Category Archives for Lounges.
Orlando International Airport’s new terminal C has only been open for about six weeks. The new Plaza Premium lounge in the terminal is now open, and it looks fantastic.
Plaza Premium lounges can be accessed with American Express Platinum and Centurion cards and Capital One Venture X cards can access the lounge, too. It’s also available as a pay-in.
Passengers look for a way to escape the chaos of the airport. And more passengers who are traveling have access to lounges than ever. The nicer the lounge, the longer passengers stay there. They make an effort to visit, and they take advantage of the food and the libations.
Even when lounges do their best to limit access, to reduce crowding, that just attracts the passengers who had been staying away because the lounges were so crowded. This was true to some extend before the pandemic. So what’s the issue now?
Back in August American Airlines teased a new design template for its Admirals Clubs, starting with the new club opening on the E (regional jet) concourse at Washington’s National airport.
We got clues to what American was thinking design-wise when they shared renderings last year of the delayed new Austin club. It’s a total departure from the current design template that’s most generously described as sterile and institutional. It’s gorgeous and feels genuinely high end. In other words it feels too nice for American Airlines and I’m struggling to know what to make of it.
Capital One is announcing a new lounge concept, in addition to its pipeline of Capital One lounges. The first two airports will be New York LaGuardia and Washington National.
These will be called Capital One Landings, and will be culinary-focused. José Andrés Group is designing a food and beverage menu focused on Spanish-style tapas.
For the next week a Qantas Club membership is half off. That means it will will cost ~ US$251 (AU$300 for the membership plus AU$99 joining fee).
Qantas Club membership includes American Airlines Admirals Club access when flying American.
Getting into a Delta Sky Club these days requires waiting in line like its the U2 Joshua Tree tour in 1987 or a Best Buy Black Friday doorbuster. At New York JFK terminal 4 things are even worse: the China National Highway 110 traffic jam of 2010, which is to say being a Sky Club member in 2022 is akin to Beatlemania – or living your life queueing as though you’re French.
Delta customers have clearly gotten the word that if they want a seat in the club, they need to show up at the airport early, even before the Sky Clubs open.
The lounge will be 5200 square feet on the A concourse. The A concourse is also home to the Air France and Virgin Atlantic lounges, though all concourses are connected airside and the A concourse connected to the B side with the Lufthansa, Turkish, and British Airways lounges.
It will include a 1,000 square foot bar/lounge, over 900 square foot dining room, 1,400 square-foot work area, family room, prayer room and kitchen. It will be two levels, seating 74 on the main level of the terminal and 44 upstairs.
Just because you can finally make it inside the club, doesn’t mean you’re able to stay. You may need help with a reservation. On Friday afternoon Delta didn’t have any staff to assist with reservations in their main New York JFK club.
That means guests had to leave the club to go into the terminal looking for help with a reservation, such as changing a flight in the event of a delay or cancellation. And I learned something new about the Delta Sky Club lines. There’s a way to skip the velvet rope.
The Virgin Atlantic lounge at Washington Dulles uses a QR code for ordering plated meals, and that code is given only to Virgin’s own passengers – and not to guests entering the lounge via American Express or Capital One credit card – creating two levels of service for passengers who are visiting. Is that acceptable? And is there a better way to handle the economics?
American Express has its Centurion lounges, and its smaller ‘Studio Partner’ longes which are Escape Lounges. Previously you could use an American Express Platinum card to access Escape lounges, but they’re now branded by American Express and more cardholders know about the benefit.
Like Centurion lounges, these Centurion Studio lounges have become more crowded.
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 »
