Shanghai Airport Lounges 2026: Every Lounge at Pudong (PVG) and Hongqiao (SHA), and How to Get In

Shanghai Pudong (PVG) lists 16 Priority Pass lounges across Terminals 1 and 2 and its two satellite halls, and Hongqiao (SHA) adds six more. The number is not the hard part. The hard part is that Pudong's layout locks you into one zone after security, so the right lounge depends entirely on your gate.

Most airport lounge guides start with the food. Shanghai deserves a different opening, because at Pudong the thing that most often goes wrong is not a disappointing buffet, it is a traveler walking to a lounge that turns out to be on the other side of an automated people mover ride. Pudong is effectively four departure zones stitched together, and a lounge listing that ignores that structure will send you somewhere you cannot reach.

*Images are illustrative and may differ from actual lounges and airport facilities.

Why Shanghai Lounges Are Busier Than They Were

The pressure on these lounges is new, and it comes from China's visa-free push. Pudong passed 30 million inbound and outbound travelers by October 27, 2025, up 19.8 percent year on year and reaching that mark two months earlier than the year before.^[4] Foreign nationals accounted for more than 8.4 million of them, a 41 percent jump, with Japan, South Korea, and the United States sending the largest numbers.^[4] Roughly 2.3 million of those arrivals came in visa-free, which is more than half of all foreign entries, and applications under the 240-hour transit rule ran 76 percent ahead of the old 144-hour scheme.^[4]

In practice that means a lot of people are passing through Pudong on a stopover rather than a full trip, often with a long gap to fill. If the transit rules are what brought you here, our 240-hour visa-free transit guide covers eligibility and the stay areas, and the broader China travel guide handles mobile payments and the practical friction that catches first-timers.

Understand the Layout Before You Pick a Lounge

Pudong has two main terminals plus a satellite building that opened on September 16, 2019. The satellite is a single H-shaped structure of about 620,000 square metres, split into halls S1 and S2, and it is the largest building of its kind anywhere.^[5] S1 works with Terminal 1 and serves China Eastern, Shanghai Airlines, and other SkyTeam carriers. S2 works with Terminal 2 and serves Air China, China Eastern, Juneyao Airlines, and members of Star Alliance and Oneworld.^[5]

Here is the part that matters for lounges. You still check in, drop bags, and clear security and immigration in T1 or T2. If your boarding pass shows a gate starting with G or H, you then ride an automated people mover to the satellite, a trip of about two and a half minutes.^[5] The satellite carries 90 boarding gangways, which lifted the share of flights boarding by bridge from around half to roughly 90 percent, and it holds more than 28,000 square metres of retail including nearly 10,000 square metres of duty free.^[5]

So treat Pudong as four lounge zones, not one airport. Check your gate letter first, then choose from the lounges in that zone. Riding out to the satellite early is usually the better move if your gate is there, because the satellite lounges are typically quieter than the main terminal ones.

Pudong Lounges, Zone by Zone

A quirk worth knowing: Chinese airports usually number their lounges by the nearest gate rather than naming them, so you are looking for signs like "No. 39" instead of a brand. Priority Pass currently lists the following at PVG.^[1]

• Terminal 1: China Eastern Airlines No. 35 and No. 36 lounges, plus VIP Lounge 9 and VIP Lounge 39.^[1]
• Terminal 2: China Eastern No. 77, Juneyao Air No. 72 (listed as open around the clock), Juneyao Air No. 86 (05:30 to 23:00), VIP Lounge 69, and VIP Lounge 73.^[1]
• Satellite Hall S1: China Eastern Airlines No. 101 and No. 137, plus VIP Lounge 120 and VIP Lounge 135.^[1]
• Satellite Hall S2: China Southern Lounge 152, VIP Lounge 170, and VIP Lounge 190.^[1]

The China Eastern lounges at Terminal 2 and in S1 tend to be the most substantial, which follows from China Eastern using Shanghai as its home hub. The independently run VIP lounges are more variable. Expect a comfortable seat, hot and cold drinks, wifi, and a modest hot buffet rather than a showpiece. Showers are not standard, so if that matters, confirm before you commit to a particular lounge.

