Lounges

Category Archives for Lounges.

American Express Denies New Access Rules for Centurion Lounge Access, Limits Imposed During ‘Busy Periods’

by Gary Leff on May 29, 2018

May 29 2018

Just a few days ago I asked if Centurion lounges have gotten so crowded no one goes there anymore. The lounges are nice, an improvement on their US airline lounge alternatives. They’re stylish spaces with decent food and beverage programs.

Ultimately there are too many people who have been eligible to use the lounges, who have wanted to use the lounges, relative to the size of the lounges. There’s only so much they can do to expand capacity in the airports they work in (and larger lounges are going to attract more people who still stay longer, since currently some people – like me – often stay away precisely due to the crowding).

Are Centurion Lounges So Busy Nobody Goes There Anymore?

by Gary Leff on May 26, 2018

May 26 2018

I was in the Phiadelphia airport’s Centurion lounge this past week. I hadn’t been since the lounge’s pre-opening event in October. It was packed.

They’re popular with travelers because they’re better than the lounges that were already in the airport before American Express opened them. However with high demand comes real wear and tear on the spaces.

American Testing New Food, Serving Pasta and Sliders in Admirals Clubs

by Gary Leff on May 7, 2018

May 07 2018

American Airlines Admirals Club have had a hit with their made to order guacamole in the afternoons.
Unfortunately it’s not available at my home airport in Austin but I’ve sampled it all around the system. Here it is in Dallas prior to the renovation of the ‘A’ Club there.

They’ve also rolled out made to order avocado toast in several lounges. Someone must have made a bit bet on avocado futures.

Phoenix Will Replace Small Priority Pass Space With New 10,000 Square Foot Lounge: Whose Will It Be?

by Gary Leff on May 5, 2018

May 05 2018

Currently Phoenix Airport’s terminal 4 B concourse has a Priority Pass-accessible “The Club” lounge. It opened in 2014 and it quite small, 2985 square feet. It has food and drink, but the furniture is dated and there are no restrooms inside the lounge.

This space — and an additional 7000 square feet — will be turned into a new lounge. The airport’s RFP provides clues as to whose lounge it will be.

Priority Pass Has a Lounge in Charlotte Starting Tomorrow (And Doesn’t Even Know It)

by Gary Leff on May 1, 2018

May 01 2018

Last month I wrote that a new Minute Suites was about to open in Charlotte. I suggested that since the existing Minute Suites locations accept Priority Pass, that this one would too. It would be the first Priority Pass lounge in the Charlotte airport.

However Minute Suites opened but didn’t take Priority Pass. They do tomorrow and they just schooled Priority Pass about it..

Is Priority Pass Destroying the Benefit of Airport Lounge Access?

by Gary Leff on May 1, 2018

May 01 2018

There’s an axiom on the internet that the answer to any question in an article title is always “no.”
And that’s just the case here. The Wall Street Journal thinks otherwise but fails to make the case, though there’s certainly more crowding in some lounges that’s difficult to manage.

The case the Journal makes is that the rise of Priority Pass cards distributed with credit cards, especially Chase, have led to a decline in quality of airport lounges. That’s false. The other major claim is they’ve made lounges more crowded, and that’s true with some lounges.

Here are Details of the Design and Timing of the United Polaris Lounges Still to Open

by Gary Leff on April 30, 2018

Apr 30 2018

Newark is going to open in a few weeks’ time and Houston will open over the summer. The Los Angeles Polaris lounge is supposed to open later this year. So if they stick to that schedule United should have 5 Polaris lounges open by the end of 2018.

However we’re not going to see any more in 2019. The next batch won’t open until 2020, which considering these were announced nearly two years ago seems insane.

Inside United’s New San Francisco Business Class Polaris Lounge

by Gary Leff on April 26, 2018

Apr 26 2018

United’s new Polaris lounge opens April 30th near gate G92 at San Francisco’s airport. The facility is 28,000 square feet – the same size as American’s Flagship lounge in Miami and one of the world’s larger lounges – and has 440 seats. They have more power outlets – 492 – than seats.

United Polaris lounges feature both buffet and menu ordering. The San Francisco lounge menu was created by chef Tritia Gestuvo though doesn’t reflect a unified cuisine — there will be congee at breakfast, pappardelle pasta with mushroom ragout in the afternoon, and United’s Polaris Burger. The buffet has a ramen noodle bar in the afternoon.

LAX Finally Getting an American Express Centurion Lounge!

by Gary Leff on April 14, 2018

Apr 14 2018

Way back in November 2015 I suggested that an American Express Centurion lounge would be coming to LAX. All signs were it was about to happen. And then just a few days later the airport told employees in their newsletter that a Centurion Lounge was coming “to the south side terminals (between terminals 6 & 7).”

Two and a half years later the airport is finally ready to move forward — with space no one else wanted in the Tom Bradley terminal.

Sheraton Frankfurt Will No Longer Let Platinums Use Their Lounge Without a Reservation

by Gary Leff on April 13, 2018

Apr 13 2018

They were more than generous, perhaps too generous, and out of step with much of the world. So this doesn’t surprise in the least. I just miss the idea that a valued customer is a valued customer each and every time and it seems a last little thread of that dies when this dies.