Category Archives for Lounges.
Escape lounges in the U.S. are being rebranded as “Escape Lounges – The Centurion® Studio Partner”. Escape has a new partnership, though, outside of the American Express relationship. They’ll be delivering phone booths in airports you can pay to access for privacy and to charge devices in conjunction with Jabbrrbox which has had these in airports since 2018.
With a big aircraft order and a new commitment to seat back video screens, including retrofitting existing aircraft, United Airlines is trying to capture the mantle of a premium carrier that customers will choose to fly.
However they’ve been slow to re-open their club lounges. Fortunately the airline is feeling the pressure, has started to re-open more of its clubs outside of hubs, and has a plan to re-open more over the summer.
Cathay Pacific carried an average of just 774 passengers per day in May. Only around 2000 passengers per day used the Hong Kong airport. That’s only 1% of pre-pandemic volume. As a result, Cathay Pacific has just one lounge open – The Wing First Class lounge.
The Wing first class lounge joins Priority Pass effective Monday, June 21.
Atlanta’s airport has selected American Express to build a new Centurion lounge over rival bids from Airport Dimensions (Collinson, which owns Priority Pass and The Club lounges) and Plaza Premium group. The Atlanta city council’s finance committee is expected to approve the 10 year lease with two 5 year renewal options today.
Chase announced today that they’re introducing their own network of airport lounges, though little details are provided on forthcoming “Chase Sapphire Lounge® by The Club” products. To date Chase has relied on Priority Pass to offer lounge access to its premium Reserve cardmembers. They’re the third card issuer to build a network of lounges in U.S. airports.
British Airways has a new nap lounge called Forty Winks” which opened on Monday in the First Class lounge at London Heathrow airport, which is currently open to business class passengers as well, and will also be a feature in London’s Concorde Room and at New York JFK.
Their sleep pod with Restworks (so there’s a revenue stream) feature “the world’s first chair designed exclusively for power napping.”
Qatar Airways is the largest owner of British Airways’ parent company, yet Qatar’s CEO says BA has become a ‘2 out of 10’ low cost carrier.
That image is solidified with news that the airline will not re-open Elemis spas in its premium cabin lounges.
The Lufthansa business class lounge at Washington Dulles is now part of Priority Pass. That’s a great new option in the airport.
There are already other lounges on the B concourse that are part of the program, like the Turkish Airlines lounge, but in normal times that gets so crowded they cut off Priority Pass access. Another lounge should help equalize the traffic and make it possible to get into your preferred location.
American Express plans to open a new Centurion lounge at Washington National airport at the end of 2022. It will be at the southern end of the B concourse, and by the time it opens B, B/C and C will all be connected post-security through a combined checkpoint (“Project Journey”).
The lounge will be 11,500 square feet. The lounge will offer shower suites and “floor-to-ceiling windows will offer airfield views ”
A report suggests that American Express will be building out a new Centurion lounge at Washington’s National airport. It also notes significant planned expansion at both San Francisco and Seattle, which matches what I already know.
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 »
