One perk of the lounges used to be the best agents worked the clubs. I went to the agent to cancel my ticket for a refund and they said they didn't have that capability, I'd have to go to the main ticket counter, again WTF?
I then found out skyclubs were packed with Credit Card users, not like the Crown Rooms of the 80's.
I rarely travel by air, but since all the airport lounges went smoke free, I have little use for them.
Went I stopped in such lounges, I kept in mind not to drink so much than I would fall asleep and miss my flight, or worse yet, need to rush to the gate and board my plane in that condition. This was pre-TSA. The menus were usually good, albeit overpriced to their captive customers.
My wife and I have, as our guilty pleasure, visiting airport lounges.
It makes us look forward to a flight, and we get there early to have a meal.
I really like the Capital One Lounge at DFW Airport.
Years ago I traveled on British Caladonia every 28 days to London and then on to Lagos. That was the old days. It was good. I enjoyed their lounge. The class of those in the lounge was good. It was very civilized.
Oddly I became a devout customer of British Caledonia due to Braniff Airlines going bankrupt. When I got to London Braniff Airlines had gone bankrupt literally while I was in the air from Lagos. I had no ride home to Dallas.
Caledonia in a stroke of brilliance honored those tickets and took us home. They received nothing from Braniff. Caledonia knew these were long haul repeat customers. Thus, Caledonia enjoyed my business class tickets for years.
British Caledonia no longer exists. British Airways bought them.
Around 1979, I was in a position that required lots of travel. My boss traveled the same. He sprung $200 for a LIFETIME pass to the TWA lounge. At that time, they were exclusive for business travelers and very nice.
That lifetime pass went POOF when TWA disappeared.
We live in a highly technical world of specialists. Until the lock downs I flew 50 times a year with a hardhat strapped to my backpack. The big airlines now make almost nothing on flights and all their profit on credit cards and rewards programs.
I have noticed that the Delta lounges have been quite full lately, but I didn’t realize that it was because of credit card users.
I generally buy an annual membership with miles, and I’ve loved being able to sit down someplace relatively non-chaotic and take a break, especially between connecting flights. Most of the time people are working on their tablets, recharging their devices or reading a magazine and chatting. And the food at Delta lounges is usually excellent.
Help with rebooking and flight problems has also been great.
The Sky Club is one of the things I really like about Delta, so I hope they figure out a way to keep them good!
I was a commercial flight attendant for over 20 yrs then switched to flying corporate. I got to keep my miles with flying private from flying to the planes, which were positioned all over the world, and was quickly Platinum, Diamond and any other top tier classification with all airlines and hotels andI was upgraded all the time to First and Upper Class on the a/cs and better rooms at the hotels.
I would utilize the perk of being able to go to the lounges but found that they were filling up with ‘riffraff’- the very people I wanted to get away from when flying. Not businessmen but loud, obnoxious families and others who would pig out at the buffets or spread themselves out like they were at a redneck picnic in the hot July South in the Carolinas.
THE BEST lounge was the Virgin Club in one of the major airports - can’t remember which. Got a back massage, pedi and sushi to order.
You were, in fact, cheating.....you had no intention of using that ticket. Why didn’t you just take him to a bar and PAY for his drinks??
Oh heavens!! Sooooo sorry you had to share a room with lesser people... Man talk about being a self righteous arse...
Im one of those dreaded credit card users ...
I enjoy the United Club ...
I’ve never been to an airport lounge so don’t have a clue. It appears from comments here that the United States is beginning to adopt the caste system mentality of India. Just wow.
Yeah the super snob travelers will now want a super VIP exclusive Skyclub. Too many peons in the Skyclubs these days. I used to travel 200 days a years in mid 90s till 2010 and loved it. Now it completely sucks, entitled people everywhere, crybabies. Covid made it horrendous, I cannot unsee how FA’s treated people with the mask bs. I don’t miss it.
Lounge access is the main reason I pay $250 (net) for Chase Sapphire Reserve card. The best lounges I’ve encountered are in Europe — not so crowded, nice foods.
Lounges went to **** when people stopped being passengers and became cargo.
Traveled quite a bit a few years back for the Air Force, so I used miles for United Red carpet Club access. Had a young captain with me at the Los Angeles club, and he was watching for “stars”. He elbows me and pointed out George Takei with his “husband”. Sure enough it was him/it. The captain went to the head, and gay Mr Sulu followed him in. I scored a lot of hits with the hell I gave him afterwards. It got pretty funny.
I once did 300,000 skymiles puddle jumping across the USA that I probably spent more time on the runways and in clubs than I did in the air.
It was the toughest travel year {but one of my best sales years} that I ever had.
The clubs back then were exclusive to high volume or high paying air travelers, not parents with screaming brats.
When the clubs banned smoking, the end was in sight.
I had my first flight in 1959, was a member of the million mile club with multiple airlines, and have not been on a plane in over ten years and have no intention of flying, ever again.
Another deep state perk for the schizoid psychopaths bites the dust.
The way the flying public has degenerated, in a few years the lounges will look like the food court.