Saudia AlFursan Lounge Jeddah

I promised in my Saudia Business Class review that this lounge deserved its own post, so here it is. The AlFursan Flagship Lounge sits on the upper floor of Terminal 1 at King Abdulaziz International, and it’s one of the more ambitious lounge spaces I’ve come across

If there’s one thing that keeps this from sitting alongside the very best flagship lounges I’ve reviewed, it’s not the design, and it’s not the service, it’s the food. More on that shortly.

Getting There and Entry

The lounge sits airside on the upper level, near Gate A26 in Terminal 1’s international departures. It was very easy to find and spot from the lower floor main terminal area.

You can see the Lounge Entrance Screen right behind the Pendulum serving as a a central art piece of the terminal.

Beyond ticket and status-based access, Saudia also sells walk-in day passes if you don’t otherwise qualify, historically priced separately for Business (around SAR345) and First (around SAR575) for 6 hours of access, though it’s worth double-checking current pricing, as these things change.

Priority Pass and credit-card lounge programmes aren’t accepted here specifically, those route instead to the separate Welcome Lounge nearby.

Saudia AlFursan Lounge Jeddah: First Impressions

The entrance alone makes a real statement, befitting a flagship product..

Even outside, there are loungers set up for anyone waiting through check-in, though at around 8pm when I arrived there was barely anyone around to use them.

The gentleman checking me in barely spoke a word to me, but he possessed a friendly welcoming smile.

Design and Layout

At roughly 3,500 square metres with capacity for around 450 guests at a time, this is one of the largest lounges in the SkyTeam network, and it shows the moment you walk in, this is a genuinely sprawling space. There is almost 4/5 different parts to this lounge.

A games room and prayer rooms greet you right at the entrance..

before a bridge connects through to the main body of the lounge…

The first room you reach is circular, built around a grand piano at its centre, with plush leather seating wrapped around it in two rings, inner and outer..

Unlike the self-playing piano found at the Turkish flagship Lounge however, while this one lacked a melody, yet it somehow still adds to the ambient decor

There’s also a resident robot serving refreshments, for anyone too lazy to fetch their own drink. Love it or hate it, this is a part of the world where people have servants to do their chores, and perhaps this could also be a good novelty for their homes !

There are some desserts and Arabic coffee and dates available here, where you DO have to get up and fetch !

The desserts are served by an attendant behind their counters however..

Further into the lounge, a semi-private slumber area opens up, similar in concept to Qatar’s Al Mourjan lounge, just noticeably scaled down.

My one real gripe with the design was here, no proper curtains on the slumber pods, which undercuts the idea of the space a little.

If I’m honest, I dont think I i’d find this a great place to really sleep much the same as Qatar’s version in the original Al Mourjan Lounge, but Qatar improved on that with actual private rooms for the Al Mourjan Garden Lounge ! 

Past that, more general seating areas continue..

There is a good mix of individual loungers, including some booths with quite a bit of privacy, to more social seating areas..

A children’s room is available, before you reach the central dining hall and then a quieter zone tucked right at the back.

There are also dedicated workspaces with computers and printing available for anyone needing to get something done before boarding. 

Most places other than the dining area are relatively quiet and relaxing, but if you want to quietest place with the least footfall/passing traffic, then I’d recommend heading to the big room past the dining area..

Here at the time of my visit was entirely empty !

Food and Drink

This is honestly the one area where the AlFursan Lounge doesn’t quite reach the level of the best flagship lounges out there..

The buffet area was the one exception to the otherwise relaxed atmosphere throughout the lounge too, it was loud and busy, exactly as you’d expect at peak times.

There’s a fresh bread counter which is quite a nice touch!

The spread itself was solid but unremarkable, local biryani, a chicken tikka dish, lamb, and somewhat incongruously, pizza and mac and cheese alongside it. The menu is a rotating one rather than fixed, which likely explains the variation.

There is however a live cooking station serving a specific dish each day.

Worth flagging, this does seem to be a day-to-day thing rather than a fixed weak point, other visitors have mentioned a noticeably stronger spread on their visits, including specialities like chicken kabsa, so treat this as what I found on one evening rather than a fixed verdict on the kitchen.

Where the lounge does pull ahead is dessert and coffee. The Umm Ali, an Egyptian bread pudding, was the standout dish of the entire visit, one I’d happily go back for on its own merits. One thing I thought that was rathe odd, was that drinks-wise there was a couple of selection of juices or soda, but there was no real class, they had plastic and paper cups!

I don’t know about you, but paper cups to me does not seem premium whatsoever !

The food is by no means bad, it’s just a clear step below what you’d get at a Delta One Lounge or one of Qatar’s Business Class lounges, but it easily beats a KLM or most Air France lounges !

Then there is this post-dining area..

It made me wander if this was some kind of fancy shisha area, but don’t get excited it isn’t ! Rather they have ice-creams and desserts you can enjoy here. And then a barista coffee and mocktails selection..

Now this for some people may well bring this lounge to a flagship level, there is an extensive selections of coffee you can enjoy, as you prefer them..

If it was earlier in the day, I’d be having one of those Hazelnut Latte, but I instead opted for a Pomegranate Mocktail, which was quite refreshing.

Showers

The lounge has several shower rooms.

On my visit, it seemed the Business Class ones had a hot water issue. Luckily, there was an attendant there to proactively inform me, rather than finding out when it’s too late. I was rather intrigued that this information was of little concern to a person who went in a minute later. 

They estimated an hour or so to fix water issue, so I asked if there were showers somewhere else at which point I was informed First Class showers are fine.

So I headed that way to ask, rather than leave me stuck, staff escorted me straight over to the First Class shower rooms instead, a small gesture, but one that said a lot about how they handle things when something isn’t quite right.

The shower room was nice and spacious, relatively clean, but not as luxurious as a Delta Lounge !

A Peek at First Class

Since Saudia only operates First Class on a handful of 777s, this section of the lounge was almost entirely empty when I passed through, that evening’s First Class departure to London wasn’t leaving until 2:30am.

The space felt slightly calmer than the main lounge, with the key differentiator being a la carte dining rather than the buffet below.

Other Facilities

Beyond the dining hall, games room, and prayer rooms, there’s a small library corner and a duty free area within the lounge, both handy for killing time before a late departure.

The lounge also caters for families and passengers with limited mobility with dedicated areas.

Faze

Faze, founder of Wander Up Front and Elevate Your Stay, is a London-based travel specialist with a deep passion for aviation. With over 2 million miles flown, he has spent the last 8 years focusing on First and Business class experiences.

Faze provides straightforward, no-frills insights into premium airline products and services, sharing what matters to help travellers make informed choices.

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