Until relatively recently I did not spend much time in airports. Traveling a lot less, and with the very limited vacation time that US employment typically allows, I was focused on buying flights that had few, if any, layovers. Additionally I would tend to be arriving at the airport rather too close to departure time. I did not need a lounge back then. Now, averaging a flight per week, I focus on value instead of speed, and often have a layover between flights. In addition I am very seldom in a hurry, and am content to arrive at the airport early. Lounges are now a very welcome amenity.
I enjoy the relative calm of a lounge – the drinks, and sometimes surprisingly good food. Clean bathrooms, (though always too few), sometimes a shower, solid WiFi and sometimes a useful good old fashioned printer help to make transportation more refreshing. During particularly long layovers I tend to bounce between lounges (four is the current record) for changes of scenery and offerings.
Drinks? Most, though obviously not most in the Middle East, have a basic selection of alcoholic beers and some wine. Most are self service, while rougly a quarter have a dedicated bartender. Many have a wide range of choices, and a few have really great premium offerings (‘I wasn’t really planning on having cognac for breakfast, but what the heck’). Most drinks are complimentary, some lounges charge for premium (aka ‘real’) beer and spirits, and outliers (eg Curaçao) grant you two chits for freebies.
I confess that I do not understand the lounge business model. They vary drastically in quality, even within a particular brand. Some are Airline specific, some are airline alliance branded. I seldom have access to these, because I will never have the required ‘status’ on an airline. Some appear to be leased by loose groups of unrelated airlines, increasing numbers are independent and dedicated lounge operators, and in at least one case appeared to be operated by the baggage handling entity. Lounges are as far as I can tell are completely randomly located. In some important international hubs there may be none to be found, and yet a modest regional field might have two or more. My greatest access to good lounges has been in Istanbul and Johannesburg).
Nearly all lounges are located ‘skyside’ after security, but a very few are ‘landside’. Landside is of little value, since you still have to build in ‘uncertainty time’ to get through security and emigration. My favorite recent landside (in Mbabane?) had a dedicated internal access to skyside.
Getting to the punch line – buy a membership in the PriorityPass program for either $299 or $429, based on your predicted travel (or much better still get it free when you sign up for the Chase Sapphire Reserve, Amex Platinum, or a host of other credit cards). PriorityPass gives you fee free access to many (1,400?) lounges around the world. Based on my utilization (three glasses of wine and some food and comfort are worth about $60 a visit to me) I value this benefit to be worth about $1,200 a year.
Be aware though that wherever you go with PriorityPass, you are a second class citizen. Some locations have restricted hours during which members are permitted to visit, and if the lounge is near to full capacity, PriorityPass members are the first to be turned away. The lounges available will not be the airline specific ones (Turkish Air) or the alliance ones (Skyteam). Most often they are the independents (with names like Aspire and Global Premium) or the mongrel pack. And they vary wildly in quality.
To add more frustration Prioritypass have recently added a reservation system whereby you can save a spot, for a fee (of course). Clearly what happened is that they made deals with too many credit card companies, the lounges tend to be packed, and they are trying to generate revenue on a ‘per use’ model.
Yet another variation is a Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse, where Prioritypass members can buy (for $35) access, then have an opportunity to pay for their drinks….
As discussed on the airline loyalty page I did finally cave and throw some money and effort at United Airlines. One of my choices is the spendy United Club credit card that gets me into their numerous lounges in the US. In my first year I stepped in to six of these lounges. Those lounges have been quite attractive, the food has been good. Every one of them, though, had too few bathrooms for the population, and all of them were crowded. And so now United has tightened up the rules for access, and there may be a waiting list. Update: Dumped this card for the very valuable and modestly priced United Explorers card, which hands me passes for two visits a year.
Chase is currently building out their own very modest international network of Sapphire lounges. I found one in PHX, which had a beautiful outdoor deck so that I could breathe JP4 instead of recycled air. It is now closed!
I recently threw in the towel and picked up an Amex Platinum card. One of the benefits is access to the Centurion lounges, as well as a few Star Alliance partner airlines lounges. I reviewed my past travel and realized that there are lounges in enough of my regular airports (mostly in the US) to make this worthwhile.
Know that while there is, for example, a Centurion in LAX there is a solid chance that it will be in a terminal that is either not accessible or too far away for you. They have a baby brand called Escape Lounges. The one in Reno is roughly the size of a NYC apartment (with a similarly scant food inventory). On my first four Centurion visits I was waitlisted three times. Additionally, the worldwide Alliance partner lounges have their own restrictions (‘oh, no access for US bound flights’).
My most important observation though is that there are many, many airports where you will have no lounge access. My favorite recent example was in the huge Bahrain airport, where the Amex Platinum was welcome….but only if it has been issued in the Middle East!
In approximately 100 recent transits through airports ranging from huge to tiny, 50 had no lounges that I could access (from huge JFK Terminal 5 to tiny São Tomé). Of the 50 where I did have some access 10 were really ratty lounges that I left immediately, 25 were at least decent with WiFi and some food and drink. Roughly 10 were great, with good comfort and selection of amenities, and the last 5 were outstanding lounges that I was fully prepared to live in if they let me (Incheon, South Korea). My conclusion is that Prioritypass is a valuable membership (especially if it is a free perk of my credit card), but I am fully aware that it will deliver only about a third of the time.
Ps why are there no wastebins in airport lounges?