Category Archives for Lounges.
Another Chase Sapphire lounge in the pipeline, this time at LAX in the Tom Bradley International Terminal. It will be 9,234 square feet near gate 148.
Capital One currently has lounges at Washington Dulles, Dallas – Fort Worth, and Denver. They are due to open dining-focused spaces at Washington’s National airport and New York’s LaGuardia. And they’ve just announced a new lounge for New York JFK terminal 4.
This lounge is too small for the volume of passengers and it turns an architecturally interesting space with tarmac views into a chaotic mess.
The economics of airport lounges are explored, highlighting access methods, construction costs, profitability, and the impact of credit cards and airline strategies on the competitive landscape.
After my brief stop at the Air France lounge I continued my tour of Washington Dulles airport Priority Pass lounges. Next stop: the Virgin Clubhouse by gate A32.
This lounge was renovated shortly before the pandemic, and while I guess it is… different than before I also wonder, given what it’s like now, why did they bother?
The Chase Sapphire lounge is small, but I was there in the morning – from around 8 a.m. until 11 a.m. it wasn’t super busy and there was plenty of available space. The lounge is well laid-out, food is good, and staff are friendly. The exterior of the lounge is branded Etihad (it’s a joint Etihad and Chase lounge but the exterior signage doesn’t mention Chase) and I wonder if that limits awareness and thus crowding.
AirTipping is an insidious practice, and no you shouldn’t be doing it in airport lounges. Airport workers aren’t paid a ‘tipped wage’ and tipping lets employers pay less. At airline lounges, offerings are included in the price of your ticket.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 changed the tax treatment for business entertainment expenses. It made airline club lounge memberships no longer deductible to a business. But a bit of financial engineering would seem to make lounge access still deductible.
It’s not very good! But it’s free food! Of course the schnorrers are going to come out in droves and take the food, even if they don’t eat it.
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 »
