The 10 worst airport lounges in India: 2026

How I built this list: I took every open lounge in India on Lounge Frog with ratings on at least eight metrics, sorted by overall score, and read each record before including it. Closed lounges are out, and so are spas, nap suites and restaurants. That removed two of the lowest scores: the old American Express lounge in Delhi's Terminal 3, which closed at the end of 2025, and Mumbai's Good Times Bar in Terminal 1B, which scores 2.6 but is a bar, not a lounge.

The surprise is where the failures are. Four of the ten are in Bengaluru, and three of the ten are landside rooms in arrivals areas. India's big departure lounges are mostly fine. Its kerbside and arrival lounges are not.

The landside lounges#

1. T1 Lounge (Kerbside), Bengaluru Terminal 1 — 1.3. The lowest score in India by a distance, and no single metric rescues it: it gets a 1 for cleanliness, coffee, crowding, drinks, exclusivity, power, seating, service, Wi-Fi and workspace, and nothing higher than a 2 anywhere. It sits landside outside Terminal 1 Arrivals near Arrivals Gate 13, takes Priority Pass, wants a same-day boarding pass and caps stays at two hours. If you are flying out of Terminal 1, clear security and use the 080 Domestic Lounge (T1, Level 1) opposite Gate 34 instead.

2. 080 Arrival Lounge, Bengaluru Terminal 2 — 1.6. Same story one terminal over. The coffee, Wi-Fi and crowding scores of 3 are the only middling marks. Departing passengers should go airside to the 080 Lounge (Domestic T2) on Level 4, which rates 4.4 with Priority Pass, or the 080 International Lounge at 4.5 if you're flying abroad.

3. Aviserv Lounge (East), Mumbai Terminal 2 — 2.8. Mumbai's arrivals lounge on the east side of Level 2, near Arrival Gate C. Its twin, Aviserv Lounge (West) near Arrival Gate A on the same level, rates 3.3 on fewer ratings (seven metrics, so it isn't eligible for this list either way) with 4s for food, seating, power and service. If you're departing rather than arriving, the Adani Lounge (Domestic T2) rates 4.8 and takes Priority Pass, LoungeKey and DragonPass.

If you're arriving into India and wondering whether these rooms are worth it at all, our piece on using lounges on arrival and the one on landside versus airside lounges go into the tradeoffs.

Bengaluru's two weak airside rooms#

4. 080 VIP Domestic Lounge, Bengaluru Terminal 2 — 2.9. Also called the Courtyard Club, it sits inside the 080 complex on Level 4 of the domestic pier and is sold through Plaza Premium as a paid booking. The awkward thing is that the main 080 Lounge (Domestic T2), the room around it, rates 4.4 with Priority Pass and 5s for coffee, Wi-Fi, power and seating.

10. Air India Maharaja Lounge, Bengaluru Terminal 2 — 3.7. I'm jumping ahead to group it with its neighbor. If you have Priority Pass as well as Air India or Star Alliance Gold access, try both and decide for yourself; on our numbers, the 080 room wins.

The only-lounge-in-town entries#

5. Earth Lounge (Domestic), Kochi Terminal 1 — 3.2. This is a fairness case. It is also the only domestic lounge at Kochi on the site; the international Earth Lounge is in Terminal 3 and only for international departures.

6. Elysian Lounge, Ground Floor, Pune — 3.2. Tied with Kochi; I've put Kochi first because its 1 for drinks is the lowest single mark between them. Pune has a second domestic Elysian lounge on the first floor opposite Gate 2, but it has only two ratings so far, and neither is good.

Chennai and Delhi#

7. Travel Club (Terminal 2), Chennai — 3.5. Chennai's international lounge, on the third floor after immigration.

8. Encalm Privé (Domestic T1), Delhi Terminal 1 — 3.6. The most uneven record on the list. Delhi Terminal 1 has two alternatives, but neither has enough ratings to recommend with confidence: the Priority Pass Encalm Lounge (Domestic T1) has three ratings so far, and the new Centurion Lounge in Terminal 1D, for eligible Amex cardmembers, has one. The well-rated Encalm rooms are in Terminal 3: Encalm Privé (International T3) rates 4.9 and the domestic Encalm Lounge in T3 4.7. That only helps if you're flying from T3.

9. Travel Club (Terminal 4), Chennai — 3.6. Tied with Delhi on score. The better domestic lounge is Travel Club (Terminal 1, Gate 1) at 3.8, which allows three hours and scores 5 for coffee, power, workspace and views. But it is in Terminal 1, so it only works if your flight leaves from there.

What the list says#

My take: If you take one thing from this: in Bengaluru and Mumbai, the lounge you can walk into from the curb is the worst one. Before you rely on that card at a domestic lounge, check that your bank still includes domestic access; our Axis Bank piece covers one recent change.

For the other end of the table, see the 10 best airport lounges in India. The wider regional lists are Asia, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Scores follow our methodology.