What’s in an airport lounge?

Reader Shimones emailed the other day to ask why the airport lounges I’ve discussed via Twitter (@wennecorp) and this blog are so great exactly. Glad you asked Shimones (great name by the way)! Airport lounges are basically the opposite of everything you normally get at an airport.

Here is the list of things you typically get at an airport:

• Loud noise
• Expensive wifi
• Expensive drinks
• Expensive food
• Cramped space
• Gross bathrooms
• Long lines to talk to airline personnel about your flight

Here is the list of things you typically get in at an airport lounge:

• Little to no noise
• Free wifi
• Free soft drinks and certain free wines, beers and liquors
• Free snacks
• Large, comfy lounge chairs and personal workspaces
• Clean, beautiful bathrooms
• Multiple airline personnel available to help you with anything you need

Sounds literally like heaven, right? Right! The four legacy carriers each have their own set of lounges: US Airways Club, American Admirals Club, United Club, and Delta Sky Club. Alaska Airlines has the Board Room at their major hubs, but for the most part they just contract with Delta’s Sky Clubs.  International airlines usually have clubs at major U.S. hubs. Southwest, AirTran, and JetBlue don’t have any.

There are at least a couple clubs at every hub airport for these airlines. Washington-Reagan has Delta, two US Airways, and United. Dulles has United. O’Hare has American, United, Delta. Saint Louis even has a brand new Admirals Club! The megahubs have a ton. Dallas has four Admirals Clubs. Atlanta has nine Sky Clubs.

How to get in a lounge

There are a number of ways to get into an airline lounge. One is to buy a day pass. Those usually run in the $40-$50 range. Another is to buy a yearly membership. Those run in the $500 range. Even another is to get the top elite status on some airlines, which will earn you the right to enter any club when you’re flying. This can run you in the neighborhood of $10,000-$15,000 of flying to reach that status level.

Personally,  I don’t fly one airline all the time, so getting membership in one lounge doesn’t make sense for me. I fly all four of the major legacy carriers, and membership to each of those clubs would cost me $2,000 a year! Besides that, since I prefer flying for free, I figured I might as well get club access for free too.

A number of credit cards offer access to lounges. American Express has a couple cards that provide free access to Delta, American, and US Airways (no United). These cards come with amazing benefits like an annual $200 voucher that can be used on an airline of your choice (I personally bought American Airlines gift cards and used them towards a free flight), and reimbursed cost for Global Entry, which gets you TSA PreCheck. But the problem is these cards normally cost ~$475 a year.

Not if I have anything to say about it!

Currently there is a functioning link for an American Express Platinum card that has no annual fee for one year. It says you need an Amerprise account, but I don’t have one and I was able to get approved. It still gets me $200 in airline credits, and free TSA PreCheck, and club access, and Starwood and Hertz Gold status. But I don’t pay a dime for a whole year! So I’m basically getting paid to have airline lounge access. It might seem weird, but I actually prefer that to paying.

Using the card

Anytime you’re traveling, you can use any Delta, US Airways, or American lounge in the airport you’re traveling from or to, or any airport you’re laying over in. Just walk in and present your card at the desk. Personally I haven’t tried using it on an airline I’m not flying, but many many blogs have indicated it doesn’t matter. You can use any of the lounges that Amex Platinum offers access to.