Airport lounge crowding is an issue all over the world, not just in the United States. Things have gotten much worse in the U.S. over the years – back in 2018 I described Centurion lounges as so busy nobody goes there anymore, and that was before half hour-long lines to get in and lines for Delta Sky Clubs that stretch down the terminal.
Still, I can remember the old Alitalia Boticelli lounge at the Milan airport with a line dozens deep for a morning coffee connecting after a transatlantic flight. And that was one of the worst lounges I’d been to 20 years ago – there were rarely towels to use with a shower and the showers had clogged drains so they handed out disposable flip flops to use while you freshened up.
Airport lounges are the distinctive domain of the upper middle classes, and with the rise of the new wealthy in China outstripping their capacity, one lounge has a fascinating restriction to keep away the crowds.
Since June 2024, the Chengdu, China Tianfu airport business and first class lounge has had a $2.8 million net worth requirement for China Merchants Bank Golden Sunflower customers, excluding property. (This is the lounge at “TFU” not “CTU” airport.)
American Express and soon Capital One will be limiting complimentary guest access to their own lounges without spending $75,000 on their cards. This isn’t a spending requirement. It’s an assets requirement (it sounds like, on deposit with the bank).
If you’ve bought a first or business class international ticket, you can access the lounge directly. If not, you can pay 600 yuan (US$85) for individual use. For China Merchants Bank cardholders, verifying assets over 20 million yuan is necessary. Lounge access is by reservation only, and cardholders must contact the issuing bank to verify eligibility and complete the booking process.
Not everyone in the lounge will be worth at least $2.8 million – the lounge is also available to premium cabin passengers. But the bank’s Golden Sunflower lounge access benefit is limited at this airport to higher net worth clients and is pitched as limitng crowding.
To access the international First Class Lounge at Chengdu Tianfu International Airport, cardholders must redeem 9 points and verify that their average daily financial assets total at least 20 million yuan. This requirement is currently unique to Tianfu Airport due to high passenger traffic and lounge overcapacity, which led to an adjustment aimed at maintaining service quality.
I have to think that access to this lounge as an economy traveler isn’t enough of an incentive to move nearly $3 million in assets to the bank? Althogh it looks reasonably nice, for what amounts to a shared business lounge.
For those that do qualify, does the gatekeeping benefit those inside, knowing that everyone has either paid for at least business class, paid for entry, or has a significant net worth? This is not a Priority Pass-accessible lounge!
(HT: @crucker)
I call BS. Anyone worth that isn’t going to spend 25 minutes in line, when you can just go to a restaurant.. Time is money..
@Jon – $2.8M is not a lot of money dude. Those poors still would rather save the money from a restaurant.
@Jon – $2.8 million really isn’t all that much wealth. There are roughly 2.4 million American households that fall into that net worth category, and I can assure you that many of them would be willing to wait 25 minutes for lounge access, especially in the absence of a reasonable alternative.
The asset level is high because China has artificially low interest rates. Hence, a very large asset base is required to support the bank paying the customer’s lounge access fees
This isn’t about excluding the poors. It’s about the bank’s P&L.
In the USA, banks rely on high interchange fees. If these were capped at 1%, Amex would have to charge double the annual fee to support its lounge network, plus double the spending threshold for guest access
@ Esquiar — And then AMEX would lose a lot of customers! Their lounges already aren’t worth their absurd annual fees. Double them, and I think they would have to close some lounges. Tying into the earlier discussion, that money could be better used on GLP-1s charged to a no AF card.
Seems like having millions in assets would go against the whole communist philosophy thing.
Quick question: Which ‘China’?
Chengdu, oh, ok, so the ‘mainland.’
@Un, @Unintimidated, @Erect, @E. Jack Youlater, @Jack Mehoff (and all other names you’ve been using), please do recall that the CCP is a dictatorship, and that the PRC and ROC are two different countries, and that Taiwan remains a free, independent country.
Anyway, cool story about the lounge. Also, fun how one of Taiwan’s airlines is called China Airlines; that must upset Pooh Bear, I mean, that’s what Xi said…
In my mind, the definition of wealth is freedom from dependence on a paycheck. Plenty of wealthy people work, but so because they enjoy it, not because they are dependent on it for sustenance.
