Lounges make life prettier.
Everyone eventually tires of sitting around departure gates that look like detention centers, where one guy’s eating smelly tuna fish and another is clipping his toenails. Most of us have limited tolerance for unhappy infants shrieking like banshees, or people who yell at gate agents, “Do you know who I am?”
Airport lounges can be a respite – a (somewhat) quieter place where you can get some decent food, a glass of champagne, and maybe a spa treatment or shower. Where you can sink into a comfortable pod chair or do some work at a desk.
Lounges vary in quality from exceptional to meh, but even the worst are still a notch above sitting at the gate.
So, how do you gain entry?
BUY A BUSINESS CLASS TICKET WITH MONEY OR MILES (DUH)
This one is obvious to anyone who has flown business internationally. Lounge access is complimentary to business or first-class passengers. (Domestically, lounge access is only available to first class passengers, and even then only in certain situations.)
ELITE STATUS
If you hold mid-level or above elite status on one of the US majors (American, United, Delta) and are flying internationally, you can usually gain entry to their club or to the club of an alliance member. American, United and Delta are part of alliances (American – Oneworld, United – Star Alliance, Delta – SkyTeam) – groups of airlines that have formed “partnerships”.
Say, for example, you’re flying British Airways to London. British Airways is a Oneworld member, so if you hold mid or upper-level elite status on American (or any other member of the alliance), you can typically gain entrance to the British Airways lounge, regardless of what cabin you’re flying in.
Sadly, the same is NOT true if you’re flying on a purely domestic itinerary. Only internationally.
PURCHASING A DAY PASS
If you don’t travel frequently and just have a long layover and need a day pass, you can usually (not always) walk up to the counter and buy a single day entry for $50-80 per person at many clubs. This is pricey, but if you have 3 or 4 hours to kill and a) don’t want to spend it sitting next to a drunk guy at Chili’s, or b) need to get some work done, it can be worth the investment.
But the better option is to get one of the lounge apps that allow you to purchase the pass online, like Lounge Key or Lounge Review. (The beloved LoungeBuddy app is still available as a website, but the platform was purchased by Amex and is no longer available as an app.) On those apps, you can also read reviews of each available lounge.
CREDIT CARDS
For those who don’t fly enough on any one airline to garner that coveted high-level elite status, THIS IS THE WAY TO GO.
US LOUNGES
If you’re planning to hit these clubs a number of times over the course of a year, DON’T PUCHASE AN ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP from the airline. Get your membership through a credit card. All three of the majors (American, United, Delta) have premium credit cards that offer lounge access. And via this credit card, you’re getting the lounge access at a slightly discounted price along with the other myriad benefits of that card (like priority boarding, etc).
Let’s use American Airlines as an example. Purchasing an Admirals Club membership directly from the airline runs $750-850/year, depending on whether you hold elite status or not. But if you get the Citibank Aadvantage World Executive credit card, you’ll get membership PLUS bonus miles (currently 50,000 once you satisfy the minimum spend), PLUS priority boarding and a free checked bag on all flights. All for $595. My husband and I have this card (spouses add another $175 to the annual fee, but then they have full benefits as well) and between us probably make 40 lounge visits a year, so the annual fee is well worth it to us.
US & INTERNATIONAL LOUNGES
The key here is cards like the American Express Platinum (or similar premium credit cards with annual fees ranging from about $500-700), because it offers an unlimited Priority Pass membership. Priority Pass is a company that contracts with independently-operated (generally unaffiliated with any one airline) lounges at most major airports around the world. The vast majority of airports have a Priority Pass-member club – we’ve visited lounges in places like Zimbabwe and Cambodia. You can typically bring either one or two guests in with you. If you were to only hold one credit card for airport lounge access, the Amex Platinum is king of the road. True, the annual fee is now $695. But it comes with a RAFT of travel (Global Entry and CLEAR credits, a $200 airline credit, etc) and non-travel benefits (monthly streaming service rebates, gym memberships, Uber credits, a twice-yearly credit at Saks, etc) that, if you use them, can easily cover the fee.
Platinum Card benefits:
(We get nothing if you apply for the card; this is purely for informational purposes.)
A very few lower-cost credit cards ($95 and up annual fee) also offer limited Priority Pass memberships (meaning you’re restricted to a small set number of visits per year, and you’re not allowed to bring in any guests with you) – cards like the Chase Sapphire card or the American Express Hilton Honors Ascend card. So, this can be a lifesaver if your travel is a bit less extensive and you don’t anticipate the need to bring others in with you.
CENTURION LOUNGES
This is a lounge chain built and operated by American Express for its Platinum and Centurion (which is above Platinum) cardholders. These are very nice lounges – they’re stylish, have some of the best food of any lounges (you can have a complete meal), etc. They’re slowly building out the chain; currently, there are 15 domestic and 11 international lounges. Along with the Priority Pass membership that you get with the Platinum Card, they’re a fabulous addition. One word of caution: they’re extremely popular (mostly because of the food offerings) and are typically very busy. If I have several hours to kill in an airport, I’ll often go to the Centurion Lounge to eat, then leave and go to an Admirals Club, which will be quieter.
https://thecenturionlounge.com/
BOTTOM LINE
If you travel multiple times a year and internationally more than once, your best bet is a Priority Pass membership (which you can also buy directly through Priority Pass, but the better value is in connection with a credit card).
Example: when my husband and I were traveling with friends on a Brand g trip to South Africa, we had lounge access in Johannesburg, Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe), and Cape Town. Our friends are United elites, but it was our Priority Pass membership that got us into the lounges in these exotic airports.
So, why sit in semi-squalor when lounge access can be so (relatively) easily had? Soon, your airport experience will change from complaining about crying babies to complaining about the quality of free wines in the lounge.
You know – priorities.
