airport lounges

[BelfastFlyer]

Hey folks
I was wondering, does anyone ever use an airport lounge? On my recent trip to chicago I decided to cough up £20 and go into one and see what the fuss was all about and I was quite surprised!

Pros:

Free alcohol. Seriously - they had bottles of wine and beer and some spirits. And you can drink as much as you like

Free snacks. Nothing great but filled the hole..

Cons:

Price. £20 is a lot to pay for 3 hours

Let me know your thoughts

[florencia9699]

I never tried it. But I can deal with being at a normal airport's waiting area... sure, it can be a bit of a drag sometimes.. but in three hours you could read a magazine, update your journal, do some people watching and hit the freeshops (if only to windowshop). In my opinion 20quid would only be worth it if it were for like an entire day... it IS a lot of money.

[BelfastFlyer]

yeah, I only used it because I had some spare money at the end of my trip... plus I was the only person under 30 there

[TheJake]

if i traveled for business I would totally cough up the couple hundred bucks a year to get into them wherever i go. Just the quiet is worth it to me.

[space virgin]

I thought about shelling out (or trying to anyway) to get into the British Airways lounge at the Kolkata/Calcutta airport. I had a horrid 5am flight which meant getting to the airport around 10:30pm in order to be able to (safely) check in at 3am. But it was so much more entertaining to hang out with the general populace-- seriously, sitting for hours in a hub like a train station (or airport) in India will be some of the best people-watching that you can imagine. There's also livestock-watching to go along with that. I rather miss the stray cows wandering wherever they please.

So um, yeah.... travel lounges are nice I bet!

[joe7f]

I ended up with the lounge perk in Europe for train stations. I bought a first class rail pass because the guy told me "2nd class is very smoky and crowded". Yeah...okay. Smoking is completely isolated or banned on most trains I was on.

But anyway, I used the train lounge in Estacio Sants in Barcelona and it was pretty nice but it really paid dividends the 2nd time I crossed through because I had to use the restroom really badly. The approach to the station took about 30 minutes with EVERYONE standing up (no way I was I going anywhere). I just made a bee line for the lounge and took a Tom-Hanks-in-A-League-of-their-Own type piss without my pack on my back, something I would never try in the public areas of that station. They also offered free beer, soda, snacks, newspapers etc which I thought I could enjoy for all of 30 minutes before my train departed...except that my train departed from Barcelona Franca. Whoops!

Three good lessons

2nd class is fine
Don't wait to pee
Make sure you check the station (especially for international train travel in Spain)

Btw, I think you can pay for a lounge using miles as well. So if you logged 5k miles on the way over and don't really think you will be flying enough to turn them into something useful, you may burn some to get a quiet place to chill/sleep.

--Joey

[LiveFreeorDie]

As I travel a lot for work, I have elite status with United (including all Star Alliance airlines). Any time I am traveling on an international ticket, I can use the Star Alliance lounges for free. They are quite nice. The ones outside the U.S. often are better than the ones inside the U.S. If I remember, the ones inside the U.S. do not always offer free booze, but most of the ones outside always seemed to. The comfortable chairs, free booze and food is great, particularly when you have a long layover or have been traveling for a long time. The United lounge in Tokyo had really good noodle soup. Many have showers and changing rooms as well. If you travel a lot, they are a nice perk, particularly if you can get your company to pick up the tab!

[BigE]

My dad used the U.S. Air and United lounges when he travelled for business way back when and on the few times I went with him I enjoyed the lounge too. It is a nice luxery to have if you travel a lot and need to kick back between flights.

[indierock05]

I'd only cough up the cash if there wasn't a decent place to sleep in the airport, but i tend to be pretty stingey when i am traveling around

[noke_travel]

depending on how long my layover is i will normally use the lounges. the great thing about the one day passes (for us carriers at least) is that they're good at multiple airports so that i'll hang out befoe my first flight in the lounge then wait at my connecting airport, etc.

i used to use my father's membership to the admirals club (american airlines) but they ask for id along with a card now...

[xanthuos]

There are a multitude of ways to gain access to the various airport lounges. For most budget travelers, though, a day pass is going to be the most common form of access. I haven't had to yet, but if I had a significant enough delay or connection (in excess of several hours), I'd probably cough up the money for the lounge so that I can be more rested, relaxed, and reboozed. :D Usually the price of a day pass is about $50, although some carriers occasionally offers specials where you can get a "trial" pass for 30 days or 60 days for about the same price as a day pass.

The other morning I did use the Acela lounge in NY Penn Station though, as I had about 1 1/2 hour stop. It allowed me a free breakfast and access to the business center. I was thankful I had the free pass!

[kiwichick]

lol well ive worked in one if that counts?id have to say itd kill the people watching the normally brings me so much entertainment

[MeTurk]

Originally Posted by BelfastFlyer

Free alcohol. Seriously - they had bottles of wine and beer and some spirits. And you can drink as much as you like

That sounds worth the £20, I'd clean that bar out. When it comes to free drink I tend to take the piss and make them regret ever letting me in. :D