If you have $2.8M your safe withdrawal amounts to barely $100,000 a year. Is that enough to live off? Not in any major US city. You’re going to have to work. Thus, you aren’t wealthy.
Here’s a simple calculation. Median NYC rent is $5,000 and landlords commonly require 40x income, i.e., $200,000. You’re looking at $5+ million in the bank if you want to be just wealthy enough not to work. Oh, and actually calling yourself wealthy with just $5 million in the bank in NYC is risible.
I knew a guy with $50 million in the bank, self-made by age 40, Princeton alum and very well groomed, well spoken, well mannered. The most emotionally stable person I’ve ever met. He had extraordinary difficulty finding a girlfriend.
Gary, aren’t you a connoisseur of the phrase “revealed preference”? The revealed preference of thirtysomething women indicates clearly that even $50M and a Princeton diploma won’t get you into their pants.
@1990 – the CCP is the finest model of government we’ve observed in all of human history. Look at the number of people it has lifted out of poverty. Look at the rapid pace of infrastructure development in its cities. Look at its innovation in electric cars (I have to mention this because the US bans these cars so Americans can’t see firsthand how far ahead China, under CCP leadership, has come). Taiwan is indeed a province of China, that’s just a fact.
The CCP is indeed not an American-style democracy, and the entire country of China is grateful beyond belief because American-style democracy has brought about a leader with 34 felony convictions and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
@Adam Smith – Oh, I dunno. Air Koryo offers both economy and business class..
@Erect – To call the CCP the finest model of government while ignoring genocidal policies, crimes against humanity, forced labor, organ harvesting, and the silencing of all dissent is appalling. The narrative of poverty reduction and rapid development cannot erase the fact that the regime has strengthened itself through fear, coercion, and oppression rather than by advancing universal human dignity. True progress demands respect for freedom, rule of law, and the inherent worth of every person. The CCP’s record shows a system that prioritizes its own survival above the well-being and fundamental rights of its people.
And just for the record, while it is true that China claims to have lifted nearly 800 million people above the extreme poverty line of $1.90 a day between 1978 and 2020, this statistic is misleading without context. At higher thresholds more relevant to upper-middle-income countries, approximately 237 million Chinese citizens still lived in poverty in 2018. Moreover, many of the poverty alleviation campaigns relied on short-term measures, manipulated data, and often benefited better-off households while leaving the most marginalized behind.
Congratulations, you have been successfully brainwashed.
@ Erect — Simple solution, don’t live in a shithole like New York City, San Francisco, Miami, etc. There are far better and less expensive places to reside. Clearly, if you are renting in NYC for $5,000 a month, you’ll need much more money than $2.8 million to live on for 30+ years. However, if you own a mortgage-free property in the US and have access to low-cost healthcare (i.e., Medicare), outside of a handful of a very few major US cities, you could live well on that amount of savings. If you want to go visit said shitholes, that’s what airplanes are for.
@ Adam Smith — Is China really communist? Perhaps in name only.
@Mike Hunt — Thank you.
@Adam Smith — Bah! The irony is that the CCP is ‘communist’ in name only; rather, it’s late-stage capitalism meets authoritarian totalitarian dictatorship in mainland PRC. As for DPRK, that place is a totalitarian dictatorship without much of an economy; but, hey, they just opened a seaside resort and want tourists… psh. No thanks!
@Gene — I feel personally attacked by your disparaging of NYC, SF, and MIA. I forgive you, because I enjoy your commentary, otherwise. Bah!
@Erect — “You’re looking at $5+ million in the bank if you want to be just wealthy enough not to work.” If only…
Folks, please use some critical thinking. You know American media is full of fake news. “Sandy Hook was staged!” (Fake.) “The 2020 election was rigged!” (Fake.)
Get this, Mr. Hunt. All the negative stuff you said is fake. There are two ways to know that. First, note that unlike the poverty alleviation numbers for which you found objective figures, the “genocide” and whatnot didn’t come with any “receipts.” That should be your first clue something’s off. Second, you know China is open to visitors. You can literally go there and see for yourself. There is no genocide. Not even close.
