Category Archives for Lounges.
Capital One’s Tapas Lounge at Washington National Airport (DCA) offers an upscale, restaurant-quality dining experience—easily valued at up to $600 for a group—with complimentary access for Venture X cardholders, making it one of the most generous and unique airport perks in the U.S.
Credit card premium lounges are a victim of their own success, attracting more customers (which detracts from the experience) and driving up costs (which lead to cutbacks in the experience). I’d love to see premium cards offer an annual skip the line pass. Charging feels gauche. At the same time I’d pay. It’s just that if I pay to skip the line at a The Club I’ll feel pretty cheated. What do you think?
We need to talk about the decline in American Express Centurion lounges. They were once great. They aren’t any longer – they aren’t as good as they used to be, and both Capital One and Chase offerings are better.
The Capital One Lounge Las Vegas opens tomorrow. It’s well-located for passengers on the biggest airlines. It feels spacious with floor-to-ceiling windows and high ceilings that offer views both into the terminal and out over airport operations and the mountains behind. And it offers excellent food and beverage.
The Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club at the Philadelphia airport opens on Thursday, February 20. The 20,000 square foot lounge in the Terminal D-E connector features a beer garden and game room with retro arcade machines and multi-screen wall with seating, as well as a la carte menu from Chef Matt Cahn of Middle Child Clubhouse including cheesesteak sliders and potato pancakes.
Most of the time, I wonder what the lines to get into Centurion lounges do to brand affinity – someone gets the card and they finally go to use their benefit and it isn’t a premium experience. Failing health inspections seems worse?
Delta will not be honoring lounge access for their own or partner elites traveling on domestic itineraries, so don’t go rushing out looking for an Air France, Vietnam Airlines, or SAS status match thinking it will help circumvent new limits on Sky Club access using a premium Delta credit card.
Boston’s Logan Airport will get an American Express Centurion lounge, and it’s expected to open in 2027. The agreement was approved by the airport’s board on Thursday, and will require building out a new structure to accommodate a two-story lounge totaling 20,000 square feet near gate C10.
One of the most frequent question I get is about airport lounges, and whether there’s a good, comprehensive resource to look up which lounges will be available at an airport – especially which ones are accessible whether you have an airline club membership, a premium credit card, elite status or a Priority Pass membership. There’s a new, free resource that does just this exactly.
For banks like American Express, Chase, and Capital One, lounges sell credit cards. For airlines, lounges bring in revenue. They sell tickets. They keep customers loyal and spending more to do so. They also bring in revenue from… selling credit cards. And they bring in revenue from partners (unless they’re in oneworld, where partners don’t pay each other for lounge access in the same way).
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 »
