Category Archives for Lounges.
United Airlines has sharply narrowed who can use its Polaris lounges, cutting out most Star Alliance business class passengers while keeping access for its own premium customers and a small group of joint venture partners. The move makes sense if United is trying to control crowding ahead of more premium seats and new premium transcon access—but it’s a blow to Star Alliance business class customers.
Lounges got better, access expanded, and banks taught travelers to treat “free” as something to maximize at all costs — so now people wait in long lines to enter crowded rooms, hoard food, and turn what was supposed to feel premium into something closer to wartime siege.
Alaska’s San Francisco lounge is back in Priority Pass, but access now comes with a mandatory $15 co-pay on top of your visit. The fee is annoying, but the bigger signal may be what it says about Alaska’s shrinking presence at SFO: the airline now has enough spare lounge capacity to start selling access again.
A Priority Pass member says Minute Suites at BWI charged a mandatory $5.30 “cleaning fee” just to enter, and Priority Pass’s response suggested lounges and airport services can tack on extra charges outside its policy. it’s a warning that undisclosed lounge add-ons could turn access into drip pricing.
Toys on the floor, shoes off, blankets spread out, suitcases open — one family turned a Delta Sky Club seating area into something closer to a kids play zone than a shared premium lounge. Children belong in lounges, but when a family’s mess spills beyond its own footprint, the cost gets pushed onto everyone else trying to use the space as a refuge from the terminal.
American Express is adding a new Centurion lounge in Boston, a Sidecar dining outpost in Charlotte, and a major expansion of its Centurion lounge at Dallas-Fort Worth. The catch is that Boston cardmembers will be waiting until 2029, years later than originally expected.
Delta Air Lines is now making guests check bags before entering the dining room at its Delta One lounge at New York JFK, after what staff described as a very serious recent incident. At the same time, passengers buying upgraded drinks are being asked to tip in SkyMiles, adding a tacky new twist to what Delta sells as a premium ground experience.
More than 150 people joined the wait list for the tiny American Express Centurion Studio in Fort Lauderdale, which tells you almost everything about what airport lounge “premium” means now. The space is small, the food is forgettable, and the only thing truly exclusive about it is how many travelers are still willing to queue for it.
American Express is opening a new lounge at Shanghai Hongqiao Airport that has not been publicly announced, with travelers spotting “American Express Lounge Coming Soon” signage in the terminal. The location is especially notable because it appears to be at Hongqiao rather than Pudong, pointing to a strategy focused on premium short-haul business traffic in China rather than primarly international travelers – or Americans.
American Express Centurion Lounges helped redefine what an airport lounge could be, with chef-driven menus, a premium feel, and enough buzz to force airline clubs to raise their game. Now they are too often packed, dated, and serving food that no longer feels remotely worth the crowd.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
