The Banco Safra Lounge São Paulo is located in Guarulhos Terminal 3 and it’s one of three lounges open to Priority Pass members. Interestingly, it used to be the Star Alliance lounge, and the overall decor and design haven’t changed since Banco Safra took over the space.

Banco Safra Lounge São Paulo Access

The Banco Safra Lounge São Paulo is easy to find. From security, it takes around five or six minutes to reach the lounge. It’s located on the mezzanine floor. This means it’s close to the LATAM lounge, American Airlines Admirals Club and the Centurion Lounge São Paulo.

Unlike those lounges, however, the Banco Safra lounge is accessible with a Priority Pass card. We visited at around 8:30am and the lounge was very quiet – it definitely wasn’t difficult to find a seat!

Interestingly, while the lounge is open 24 hours per day, you’re only able to enter with a Priority Pass between the hours of 23:00 and 14:00. Presumably, this is because the lounge is much busier during the evening hours.

It’s also worth noting that although the lounge is located in Terminal 3, you can use it if you’re travelling on an international flight from Terminal 2. This is what we did, since we were travelling with Aeromexico from terminal 2. It takes about 10 minutes each way. It’s worth doing though since the lounges and general ambience of terminal 2 are well below that of terminal 3.

Banco Safra Lounge São Paulo Space & Interior

The Banco Safra Lounge São Paulo occupies a fairly large amount of space. This makes the limited hours of entry for Priority Pass members a little confusing. I can only assume that the lounge has several airline contracts, and this puts a strain on capacity during the evening hours.

Overall, I really liked the design. While I also like the Centurion Lounge São Paulo, I think the Banco Safra space is better. It feels much more open, and while the design, layout and furniture are almost identical to when this was the Star Alliance lounge, it still feels modern. In fact, design-wise, it’s one of the best Priority Pass lounges I’ve visited.

There are lots of different seating options, depending on what you’re looking for. I particularly liked the armchairs with integrated tables.

While no windows look out onto the airport apron or runways, the lounge still feels very bright and open. Views from the windows are limited to the duty-free area below, but it’s better than nothing.

Food and Drinks at the Banco Safra Lounge São Paulo

We visited the Banco Safra Lounge after we’d just been to the Centurion Lounge. I was expecting that the food and drinks options would be different. In fact, since this is a Priority Pass lounge, I was anticipating that there’d be less options than at the Centurion Lounge. To my surprise, the food and drinks on offer were almost exactly the same, and the two lounges clearly use the same caterer. If anything, I’d say the overall layout and presentation is better at the Banco Safra Lounge than it is at the Centurion Lounge.

The buffet area is large, and the options were quite good overall. Hot choices were limited to scrambled egg, chicken sausages and mini burgers. Interestingly, the burgers were branded with the Banco Safra logo (just as they’re branded with the Amex logo in the Centurion lounge). The sole difference being that in the Banco Safro Lounge they were beef burgers, and in the Centurion Lounge they were chicken. Neither were particularly great to be honest!

The cold options, however, were better. These included fruits, cold cuts, sandwiches and various sweet options. If you’re looking to grab something to eat before heading for your flight, the options are good by lounge standards.

There’s a large bar area. Wine is self-serve, but if you want spirits, you need to ask for them. There was also a menu which included some cocktail options.

Additionally, there are fridges next to the buffet area. These were filled with various options including soft drinks and beer. Again, it’s interesting to note that the drinks selection was identical to the Centurion Lounge. There is no difference at all.

Conclusions

Overall, I enjoyed my visit to the Banco Safra Lounge São Paulo. Priority Pass lounges can vary a lot. At the lower end, you have the likes of the Erste Premier Lounge in Prague, where contrary to the name, nothing is premier at all. Fortunately, at the other end of the scale, you have lounges like this one.

The design of this lounge is better than the average Priority Pass lounge and its history as a Star Alliance lounge probably counts for a lot of that. The space is well designed, the food and drinks options aren’t bad as far as lounges go, and it’s certainly a better place to wait for your flight than the main airport terminal – especially if you’re departing from terminal 2!

While the somewhat limited opening hours for Priority Pass members are a drawback, this lounge is just as good as (and arguably better than) the Centurion Lounge São Paulo next door.