The Airport Lounge

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The Wall Street Journal recently featured an article about the changes to airport lounges.  Instead of having the traditional airline lounges, now credit card companies are getting in on the act, providing competition for the frequent flier, and especially the business flier market.

As someone who does travel a lot for business, I can appreciate the need for a little healthy competition in this area.  Although a few airlines have nice, marquee lounges – e.g. United’s international business lounge at O’Hare – the reality is that these lounges also aren’t what they used to be.  The days of luxury business travel, a la Don Draper, are a thing of the past.  While non-US airlines like Lufthansa, Air New Zealand, and Cathay Pacific, feature great lounges with pretty expansive food choices (including sandwiches, hot courses, free drinks, and even salad bars), the US airlines aren’t focused on those amenities.  At the United lounge in Chicago, for example, some chex mix, crackers and cheese, and free soda is about all you will get.  If you want a glass of wine, you’ll pay full freight and then some for that – cheap Chardonnay for $18 anyone?

So I’m open to what American Express and other credit card companies are doing to try to develop a new niche among those of us who use the lounges to do real work, including on some long layovers.  Maybe it will also make the US airlines step up and reconsider their approach to their most valued customers.

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