A Few Simple Reasons To Skip Airport Lounges
In the points and travel hobby, the topic of airport lounges and clubs is a polarizing one. Many idealize or abhor them, with a portion of people in the middle. I lean toward fandom, sometimes opting to lounge hop while embracing the silliness of it all. When it comes to these clubs, I’ll try anything once. Whether I’ll return is a different story. But I can totally understand why many choose to skip airport lounges, to the point where I even did so recently.
Why To Skip Airport Lounges
The Cost
Perhaps the most obvious reason to ignore airport clubs is the cost. These spaces, in all of their bank, airline, or other flavors, are increasingly expensive to visit. Premium credit cards provide access via periodically-hiked annual fees. Of course, credit cards with such benefits generally come with generous welcome offers and other benefits which subsidize first cardmember year annual fees. But subsequent annual fees are harder to ignore.
Banks are catching up with shortcuts such as authorized users by increasing those fees, as well. On top of higher fees, certain cards cap the number of visits cardholders can make, like premium Amex cardholders’ access to Delta Sky Clubs. Certain airlines’ one-time passes are more expensive and/or simply not redeemable at certain locations. Much of this is done with the implication of minimizing crowds and improving the experience. So let’s get to that.
The Product
New lounges can be truly delightful experiences. But they eventually seem to go downhill, some faster than others. As they get more notoriety and familiarity with customers, they feel like every other club sardine can. I can’t think of any time I’ve noticed lounges meaningfully increasing their offerings to compensate for the additional crowds. Instead, I’m usually faced with more broken-down coffee machines.
Some clubs take a more active role in devaluation. They remove products and services they initially touted at lounge opening. Perhaps the most prominent examples are spaces proudly offering spa services at launch, only to be slashed later.
If I’m particularly interested in a certain club, I might attempt to visit sooner rather than later, if/as they align with my goals. Regardless, I manage my expectations, given that lounges generally get worse over time. But I never seem to set that bar low enough due to the next matter.
The People
I’m often confounded by lounge behavior. With the access they paid for, it’s as if visitors feel entitled to act however they want upon entry. Any individual who regularly visits lounges has probably seen it: feet on tables and seating, couches turning into beds, grabbing unpackaged food with hands (sometimes without washing them after a bathroom visit), pajama people (admittedly, this epidemic is increasingly everywhere), devices charging while creating trip hazards, kids (or worse, adults) using loud electronics without earbuds or headphones, generally blaring phone conversation people, etc. It’s actually to the point where some airport terminals are preferrable to these more confined spaces. Heck, at least I can more easily escape out there.
The Logistics
Visiting lounges can often take travelers off the most natural, logical path to a destination – within and beyond a given airport. JD Power found that airport lounges considerably play into how travelers pick travel routes and airlines. Individuals often go out of their way to travel via airports with their preferred lounges. Inevitably, this can lead to longer travel times due to suboptimal routings, routinely including unnecessary connections.
But let’s say that’s not you. You’re on a nonstop route, or one with a natural connection not taking into account lounges. Those airports you’re using anyway still might have inconvenient club options. Your flight might be from one terminal or area of gates, but the airport lounge might be in a different one. Our increasingly-sprawling airports can compound this issue. Opting out of the lounge here can make sense, especially when it comes to family travel. Now’s time for my most recent experience.
My Experience Last Week
We recently flew from the east coast to SNA via DEN for our family vacation to Disneyland. We had just over three hours in DEN, a longer connection time which I prefer. The wife and I each brought our Amex Schwab Platinums just in case we felt like visiting the DEN Centurion (my last unsatisfactory experience notwithstanding). Again, we hadn’t necessarily decided to visit; we just wanted to keep our options open. But I knew doing so would cost an additional $60 total for our two little ones. The other option was buying one-time passes to a United Club (if the lounge was accepting them). Even with cards offering airline credit fees, I would still be out over $100. (I wasn’t yet up for buying a membership with Travel Bank, and one-time passes aren’t available with those funds.) We had no other possible access to viable lounges.
We arrived in a different concourse than the Centurion Lounge, so our decision to skip that was even easier. Instead, we investigated our options for an early lunch – gasp – in the airport terminal. We found a second-floor food court with several options and plenty of space. After walking the entire perimeter, we plopped ourselves and bags down at a four top in an expansive area facing the escalators. The wife held the table as my little ones and I ordered City Wok, something that actually sounded good compared to the culinary roulette which comes with entering certain lounges. Our food was ready surprisingly fast, and we enjoyed a slow, relaxing lunch: satisfactory food, silly conversation, and non-lounge-people watching.
After lunch, we walked in and out of a few shops on the way to our gate. Kudos to DEN for having better than average gate seating options. Boarding started soon after.
Conclusion
Again, I’m not giving up on airport lounges. I’ll keep sensibly visiting them, more often on solo travel. And we were back at it as a family on the way home, enjoying the throwback Admirals Club in DFW Terminal C. But on a case-by-case basis, I’ll keep questioning if visiting a lounge is truly worth it. Like I’ve found with most life matters, lounges aren’t all good or bad, just somewhere in the middle.
When do you skip airport lounges? How do you decide?
With full Priority Pass with my grandfathered Diners Club card for $95/yr and $30 for a guest pass, the wife and I will stop at any lounge just to get a couple of quick drinks, because where at the airport can you get 4 cocktails for $30?
Gotcha, Tino!
Are you denigrating lounges just because you had to pay for your kids? If the kids were free would you have opted for the lounge just asking
Peggy,
I mentioned above, “We arrived in a different concourse than the Centurion Lounge, so our decision to skip that was even easier.”
Years ago, my wife couldn’t understand the attraction of airport lounges. Like Shawn, she wanted to arrive at the gate just moments before the door closed. When I introduced her to airport lounges, it mattered WHICH airport lounges those were. (It certainly was NOT going to be an Amex Centurion Lounge.) After being exposed to nicer lounges, she now wants ample time before boarding. She’s a fan.
While I shy away from bank-affiliated lounges, I’ve been fortunate enough to have access to airline-operated lounges on virtually all of my flights. On top of that, I have Priority Pass with the restaurant benefit and other airport amenities. When I do my monthly Mickey trip, I hit a Be Relax for a 30-minute chair massage, then head to a prominent European airline’s lounge for a relaxing meal and facial. When my wife joins me, she’s in heaven.
I’ve become a regular at the aforementioned lounge. The team always treats us so well. As a thank you, I bring them the much-loved beignets from Disneyland. Which, of course, they love.