Category Archives for Lounges.
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).
I had the opportunity to test the Capital One Landing at Washington’s Reagan National airport again, and this time under ‘real world’ conditions over the past week.
I am always skeptical that execution of food will be as good when the executives aren’t there, and under pressure to turn out dishes at the type of volume necessary for a full house of travelers.
There’s nothing relaxing about a lounge where you can barely find a seat, and you’re dodging other passengers, how is this better than the terminal or more to the point better than spending $25 for a burger, camping out at a sit down restaurant that has power outlets?
The single most basic amenity of a lounge is peace and quiet. Beyond that, airline lounges range from opulent and decadent to basic. Here are the bare minimums for a decent airport lounge
A little over fifty years ago U.S. airline lounges began opening up to the masses for a fee, following government rules requiring clear standards of access replacing invitations in order to avoid the appearance of discrimination. Airlines could let anyone in, or create a path to paid membership. You know which one they chose.
Capital One Landing DCA is the first fine dining airport restaurant that’s free with the right credit card. The food is spectacular, and you can even make reservations.
Crowded lounges make airport lounges no longer enjoyable. If they aren’t an escape from the busy terminal, what’s the point? You can use the airline lounge for dedicated reservations agents when your flight delays, but otherwise give it a miss. And when there’s a long line to get in too, that’s even worse.
But the Delta Air Lines Sky Club in Atlanta on the T concourse took things to a new level with waits of up to 20 minutes to leave.
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 »
