Cracking the Airport Lounge Code
If you want to hear me wax poetic about airport lounges, read my full post on my love affair with free food and comfy chairs. Now, let me shed some light on how to gain access to airport nirvana; it’s surprisingly easy and really has changed the travel game for me.
Priority Pass: I have a Priority Pass membership through my American Express Platinum Card. I’ll be honest, Priority Pass doesn’t have the best selection of lounges stateside. There are no Priority Pass accessible lounges at DCA and there are a handful at IAD, but the hours of availability aren’t the best. Priority Pass really shines at smaller airports (like CHS, for example) and overseas where there is a much larger selection of lounges to choose from. You can also purchase a Priority Pass membership outright.
Day Pass: American, United, and Alaska all have one-day membership passes for purchase that range from $55-$60. Apparently, Delta no longer offers one-day passes for purchase. (TIP: If you have the American Express Platinum Card, you can utilize your $200/year airline credit for a lounge day pass.)
Seating class: If you purchase seats in a premium cabin (business or first class) you will gain automatic entry to the airline’s lounge.
Membership: United, American, and Delta all have varying levels of lounge memberships; some in conjunction with credit cards and some as a standalone option. However, all will run you in the hundreds of dollars either outright or as an annual fee. (TIP: If you travel extensively for work and often need to work in transit, see if your company will reimburse you or pay for partial club membership.)
Airline Status: For the most part airline status will only get you lounge access on international flights. Each major airline is part of a larger global alliance (American=OneWorld, United=Star Alliance, Delta=Skyteam); along with the status benefits for your particular airline comes benefits throughout the entire alliance. For the lower levels, this may include extra baggage allowance or priority on the standby list. For the higher levels, the real treat is that lounge access is included as well as priority seating and check-in. This means if you have Premier Gold status or higher on United, you can access Turkish Airlines, Lufthansa, and ANA lounges all over the world. Likewise, if you have Platinum status or higher American Airlines you can access British Airways, Cathay Pacific, and Air Canada lounges around the world.
Oneworld status and Priority Pass are the two ways I most frequently access airport lounges around the world.
Guys, I am a total lounge snob these days and not only do I embrace it, but encourage everyone else to as well. What I thought was a complicated algorithm turned out to be an extremely easy code to crack! Happy lounging.
