Fuerteventura airport lounges

At €45.95 for up to three hours, it pays its way when you have the time to use it. Aena lays on catering with kosher, halal, gluten-free and special-diet options, and Priority Pass lists standard alcoholic drinks among the facilities. Add a reception desk, flight information screens, television, digital press, free wi-fi, work areas with computers and tablets, a children's area and a private terrace, and it beats a café table on a busy afternoon.

The sums for a family are kind. Two adults and two children aged 6 to 10 come to €134.40, and under-6s go in free. For two adults it is €91.90, which a meal and a few drinks each at the airside bars soon approach, and the lounge adds a quiet seat and fresh air.

It is less worth it on a short connection or a tight check-in. Entry opens three hours before your scheduled departure, and on a flight to the UK or another non-Schengen country you still have passport control to clear after you leave.

There are three ways in. The simplest is to buy entry yourself on Aena's VIP services site or in the Aena app: €45.95 for adults, €21.25 for children aged 6 to 10, nothing for under-6s. Aena asks travellers to buy only through its official channels. If you give your flight date and time when you buy, the pass is good for that day; leave them out and it is valid for three months, subject to space.

Second, your ticket may already include it. Aena's lounge rules admit passengers whose fare class allows access and holders of authorised programmes or cards, so check your airline's list before you pay.

Third, Priority Pass. The Jable lounge is on its list, and members show their card or the digital card with a boarding pass for same-day travel. Whichever way you come in, you register at the welcome desk, and a guest you bring must show ID and register too.

Aena gives the lounge's hours as 05:30 to 22:00, which covers the first wave of morning departures. Priority Pass, though, lists 06:00 to 21:00 for its members every day of the week. If you are relying on your card for one of the first flights of the morning or a flight after 21:30, buy an Aena pass as a back-up or ask at the welcome desk. Aena's rules allow entry from three hours before departure and say to ask about charges at the desk if you want to go in earlier.

For a dawn start, the Fast Lane opens at 05:45 and costs €11.10 on the same Aena site; children aged 0 to 5 go through free with an adult who has a pass.

Yes. Aena lists a children's area, which is not a given in an island lounge, and the terrace gives children room before a few hours in a seat. Under-6s go in free, children aged 6 to 10 pay €21.25 and from 11 they pay the adult price. On Priority Pass, children under 5 are admitted free, and under-18s must be with an adult.

Aena's house rules ask parents to keep children from running, jumping or playing ball games, and never to leave them alone in the lounge. Pets are welcome if they stay in their travel carriers.

Aena may limit entry for operational reasons, and when the lounge is at capacity it gives priority to people who bought through its website or app or hold a booking it has confirmed. Priority Pass also warns that access may be restricted when space runs short. On a busy summer afternoon, buying ahead is the safer route.

Without the lounge, Floor 1 has two open-air terraces with food, drink and a smoking area. Enrique Tomás carves Iberian ham, Toro Tapas serves tapas and a glass of sherry, and Oasis Bar pours cocktails on a terrace from 08:00 to 21:00. Wherever you sit, watch the screens: Aena makes no announcements about boarding gates or gate changes here.