My friends, please pull your heads out of your rear ends. The CCP is leading China to superpower status.
What’s the President of the United States doing to America? (This one I bet you all know already.)
@ 1990 — Unless you have family roots there, the ONLY reason to live in such cities is if you are banking from your employment that requires you to live there. Once that ends, move to somewhere inexpensive, like the South or Midwest, and near a half decent airport. Spend that bank traveling whenever and where ever you want. It’s like retiring to Portugal or Ecuador or Thailand but in ‘Merica!
Break out the James Brown — “Living in America…”
@Erect, your math is wrong. Completely wrong.
If you have $2.8 million you aren’t letting it sit in a 0 interest account. If you are really, really cautious and want a low beta, you have the money invested in 4% bearing assets, which means annual income of $112,000 without even touching the principle.
Move up a notch to a mix of covered call ETFs, a decent BDC stock like ARCC or MAIN, a reliable MLP like EPD, a few select preferreds (or a preferred ETF), a handful of balanced growth and divvy stocks, and a utility ETF like BUI, and you’ll have a nice portfolio with a beta under .50 and an annual return of anywhere between 6% and 8%. Going with the conservative 6% you are looking at annual income of $168K. And, that is without even touching the principle and allowing for some growth and possible reinvestment.
If you are retired and collecting social security and/or even a small income from annual RMDs (IRA), to the tune of say, $30K, combine that with the $168K and now you’re talking $200+K income – not bad for an over 65 couple (or single) who doesn’t have high health insurance costs to worry about. A savvy retiree over 65 will move to a less expensive location in order to stretch out that $200K and do some traveling or enjoy other hobbies – and that is without ever having to draw down the principle!
I live in a 55+ community and I see a lot of folks in the above category. They live an average or slightly above-average lifestyle, don’t spend above their means, and don’t worry about anything more than opening their eyes the next morning.
@ Erect – Thanks, but I don’t need to “go see for myself” because I already lived in China for over a decade and witnessed firsthand how the CCP operates. What visitors see is a curated façade, while dissenting voices are silenced, jailed, or disappeared. The evidence of atrocities is overwhelming: the UN has concluded abuses in Xinjiang may constitute crimes against humanity, satellite imagery confirms vast detention camps, birthrates in Uyghur areas have collapsed by nearly 50 percent, and multiple governments have formally recognized the repression as genocide. Survivor testimonies, peer-reviewed research, and independent investigations all align, yet you dismiss them as fake. Claiming that tourists can’t “see genocide” is absurd. Potemkin villages have always hidden state crimes. I saw the censorship, the fear, and the self-censorship people endure daily. Having lived there, I know exactly how the CCP masks its oppression, and I refuse to whitewash it..
@Mike Hunt, okay, I know recreational drug use is very popular among Americans from their teenage years, causing brain rot and inability to perform basic critical thinking tasks.
That must be why Chinese students routinely outperform Americans and ace the SAT, GRE, etc despite not even being native speakers of English.
Let me lay it out in front of you. What you just posted was completely self-contradictory. You claimed visitors see a “facade” with no genocide. Then you claimed, as a visitor, you saw genocide. Yeah, that’s a literal logical contradiction.
Rehab can help if you had, or have, a drug abuse problem.
My point stands. People don’t have to believe you or me or other randos on the internet. They can book a flight to China.
@Erect – Your deflection into tired stereotypes about Americans and drugs is just an ad hominem dodge, not an argument. Chinese students’ academic performance has absolutely nothing to do with whether the CCP commits human rights abuses, and bringing it up only highlights your inability to address the actual evidence. There is no contradiction in what I said. Visitors see a curated façade because the regime carefully controls what is visible, but living there for over a decade allowed me to see beneath that façade: the censorship, the surveillance, the fear, and the testimonies from people directly affected. I witnessed the Yellow Umbrella protests up close and personal, but you cannot “visit” a black jail or an internment camp on a guided tour, just as a tourist in the Soviet Union wouldn’t have casually stumbled upon a gulag. As for your “book a flight” line, the CCP does not give free rein to investigators or journalists; those who try to dig deeper are harassed, deported, or detained. My experience aligns with independent reporting, UN findings, satellite imagery, survivor accounts, and peer-reviewed research. Dismissing all of that as “brain rot” says more about your unwillingness to engage with facts than it does about me.
