)
Ending out the Top 5 is SYD, with a score of 61/100.
SYD is the world’s oldest continually operating commercial international airport. It offers high end shopping opportunities, with names such as Cartier, Rolex and Armani, as well as multiple lounges, and places to shower.
All the rest
These were just the top 5 airports on AllClear’s list. there are 15 more, representing Asia, Europe and, of course North America (spoilers! JFK and LAX both made the list). Go to this page of AllClear’s website for the rest of the list.
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