Hongqiao (SHA): Smaller, Simpler, Mostly Domestic

Hongqiao sits much closer to the city and handles mainly domestic flights plus a short list of regional international routes. It is a far easier airport to navigate, with no satellite complication. Priority Pass lists six lounges: in Terminal 2, the China Southern Sky Pearl Club Lounge V26, the Juneyao Air V6 Lounge (05:30 to 22:00), and the V1 VIP Lounge; in Terminal 1, the China Eastern V01 International Lounge, VIP Lounge V03, and AVINEX VIP.^[2]

If you are connecting between the two airports, budget properly. They sit on opposite sides of the city and the transfer is a genuine cross-town journey, not a terminal change. Travelers on a tight domestic-to-international connection often find the metro more predictable than a taxi at rush hour.

Four Ways to Get In

Priority Pass. With 16 lounges at Pudong and six at Hongqiao, this is the widest net in Shanghai for travelers without elite status.^[1][2] Plenty of premium travel cards bundle a membership, and our Priority Pass vs LoungeKey vs DragonPass comparison is worth a read before you assume your card covers China, because network coverage in mainland China varies more than it does in Europe or North America. You can also browse the Priority Pass network directly.

Alliance status. Both major alliances are well represented here. Star Alliance Gold members get lounge access regardless of their cabin, and may bring one guest travelling on a Star Alliance flight that day.^[7] On the SkyTeam side, which is the bigger presence at Pudong given China Eastern's hub, first and business class passengers on international SkyTeam flights get in free, and Elite Plus members can enter up to three hours before departure with one guest on the same flight.^[8]

Business class. The simplest route. A long-haul business ticket on China Eastern, Air China, or a partner carrier includes the relevant lounge, and on international itineraries this is generally the most comfortable option available at either airport.

Paying at the door. Walk-up entry is straightforward in Shanghai and reasonably priced by global standards. Plaza Premium lists The Hub in the landside area of Pudong Terminal 2 from about 150 yuan (10:00 to 22:00), the Juneyao Air No. 86 lounge from roughly 160 yuan, the Juneyao Air No. 72 lounge from about 260 yuan, and a China Southern lounge from around 200 yuan.^[3] At Hongqiao, the Juneyao Air V6 lounge starts near 180 yuan.^[3] That lands well under what a comparable pass costs at most Western hubs, and our day pass guide puts those numbers in context.

Practical Notes That Save Time

• Read the gate letter before you walk anywhere. G and H gates mean a people mover ride to the satellite, so factor that in rather than settling into a lounge in the main terminal.^[5]
• Sort connectivity on arrival. Lounge wifi in China sits behind the same restrictions as everywhere else in the country, so if you rely on particular apps or services, arrange your data solution before you land rather than counting on the lounge network.
• Carry a passport, not just a card. Chinese lounges routinely check passport and boarding pass together, and staff may photograph or scan the boarding pass on entry.
• Check power bank rules. The Civil Aviation Administration restricts power banks without China Compulsory Certification labelling on domestic flights, which is worth knowing before you plan on charging in the lounge and boarding with the pack.^[9]
• Manage expectations on food. Buffets lean local, with congee, noodles, and dumplings more common than a Western spread. That is a feature rather than a shortcoming, though it surprises travelers expecting the format described in our best lounges in Asia roundup.

What Changes Next

Pudong is midway through a phase-IV expansion that will eventually add a third terminal south of the existing buildings. The first phase of the flight zone project finished its main structural work at the end of 2025 and was scheduled to begin operating in the first half of 2026, with the second phase moving into full construction.^[6] The terminal itself is a later milestone, so the lounge picture above should hold for a while, but expect airline lounges to shuffle as gates and alliances get reassigned when T3 approaches opening.

The Bottom Line

Shanghai is unusually well supplied with lounges, with 16 Priority Pass options at Pudong and six at Hongqiao.^[1][2] The trick is not finding one, it is picking one you can actually walk to. Look at your gate letter, work out whether you are in a main terminal or the satellite, and choose within that zone. Do that, and a long visa-free stopover in Shanghai becomes a comfortable one. If you are still choosing a card for the trip, our lounge access credit card roundup and the airport directory are good next stops.

Information is reviewed periodically and was accurate at the time of writing. Lounge operators, opening hours, day pass prices, and network participation change frequently, and lounges in mainland China are relabelled more often than most. Always verify access policies with the lounge operator, your card issuer, or the airport before travel.