With more and more credit cards offering Priority Pass cards as a benefit, allowing airport lounge access at around 50 lounges in the U.S. and 1000 around the world, many popular lounges got crowded and some turned away Priority Pass members due to overcrowding.
Priority Pass cardholders cluster in the US because of the number given out by premium cards, while Priority Pass lounges are disproportionately international. That’s a recipe for overcrowding and during people times you won’t get into the Turkish Airlines lounge at Washington Dulles for instance. Alaska Airlines lounges especially in Seattle were turning away Priority Pass cardholders.
Most Priority Pass lounges do not impose any limit on the number of guests you can bring in with your card. Some cards charge you for the guests you bring in, others do not. Here’s a story of bringing 19 guests into a Priority Pass lounge — free.
On May 1 Alaska adopted a ‘no guest with Priority Pass card’ policy for its lounges to limit overcrowding (and hopefully allow some Priority Pass members to use their lounges).
But with the opening of Alaska’s C concourse lounge in Seattle they relaxed the policy August 7 and allowed Priority Pass members again to bring guests but limited them to two.
Alaska Lounge Pancake Machine
Now the policy has further liberalized allowing Priority Pass cardmembers to bring in two guests or immediate family.
(HT: Doctor of Credit)
OMG TRAVEL HACKING!
…. no, you are walking the grey area that makes it hard for everyone else to enjoy to benefits. 19 people, seriously????
This is why we can’t have “nice things”. Someone always has to take it too far and force a change in policy.
Also, AS is thinking that many with CSR will not re-up for next year (coming up to 1 year for those who jumped on it last year).
And, remember that it is capacity controlled. There are reports of no sign outside and being told inside that PP is not being accepted. Change from previous reports of Sign posted outside.
This is unfortunately on Alaska; as with everything in the corporate world, things are rethought and rethought and rethought again and the anger ends up stemming from confused consumers who think they understand a certain policy, only to find out the policy has changed when they turned around for a moment. You can’t expect a consumer to appreciate any value in a product if that value is constantly influx. Craziness. Pick a rule and settle on it.
I travel very frequently and every time I pass the Alaska Lounge in C terminal at PDX, they’ve got the sign up that says Priority Pass cardholders are not being allowed access due to capacity issues. I’ve logged it at all hours of the day. I made friends with an airport worker and he texts me every day to let me know when the sign is up. There hasn’t been a day this month that the sign hasn’t been up. Every day, at all hours except for when they’re closing. I smell a lawsuit.
This is abuse of a benefit, just because you can do something does not mean you should disregard all norms of common courtesy. This woman should be ashamed of her behavior.