Gauntlet thrown!
Fodor’s is a publisher of travel guides and online tourism information. It was established by Hungarian Eugene Fodor in 1936 and was meant to be an improvement on then-modern versions of directory-type travel guides. Fodor purposely included practical guidance (like, say, tipping advice), but also added levity to keep things interesting.
Over the years, Fodor’s has published more than 440 guides about over 300 destinations. The company began its online presence in 1996 and currently includes information about travel news, trip ideas, hotels & lodging, outdoors, food, beverages, etc.
Fodor’s recently introduced a new series on their website, called Hot Takes. As they explain it, “Hot Takes is a new monthly series inviting experts to share their hottest takes about travel, hospitality, and more.”
In early May, freelance writer Scott Laid wrote a piece for Fodor’s Hot Take series called:
Airline Lounges Are a Crowded Waste of Time
- A line outside with people trying to get in
- A sign outside the lounge that said they weren’t accepting travelers with day passes at that time
- Impossible to find a seat
- Impossible to get even near the food
- And the highlight of that breakfast was scrambled eggs. Made from powder. Yummo, huh?
Laid quoted his friend Brett Snyder (you may recognize the name – he’s the blogger behind Cranky Flier) on his opinion of what so many lounges nowadays:
It definitely depends on the type of flying you’re doing. I live in Southern California and can generally fly nonstop to most places I need to go—I don’t make a lot of connections. So, for me, using the lounge means having to get to the airport early.
Laid agreed – the only way to make the lounge experience better is to get there at not-busy times…which usually means super early…AND that you’re arriving at the airport earlier than you otherwise would, just for that “not so crappy” lounge experience.
Both agreed that lounges nowadays – particularly those in the U.S. – tend to be crowded cluster-effs (OK, they didn’t use the term “cluster-eff”). Most are operated by the airlines and are available to passengers who pay an annual fee (typically via credit cards). Whereas in Europe, lounges are more associated with those who have business/first class, or who are elite-level frequent flyers (which, of course, is how the U.S. lounges used to be, before airlines began realizing how much they could actually MAKE on credit card fees).
But why the crowds? Says Laid:
The short answer is they’re a victim of their own success. Airlines and credit card companies dangle lounge access as an attractive carrot for too many people, so they get crowded. American, United, and Delta each market a credit card that comes with lounge membership, often at annual fees that are either lower than the regular annual lounge membership or with a number of other value-adds.
With so many people eligible to use the lounges, airlines and card issuers (American Express and Capital One operate their own lounges in the U.S.) have had to find ways to either limit the pool of eligible travelers by reducing the number of cardholders by raising annual fees or reducing eligibility for lounges. Delta no longer sells SkyClub memberships to non-elite members. Alaska Airlines once allowed passengers on first class tickets into the lounge; now, that benefit is only for the airline’s longest flights.
Both Laid and Snyder say that arrival lounges are nicer than departure ones. But, of course, those are few and far between – and not in the U.S.
Our Take on It
Storytime. When Joe and I became a couple, I hadn’t flown much at all. I mean, two round-trip flights to Walt Disney World (at ages 12 and 16) and a weekend trip to a ski resort in New England just before I turned 19—that was it. I didn’t start flying more than once every few years until I was close to 30. So when he and I got together, I was VERY used to just hanging out at the terminal until it was my turn to board a plane. Lounges? Those were for “special” people, and I, by far, was NOT one of those people, LOLOL!
Once Joe started his hobby of collecting points and miles, and we had more opportunities to visit lounges, they were admittedly fun for a little while. But when you’re so used to traveling like a “not special” normal person, sure, you can enjoy the lounge—but you’re still just as happy waiting for your plane in the terminal. Or at least, I was. I’ve always considered flight—and everything surrounding it—to be like cars: just a way to get from Point A to Point B. Doesn’t have to be fancy-shmancy… as long as it’s clean and gets me where I want to go, I’m good.
I remember when we were stuck in an airport in Southeast Asia for several hours. Joe went into the lounge “because he could.” Me? I walked every INCH of that airport, just to see what there was to see. Cuz window shopping in an airport is always better than just hanging around a terminal.
Or so I thought.
In the past year or two? I’ve slowly come to appreciate airport lounges. Yep—even if they’re chock full of people. There are still fewer people in the lounge than the terminal. And the chairs are more comfortable. And since there’s usually carpeting and other things to muffle the sounds, even if it’s crowded, it still doesn’t seem as loud to me.
Granted, the lounge food is typically “meh” (although some lounges do stand out… and we pay through the nose to have the privilege of visiting them, LOL). But unless we have access to One Flew South or something like that, the food inside the terminal isn’t that great either.
SO… total waste of time? To an extent. Maybe. I mean, I get Laid’s point. And I can still easily deal with staying in the terminal if I have to. But I think lounges are still better (to be fair, generally marginally better—unless it’s a big, fancy new lounge [cough not in the United States cough]) than not.
OMG, how bougie have I become??? LOLOL!
Want to comment on this post? Great! Read this first to help ensure it gets approved.
Want to sponsor a post, write something for Your Mileage May Vary, or put ads on our site? Click here for more info.
Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love it if you decided to hang around and sign up to get emailed notifications of when we post.
Whether you’ve read our articles before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!
This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
1 comment
You nailed it. Hard to beat having lounge access, especially with a long layover. We rarely can’t get in, unless we don’t qualify for whatever lounge. If the lounge is crowded the terminal is crowded. And if we plan on eating we usually save money, even if I have to pay for my partner to get into the lounge. Eating in airports is expensive, and the food selection in lounges is usually more varied and healthier than any one place in the terminal, at least in our experience.