As I started traveling by plane so much more, I started to consider the value of those airline clubs, and wonder if it’d really be worth the $250 – $500 for a single person yearly membership. The problem that I have with this, as mentioned before, is that I’m flying airlines in all 3 of the major alliances, Star, SkyTeam, and oneWorld, and that I’m often in an airport that only has a club lounge from one or 2 of the three groups. And, even if the right airline’s club is in the airport I’m at, it might be in the wrong terminal for the flight I’m taking that day.
So, hold that thought for a minute…
I like to keep my finances for work and family separate – trying to use the same credit card (I don’t have a business card, I just expense it weekly) for our travel and my work travel is frustrating. So I went out to get an American Express charge card exclusively for business travel. Looking over the costs, I saw a $15 / year increase from the “Green” card to the “Gold” card, but didn’t see a comparable (to me) increase in benefits (likely due to the fact that I’ll never use it for “shopping”). On a whim, I thought: well, what are the benefits for Platinum?
While expensive compared to the others, the benefits are great. First, going back to the opening line of the post: I now have access to every airline lounge, for myself and a guest, as long as I have a ticket on that airline. Sometimes all this means is a free can of soda for the 15 minute wait before boarding, but it almost always means access to a charger, and always means much more comfortable seats. Also, the card gives me guaranteed late arrival for every hotel booking automatically, and gauranteed space (if they overbook). There’s a few other features for car rental and things that are worth looking at, but this first one was the deal maker to me. Now whenever we fly together, I just take the work card along with me to flash at the airline, and Amanda and I both get to sit in a much more comfortable area while we wait to board.
Filed under: Airlines, Awards Tagged: | comfort, lifestyle, Travel
I just looked up American Express Platinum -with a $450 annual fee you think it is worth it? How often do you use airline club lounges?
At least twice a week, every time I’m at the airport. The Red Carpet Clubs (United) and SkyTeam (Delta, NWA, Continental) notify you of gate changes – Admiral’s clubs do sometimes, but not always by announcement.
Last week I flew Continental twice and United once, and this week I’m on American. Each morning flight it’s great to stop in there for free muffins and coffee or soda, and a much nicer place to catch a 15 minute nap if you have the time.
Last year we flew to Australia and had a 4 hour layover in LA on the way. Paying $125 for that single stay, to be able to shower and freshen up at midnight (our body clock time), was wonderful, because we just felt so much more comfortable for the next 15. Having the same luxuries every single trip is great.
My suggestion is to pay for a 1-day entry into one of them, if you’ve never been, to help you experience the amenities first hand, before making the final decision.
However, remember that you have all of the other benefits for rental car insurance, baggage insurance, etc. If you’re on the road a lot, those can be made up in the yearly membership fee too, potentially.
My first and only experience in an airport lounge was with my coworker in Atlanta this past winter. He uses the lounges frequently. The first couple of minutes were great! We lazed around in the comfy chairs, helped ourselves to some snacks, and leisurely chatted about random things. A few minutes later, our attention turned to the newscast – An American Airlines flight was about to make an emergency landing (I think in Florida but no where near Atlanta). As we watched the newscast & waited for the flight to land safely, my heart raced knowing that I was about to get on an American airlines flight. Unfortunately we had to leave before we found out what happened. My coworker didn’t seem too worried but I was ready to get home and get away from planes. Of course the end result was positive & we and the other flight made it home safely. That’s my airport lounge story. The moral of this story – don’t watch TV when you’re in an airport lounge!
I guess I can see how the TV would not be relaxing in that kind of situation.
We plan to write a more careful analysis of this particular program, but I will say that I have really enjoyed this luxury as well… Last year I spent a lot of time waiting for delayed flights and would have given anything to be able to find a comfy seat. Ha! I even tried to sit down on the floor in LaGuardia once and another passenger let me know he had just seen some mice on the same floor area.