$30 for a day pass to a first class lounge? I can't believe that at all. Can you show me which airports and lounges offer that because I'm going to take them up on it.
Um... All airports with United or American lounges? It's $50 a day, though. With American, they actively try to sell you a day pass on their in-airport check-in terminals.
Edit: please don't correct actual life experience with a quote from Wikipedia.
United Club is the name of their "first class" lounge, as people incorrectly refer to them. Those United Club Lounges have complimentary booze [1]. And no airline is going to allow a passenger to board who had obviously consumed the amount of alcohol you're referring to. I know: I practically lived at the T3 United Club lounge at O'Hare for many years, I was traveling so much. Not as much any more, but when I've been delayed significantly and I'm super-stressed because I'm speaking at a conference or something, I still occasionally get a day pass.
The United lounges you're referring to are considerably more elite, and most travelers don't even know they exist. Again, taken from actual experience and not a quick perusal of a Wikipedia article.
American's "Admiral's Club" [2] no longer offers complimentary liquor.
That's United Club - that's not the first class lounge at all.
If you read the wikipedia page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Club it says you can buy access to United Club, but doesn't say that about the first class lounge. In fact it says:
"the access rules are significantly more restrictive than for United Club. Access to Global First Lounges is generally restricted to United Global First passengers, Star Alliance First Class customers, and Global Services passengers confirmed in Business Class."
In the first class lounge you get free food and drink including alcohol. If you could really get in for $50 a day, you could easily eat and drink that much worth.
> If you could really get in for $50 a day, you could easily eat and drink that much worth.
Or just get an American Express card (Platinum, ideally - no additional fees) and net access to the Centurion lounge and all Delta lounges (when flying Delta).
The Centurion lounge is second-to-none domestically, and the Delta lounges aren't half-bad when it comes to the free booze (some are self-serve - Jack Daniels, Grey Goose, etc.)
And they haven't reduced the fee even while losing Continental lounges when it was bought by United.
For my money, the Citi AAdvantage Executive card is a better similar card, because it now gives you access to all AA and USAirways lounges. While you're right that in my experience the Delta lounges are better (the only amex lounge I've been to is at mccarran), what matters most to me is a lounge in the cities i connect thru.
The Citi card is the same AF as the Amex Plat but Plat has policy of never waiving first year AF and Citi often has a promotion doing just that (or a portion of).
But on the other hand, with that $400 you also get free Global Entry & PreCheck, $200 of airline incidentals per year (in-air food, baggage overages, upgrades, whatever), unlimited free companion tickets when you purchase tickets for yourself via their concierge service, free gold/elite status with most major car rental and hotel chains, and whatever other non-travel benefits there are. For frequent travelers it can pretty easily pay for itself.
That's because they're a huge international airline and they have to keep things kosher.
GS is a special invite status reserved for celebrities and high ranking politicians. My assumption is that they need that space so that they can load the person from the tarmac or have them check out of the airport. Thats speculation, but those individuals do have different needs from an airline. [Also onboarding needs as well as that they don't enter from the jetway]
GS folks board normally, though sometimes will get called by name to board first. GS is invited essentially on revenue only (though perhaps special people have special handling). If your spend is above $50k, you probably have a fair chance of getting invited to GS.
United Clubs simply aren't first class lounges. Just because a true fact is on Wikipedia doesn't make it less true. Also the complimentary booze has been pretty cut back and they now charge bar-like prices for many items. In general their service level for first class passengers in their main region seems to be declining (particularly the in flight meals-I've had stuff I'd send back at a burger king).
Lounges can be between $30 - $100-ish depending on location, quality, amenities etc. There are lots of really great lounges that can be had without expensive flight tickets - http://www.plaza-network.com/ it's interesting that most people don't know about independent lounge providers. These lounges have massages, showers, tasty food, etc. For people who don't travel enough to warrant a membership but still wants a nice experience it's pretty awesome.
I started using airport lounges when I joined LoungeBuddy (since I had no idea it's even a thing worth checking out before), and it's definitely is a much better experience.
(disclosure - I do iOS work at LoungeBuddy and we pretty much have all the information on all the lounges on the entire planet, including access rules and entry price of they offer walk ups etc. http://www.loungebuddy.com/ )
yeah, I've seen $30 for a day pass for your guest when you've got a fancy membership, and Delta day-pass rates tend to be closer to $50 (similar to the rates they have here -- https://www.delta.com/skyclub/purchasemembership_performRequ... -- but you need to buy it associated with a ticket somehow so the only rates listed are bulk rates).
You can also buy the membership, or apply for the credit card that gets you the membership as a miscellaneous benefit.
For all the bad press about US inequality (and our health insurance system is a disaster) and for all our right-wing politics (the two-party system allows the authoritarian/psychotic 30% that every country has to gain a major foothold; EU loonies and racists are split between left and right but ours have been successfully corralled to right and "the base" of a major party) I will actually go on record to say that, at heart, Americans aren't very elitist or classist.
In other countries where the rich are held to be simply better people, and act with impunity, the rules are very different. See, the Midwestern neurosurgeon in the US is, in technical terms, not a fucking prick, so he doesn't mind sharing the lounge with a guy who bought a day pass. On the other hand, some lieutenant for a third-world despot, or some unionbusting murderer in a Chinese factory, is going to be pissed if he finds out that someone from economy class was let in to the lounge. So overseas, in countries where the rich are just a lot worse, a lot of lounges have no-day-pass policies.
You can bribe your way in, but that's icky. I have no problem with cheating a large corporation, but foreign airlines are pretty awful to lounge agents who are caught taking bribes.
There's a difference between the regular lounge anyone can buy day passes/memberships to, and the premium-class lounges for international flights. Access to the former does not get you access to the latter; typically, only an actual premium-class international ticket for that day, or possessing top-tier frequent-flier status in the airline or alliance, gets you into those.
In the US, you can. In less enlightened countries, that's not the case. Of course, for a 2-hour domestic flight, the lounge is just a perk rather than a necessity.
> In less enlightened countries, that's not the case.
Less enlightened? Wow, I don't even know what to say to that. Even if you're just referring to their louge policy that's a pretty strange turn of phrase, but I doubt that was the implication.
The lounge really has nothing to do with the length of the flight, rather, it's the length of the layover. Though I suppose you mean as compared to an international lounge where the hot shower is desirable.
Now THOSE lounges are worth some self-righteous envy. I had the pleasure of using one a few years back. Did wonders for my feeling like a herd animal for my second leg.
