Category Archives for Lounges.
American’s new Philadelphia business class Flagship lounge that’s about to open will have made-to-order food items, something that the airline hasn’t offered since ‘Bridge Dining’ was available in the no longer open New York JFK Flagship lounge (that space is now the joint BA business class Greenwich lounge).
The first rule of any all you can eat buffet is that you can consume food while you’re there, but you can’t pack of extras and take it with you. Yet a Delta Sky Club member was spotted filling up plates of food, and packing himself several meals to go – mostly ribs, garlic chicken, associated sides and chocolate chip cookies.
I wanted to get to the airport because our tickets would allow us to visit the Air Canada Signature Suite. I was really looking forward to this! I’d been before and I was blown away. I’ve also been to the one in Vancouver and it was very special. So I happily plunked down extra miles for my family to visit.
American Airlines has business class lounges at New York JFK, Los Angeles, Chicago O’Hare, Miami and Dallas – Fort Worth. They’ve been promising a lounge for their primary transatlantic gateway – Philadelphia – for many years. It’s finally almost here, and should be really worth the wait.
United Airlines is taking a page from Delta with club lounge access restrictions, and together with Chase they’re taking a page from American Express with changes to their co-brand card portfolio. But I think they’re doing it a little bit more thoughtfully.
American is promoting new food and beverage choices in their clubs, new first class domestic breakfasts, and pre-order burger and fries up front.
Travelers are stealing everything from airport lounges that isn’t bolted down. That surprises me, because there’s nowhere with more cameras watching you than inside an airport. There’s nowhere with more law enforcement agencies (DEA, CBP, FBI, TSA, local police to name a few). And every passenger in the lounge has identified themselves when checking in.
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.
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 »
