American Express Platinum and Centurion cards have included Escape lounge access. Already we’ve seen joint American Express-Escape lounges, such as in Phoenix and this was in the cards for Austin before the contracting process was challenged by the Priority Pass folks who argued their ‘The Club’ would better meet disadvantaged business rules.
Escape lounges in the U.S. are being rebranded as “Escape Lounges – The Centurion® Studio Partner”.
Escape has a new partnership, though, outside of the American Express relationship. They’ll be delivering phone booths in airports you can pay to access for privacy and to charge devices in conjunction with Jabbrrbox which has had these in airports since 2018.
Now branded “Escape Pods” they come with wifi and 24 inch screens for video calls. There are currently 16 pods in 8 U.S. airports including New York LaGuardia terminal B, New York JFK terminal 4, Oakland terminal 2, Pittsburgh, Northwest Arkansas, Cincinnati terminal B, and Chicago O’Hare terminal 5.
Fifty additional pods are expected by the end of fall. This will include Las Vegas, new York JFK terminal 8, and Seattle. Greenville Spartanburg airport has the first location to get the new branding.
@MAGAirportsUSA and @jabbrrbox are partnering together to introduce Escape Pods, private workspaces designed for the traveler in need of a private work environment on the go. GSP is the first airport to feature the Escape Pods. https://t.co/FcAfJG3W4r
— GSP Airport (@GSPAirport) July 23, 2021
Why Escape Pods? Jabbrrbox has the technology but Manchester Airport Group has the airport distribution relationships. I definitely prefer a Minute Suites, accessible via Priority Pass. It gives more room, and doesn’t have a glass door – you can take your mask off and not be seen doing so.
Plus I don’t have to pay extra for a Minute Suites unless I’m staying over an hour, whereas this costs $15 per 30 minutes.
Is there a booze dispenser? Need to know.
“Escape” to a tiny confinement chamber. Gotta love marketer’s chutzpah.
Is there some kind of ventilation? Seems it would get a bit stuffy after a few minutes. Of course, that might solve the problem of having a clear glass door if you want privacy; if it fogs up within a few minutes, automatic privacy.
@Allen, we have similar boxes in our cube farm so people making calls don’t bother everyone else and vice versa. Ours have a fan on top for ventilation. It’s not enough of the box is in the sun.
An old school phone booth!