The Escape Lounge at MSP is a better-than-average Priority Pass lounge that offers a decent variety of food but suffers from overcrowding.

Location of the Escape Lounge MSP

The Escape Lounge at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (MSP) is located in Terminal 1, near the entrance to the E gates. This terminal is near where Air Canada, Alaska, American, and United operate.

The Escape Lounge is up on the second floor. To get there, you’ll want to either take the elevator up to the second floor or take the nearby stairs. This is just around the corner from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.

Once up on the second floor, you can’t miss it. This is almost the only thing up on the second floor when going up these stairs, making it easy to find.

Access rules

This lounge is open daily from 4AM to 9PM.

There are several ways to access an Escape Lounge in the United States:

• Customers holding an American Express-branded credit card (Centurion, Platinum, Business Platinum, and Corporate Platinum) get access for themselves + 2 guests
• Delta Reserve and Delta Reserve Business cardholders get access for themselves when flying on a Delta-marketed flight same-day
• Priority Pass members
  • Priority Pass members can pre-book their visit to guarantee access but it will cost you just under $10 to do it
• Dragonpass members
• TAV Passport Card Members get access for themselves + 1 guest
• Day passes are available for $45/person (in advance) or $60/person (at the door)

You will only have lounge access starting 3 hours before your flight. Technically, the rules only permit American Express cardmembers to access Escape Lounges on a connection of more than 3 hours before your flight.

Centurion members also get a glass of sparkling wine on entry because they’re fancy, I suppose.

Lastly, it should be noted that children under 3 can access the lounge for free. That’s more generous than the usual “under 2” rule you tend to see elsewhere.

Seating at the Escape Lounge MSP

While the Escape Lounge is pretty much the only thing up here on the second floor, there’s not enough space for everyone. That’s a bit unfortunate, but it is what it is. There is some variation to the seating, but only to the extent that there’s tables for one or tables for two. If you have a bigger party, there aren’t that many options in this lounge.

Some of the seating has a view of the tarmac, which can make for some decent plane-spotting opportunities.

The hardest place to find a seat was in the dining area between the buffet and the bar.

As for the views of the outside, you’ll have a view mostly of the E gates but you can also see some F gates in the distance at some parts of the lounge.

The food in the Escape Lounge MSP

Thankfully, the food in the MSP Escape Lounge is pretty decent. I’m comfortable calling it a notch below what you would expect in a Centurion Lounge. Certainly not comparable–but not that bad in comparison. Where this Escape Lounge has the Centurion Lounge beat is if you’re looking for something a bit more standard. Centurion Lounges tend to have unique flavors that might not appeal to a wide range of tastes. Things are a bit more standard at Escape Lounges, which is better if you have guests you’re bringing along who might be a little pickier.

Since this is a buffet, I’ll let the pictures mostly speak for themselves. Like all buffets, the goal here isn’t to find award-winning food but to satisfy your cravings without feeling like you ate slop. And this one works in that regard.

Hidden away from the rest of the food are the desserts. In fact, if you didn’t explore the lounge, you might not even know the desserts existed! After entering the lounge, head to the right and you’ll find them hiding behind a wall. Given how full the dessert trays seemed to be, I’m guessing not everyone knew about them.

Drinks

Scattered throughout the lounge are a few non-alcoholic drink stations. Take this one, for example, which has coffee, tea, and soda.

In a corner near the bar is this station that houses both iced water and lemonade. Believe it or not, I pretty much exclusively drank lemonade while at this lounge. I don’t need to drink alcohol at every lounge visit, now do I?

And the most popular place to get drinks was at this bar, which was near the rear exit of the lounge. I managed to snap a picture of it during a rare moment where no one was there.

This lounge has no bathrooms…

So about that rear exit to the lounge… if you read the sign that’s posted on that door, you’ll find it says the following:

To re-enter the lounge, please use the front entrance.

But the restroom sign is also next to that door. That’s right–the Escape Lounge MSP has no bathrooms. Oops. Now, when I was checking into the lounge, I saw someone walk by and said they were returning from using the restroom. I don’t know that I would trust the lounge attendant to remember everyone’s faces but this person seemed to have left all belongings in the lounge when using the restroom.

It’s rare, but sometimes lounges don’t have their own bathrooms. I’d think a basic requirement of a lounge is to have its own bathroom. I’m not looking for something better than what the airport standardly has (though that helps) but more for convenience. Have a few drinks and you’ll need to use the restroom. Having to exit the lounge and re-enter isn’t exactly a premium experience.

At the very least, the restrooms are just outside this exit. It’s not like you need to go wandering around the second floor to find them. And now you know why I say the lounge is almost the only thing on this floor. The other honor goes to the public restrooms up here. Why not just enclose this for lounge use?

Recommendation: Yes, but expect crowding

This lounge has similar problems to your average American Express Centurion Lounge–except that this lounge doesn’t have the same level of glamour that you might come to expect. The crowding issues seem obvious–so many credit cards hand out Priority Pass membership like it’s candy. Sure, you get priority access if you have an eligible American Express card but it can still be tough to find a spot to sit.

That said, our recommendation is based on the assumption that you’re looking for something other than a Delta Sky Club at MSP. Maybe you’re flying Delta but protest getting a credit card to give you access. So, instead you find yourself at this Escape Lounge. You could certainly do worse, especially with Priority Pass within the United States.

We wouldn’t suggest you dedicate a lot of time to staying in this lounge. But, we’d peg it as an above-average Priority Pass option within the US and understand if you wind up here between flights.

Have you visited an Escape Lounge yet?

Suggested reading:

• Is Priority Pass Still Worth The Effort?
• The Best Credit Cards for Airport Lounges for Families
• Keep or Cancel: How to Handle Too Many Credit Cards