rewrite this title Avianca-TAP Air Portugal Lounge MIA Review: 24/7 Priority Pass Access – NerdWallet

The newly refreshed joint Avianca Airlines and TAP Air Portugal Lounge at Miami International Airport reopened March 4, 2025, giving travelers a new place to get a snack or drink 24/7. Although the food and beverage options are serviceable for Priority Pass members, the amenities are underwhelming for a first class and business class lounge. For a recently renovated space, there’s also a perplexing lack of outlets in the main area and limited seating relative to the lounge capacity.

I was invited to check out the lounge shortly after it reopened. While Avianca Airlines provided access to the lounge, the opinions in this review are my own.

Complimentary access to the Avianca and TAP Air Portugal lounge is provided to Priority Pass Select members, travelers with Star Alliance Gold status and eligible Star Alliance international first class and business class passengers. Additionally, anyone can enter for a $48 daily fee.

As one of only two Star Alliance and Priority Pass lounges in the south terminal, and with a 337-person capacity, the Avianca and TAP Air Portugal lounge will likely have overcrowding issues during peak hours in the late afternoon. The main lounge area was already getting crowded when I visited the lounge around noon.

The Avianca and TAP Airlines lounge is located across from Gate J6 in Concourse J at Miami International Airport.

The lounge shares an entry portal and escalator with the LATAM lounge, which can be found on the right after the first moving walkway past security.

Once you enter, make your way up the escalator and turn left at the LATAM desk. There you’ll find the entrance to the Avianca and TAP Air Portugal lounge.

The lounge boasts an area of 6,559 square feet – most of which is poorly utilized. There’ is seating for 158 people, but the lounge has a 337-person capacity. At full capacity, that’s less than one seat for every two guests. There’s a lot of unused space where additional seating could easily fit.

Although it’s newly remodeled, the lounge vibe is cold and reminiscent of what you’d get from a landlord’s cheap renovation. There’s also a woeful lack of outlets in the open-seating area. This is a huge oversight for a freshly renovated lounge; other new lounges have a power source at most if not every table.

Beyond the open-seating areas, there’s a soulless TV room with two screens and seating for approximately 25 people. Much like the rest of the lounge, the design of this room doesn’t make sense. The chairs are lined around the perimeter of the room and facing one another instead of the screens, which are oddly situated in the middle of the room.

Guests will also find a relaxation room with 10 lounge chairs and darker lighting. The choice of upright chairs with a minimal recline is strange for a room designed for travelers to get some rest.

The lounge has a separate work room that includes a conference table with seating for six people and five workspaces along the wall for pseudo-privacy. Again, this room is poorly designed. Instead of the conference table, they could have continued the bar seating around the perimeter of the room to cater to additional guests, and moved the bigger table into the primary lounge area for group seating.

Travelers with children will find a separate kids’ area and a TV with kids programming. The area has a brightly colored floor with child-sized stools and tables, but no toys or games. Shockingly, there are also at least four uncovered outlets on the walls — a safety hazard and remarkable oversight for a kids play area.

The lounge has restrooms for men and women as opposed to single-occupancy restrooms common in other lounges. There are also no dedicated nursing areas for mothers as you’ll find in other newer lounges.

The men’s room contains four stalls and two sinks, which is probably ample for a lounge of this size.

Food options in the lounge are limited but fine. Guests can choose between soups, salads, sandwiches and other finger foods at two self-serve buffets, with options that rotate between breakfast (midnight to noon) and lunch/dinner (noon to midnight).

Breakfast options included a selection of cold cuts, fruit, cheeses, bread, pastries and cereal. The cold cuts and cheeses were what you’d expect from a standard grocery store.

There are also toasters for heating up bagels and bread.

Lunch options included tuna salad, caprese and BLT sliders.

There were plenty of vegetarian options, including salad, quinoa, hummus and tzatziki.

In addition to the buffet, guests can scan a QR code at each table to choose from a limited selection of hot food items that also change depending on the time of day.

I tried all the items on the QR code menu and preferred the buffet options. These items probably would be on the buffet if they had more space (or used the available space more appropriately). The breakfast potatoes were good, but the arepas (a South American cornmeal cake) were dry and flavorless. The spaghetti, pasta penne and vegetables brought up memories (nightmares?) of what I’d eat in the high -school cafeteria.

The lounge contains numerous self-service beverage options.

Both regular and decaffeinated Baristino coffee is served from two Vienna Coffee machines. I had an Americano and a cappuccino, both of which were watered down with poor flavor.

Water, soda and canned beer are available from the coolers on the wall behind the buffet.

If you’re looking for something a little stronger to wash down the blandness of your arepas, there’s also a selection of self-service liquor and wine.

I have little doubt that overcrowding will be an issue at the Avianca and TAP Air Portugal lounge. Beyond the lack of seating relative to the number of guests that can access the lounge, this space is one of only two options in the south terminal for Priority Pass members and Star Alliance elites and premium cabin passengers.

According to a lounge representative, they typically see the biggest crowds between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. I left the lounge around 1 p.m. and the main seating area was already getting full. However, the staff was friendly and did a good job restocking food on the buffet.

The easiest way to get into the Avianca and TAP Air Portugal lounge at Miami International Airport is through a credit card that offers a Priority Pass Select membership. Many travel cards offer this membership as a benefit for paying your annual fee. You can also pay $48 per day or travel in a premium cabin on any Star Alliance partner out of the south terminal.

The Avianca and TAP Air Portugal Lounge at Miami International Airport is what you should expect from a Priority Pass lounge. The food is serviceable and complimentary drinks make it a good option to save on your bar tab. If you have a Priority Pass Select membership, I’d say it’s worth visiting, particularly outside of peak hours. However, premium cabin passengers or travelers accustomed to nicer lounges, such as the AmEx Centurion Lounge or the Capital One Lounge, may be disappointed.