Mr. Hunt, you appear to have given into “alternative facts” (aka falsehoods) and succumbed to the idea that because others say the same things you do, you and they must be correct. Let me remind you a crapton of Americans believed in Sandy Hook or election rigging conspiracies. That doesn’t make them remotely factual.
No country gives “free rein” to journalists. We literally saw a CNN reporter arrested in Minneapolis, i.e. in home territory, on a live broadcast during the 2020 summer protests for racial justice. And that arrest was carried out by a tiny municipal police force. Federal law enforcement wields way more power. The White House has literally and explicitly barred certain journalists.
But let me be clear. You don’t have to be a journalist to observe facts, right?
Everybody else reading this: go to google flights and book a ticket. Do this early because you’ll probably have to apply for a visa. Bon voyage!
@Erect – Comparing the well-documented atrocities committed by the CCP to fringe conspiracy theories like Sandy Hook denial is a blatant false equivalence. The evidence of systemic abuses in Xinjiang and beyond is extensive and verifiable. Multiple democratic governments have independently reviewed the facts and formally recognized China’s actions as crimes against humanity or genocide. This is not hearsay; it is a consistent, evidence-based record.
Pointing to a CNN reporter briefly detained during U.S. protests is a hollow diversion. In America, that journalist was released within hours, the incident aired live, and it sparked accountability. In China, journalists are imprisoned for years, deported, or permanently silenced, entire outlets are banned, and even mild online dissent can result in prison time. The scale and intent of state censorship in China are incomparable to isolated incidents in open societies.
Finally, suggesting that a casual tourist can “just visit” and see the truth is naïve. Foreign visitors are restricted from sensitive regions. Obviously a stroll down the Bund or a fireworks show in Guangzhou isn’t going to show any visitor what is happening elsewhere, and the independent evidence is overwhelming for anyone willing to look beyond CCP propaganda.
@ 1990 — FWIW, I have tried to like NYC, but its just too dirty for my tastes. Permanent scaffolding, horrible roads, horrible traffic, etc. The subways are incredible, but also dirty and crowded. Everything is overpriced and everyone is always trying to scam you, from hotels to taxis to ubers to self-serve kiosks in EWR. Just tipping in NYC for 30 years might require $2.8 million…
I have been to a bunch of lounges in China in the last couple of quarters and also around 20 years ago. Then or now, I have yet to seen one there that would even incentivize me to put l $1000 equivalent into any Chinese bank account.
Is that $2.8 million Yuan or $2.8 million USD? Because $2.8 million Yuan is about $400,000 USD
@Erect
If I have $2.8 million in the bank and I’m turning around “barely” $100,000 a year I’m moving to any of the dozens of highly developed international cities where you can comfortably live off half that before I’m ever working to 5 million in any “major” American city where the quality of life is in perpetual free fall and you have to deal with the kinds of low-class people who think you need 5 million dollars to be wealthy.
I think everyone’s favorite part about “Erect” should be that he believes Chinese accounting.
BoomerToons doesn’t have $2.8m yet looks down on those with $5m. Ever heard about crawling before you can walk?
The accounting comment is just completely laughable. You don’t need to know the first thing about accounting to know that lots of people who used to be poor are now rich, and that’s thanks to a government they entrusted to do exactly that.
Outside China, the major American cities of NYC (Tribeca and West Village primarily), SF (excluding the Tenderloin, obvs), and Miami (Brickell only), are the finest places to take up residence. Quality of life is completely unparalleled as long as you can afford it (and yeah you’d want way more than $5 million, Boomer lacked the reading comprehension to know I was setting a very low floor for a very specific scenario).
Boomer is the low class person he hates.
@Erect – Ah, I see you chose not to respond to me. Probably the wisest move you’ve made so far. Sadly, your CCP handlers will no doubt be furious that you lost the debate here. I can only hope your family won’t go hungry this month because of your poor performance. But please be careful. Too much more of this and you just might earn yourself a one-way ticket from CCP shill to expendable liability. A risk of the trade I suppose.