Tag Archives for priority pass.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
Two years ago the Los Angeles Barney’s Beanery chain opened in LAX’s terminal 2 by gate 22. The original Barney’s in West Hollywood opened in 1920. So it fits the trend of airports driving to host brands that are local institutions.
The airport location now offers $28 credits per person for Priority Pass cardholders. This credit is not available before 10:30 a.m.. Of course in the mornings the Virgin Atlantic clubhouse is available for Priority Pass guests albeit with limited service.
Last month I wrote that Priority Pass brings huge passenger volume to lounges, at least in the U.S. where so many memberships have been issued to credit card holders. This is big business at an average of $25 per visit.
We now have a little more insight into the economics of Priority Pass for restaurants.
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.
I don’t believe that Chase will ever make money on its Sapphire Reserve product. They’re effectively spending all of the interchange on rewards and benefits, and any margin must be coming from customers paying an APR — but with the high income, high credit, and high assets Chase reports about Sapphire Reserve cardmembers you’d expect even that to be a smaller group of customers than usual.
So it’s not surprising that we see the bank looking for cost savings.
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.
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..
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.
There are currently four open ‘Minute Suites’ airport locations in the U.S.: two at Dallas Fort-Worth, one in Atlanta, and one in Philadelphia.
A second Atlanta location opens soon. But the real news is that a Minute Suites in Charlotte opens this month.
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 »
