Exclusively Mabuhay

Energetic, exhausted, loners, obtrusive, coy and flamboyant travelers now have a lounge where they can exclusively be on their own. Philippine Airlines' new Domestic Mabuhay Lounge at the NAIA Centennial Terminal 2 is a sanctuary cloistered from migratory humans airport terminals are known for.

The average airline passenger often has plenty of time to get to know the endless spirit-crushing ambience of airports. Sunlit-ceilings gleam on grim, nameless faces. Cold iron seats line antiseptic hallways of stainless columns in a fusion of boredom, anxiety and restlessness. Sleek and neoteric the Centennial Terminal might be, yet it leaves out an expedient balm travelers need most - warm friendship - no matter how fleeting.

The new Mabuhay Lounge is a welcome sight - bright, cozy, flowing with food and equipped with the latest technology.

While the Mabuhay Lounge has been a byword in local travel circles when the flag carrier built the facility for domestic passengers in the early 1990s, it was refurbished last month into an elegant, exclusive oasis of calm hitherto missing in domestic air travel.

The lounge was first located at the old Manila Domestic Terminal and moved to Centennial Terminal 2 in 1999. Those who are familiar with the old lounge will be "wowed" when walking into the redesigned version. Gone are serious gray color schemes, clunky accessories and cramped layout. Designers Cynthia and Ivy Almario once called it a "nightmare."

After three weeks of renovation, the Almarios transformed the bland into the grand. In are buoyant taupe and beige tones, functional furniture, creative layout and art-gallery-type framed photographs of Philippine destinations. Beyond aesthetics, it has free-flowing food, Wi-Fi internet access, telephones, fax machines and personal computers.

Lounge use is exclusive. Open from 4AM to 8PM, the lounge is available only for business class travelers and elite, premier elite and million miler members of the Mabuhay Miles frequent flyer program. Making a distinction, elite cardholders have 25,000 accumulated flight miles in a year, premier elite have 45,000 accumulated flight miles and million milers have one million flight miles.

So strictly exclusive is the lounge that elite and premier elite members are required to have their cards checked against expiry dates before they can walk into the oasis.

PAL president Jaime L. Bautista described Mabuhay Lounge as "the best PAL has to offer." Endearing yes, but simply stepping into the lounge, PAL need not say more.