I’ve been in the miles and points space for 14 years now. You’d remember the good old days when the Amex Platinum Card had an annual fee of just $450? Yes, that seems paltry compared to the current $895. The space has changed a lot. There are a lot more players, a lot more people participating and issuers have constantly made changes to their benefits and product offerings. Over the years, many travel credit cards, especially the premium ones have always touted one key aspect about their products: exclusivity. If you look over the last ten years, you’ll see plenty of blog posts or vlogs diving into premium experiences in first or business class or at a luxury hotel. One such premium experience marketed on travel credit cards has been the lounge access benefit. However, given all the changes going on over the last few years, is the benefit way past its prime?
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Lounge Access – No longer exclusive or premium?
What really defines premium or exclusive? In simple parlance, it’s a product, benefit or a service that very few people have access to. When airline and co-brand credit card lounges were new, there was a sense of exclusivity. The offerings were fresh and the lounges were a great option to wind down or get work done before a flight.
However, like other things in this space, things kept changing.
- Competition: More issuers joined the fray, offering products at price points that were affordable to more customers
- Priority Pass Proliferation: More issuers offered Priority Pass lounge access with guest access, which mean more people, especially in lounges operated within the Priority Pass network
- More issuer branded lounges popped up. In addition to Amex, Capital One and Chase also entered the arena with their own lounges.
- Credit Requirements: Progressively, we saw people with slightly lower credit scores also getting approved for premium credit card products, which meant that the numbers kept adding up.
Issuers’ Response
For issuers investing a ton of money into lounges, the last thing they’d want is to see a product offering go from being exclusive to becoming a mere commodity. So, issuers responded with their own restrictions:
- Most recently, the Ritz Carlton Card by Chase curtailed guest visit via Priority Pass
- Amex requires you to spend $75,000 in a year on the card to unlock guest access to their Centurion Lounge now
- Delta Sky Club access via the Amex Platinum Card is now restricted to 10 visits per calendar year, unless you spend $75,000
Enjoy access to the Delta Sky Club® as part of the Global Lounge Collection benefit‡. Platinum Card® Members receive 10 Visits each year to the Delta Sky Club when flying eligible Delta flights, to be used from February 1 until January 31 of the next calendar year. Platinum Card® Members can unlock Unlimited Delta Sky Club Access after spending $75,000 in eligible purchases in a calendar year. Unlimited Delta Sky Club Access will be available for the remainder of the calendar year in which it was earned as well as the following calendar year and through January 31 of the next calendar year.‡
When Everyone’s Elite, Nobody Really Is
As someone who has been using his miles and points to fly premium cabins for years, I’ve seen a clear distinction appear between airline operated lounges for premium passengers (especially outside the US), compared to lounges operated by card issuers, shared lounges at the airports or via the Priority Pass network. For example, as someone who frequently loves to fly to or connect in Singapore, I still find Singapore’s lounges at Changi airport to be top notch. The same goes for lounges in the UAE when you fly premium cabins with Emirates or Etihad.
The Pundit’s Mantra
When I’m flying premium cabins, I like to reach the airport early to get access to the lounge. However, when I’m flying coach, I’m not as keen, unless I have lounge access due to airline status. In general, we’ve seen a dilution of benefits, going from exclusive to commoditized. This can always happen as any industry matures, but the allure or getting early to the airport to access the lounge has surely faded. What was once meant to be a calm sanctuary has been replaced by serpentine queues, just to enter them. While I still love many of the benefits on the premium credit cards that I carry, I’d still think that lounge access benefits via credits cards have lost their charm.
What do you think? Do you still visit lounges with the same level of excitement or feel the same level of exclusivity when you’re at one? Tell us in the comments section.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Credit Card Offers
American Express Business Credit Cards
- Earn 200,000 Membership Rewards points with the Business Platinum Card
- Earn 100,000 Membership Rewards points with the Business Gold Card by American Express
Chase Sapphire Cards
- 75,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points up for grabs with the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card!
- Earn 125,000 bonus points with the Chase Sapphire Reserve Card
- Earn 155,000 bonus points with the Chase Sapphire Reserve Card for Business Card
- Chase Ink Business Preferred Card offering a limited time welcome bonus of 100,000 points
Marriott Bonvoy
So there are industries (mine is one of them) where the fees are waived…JUST FOR BEING AN EMPLOYEE.!! There is a small.catch to it but I gather this is part of the huge problem. My industry contains the exact people that are being described in these comment. (How they look and act, anyway). They are entitled and trust they, have everything handed to to them. I know this is very ambigous for me to state but it is true. AMEX is waiving theirir fees for my industry of people, which is why you see more and more of this detoriatiion of these lounges. They are most likely waiving the fee.for other industries as well.
Sound like uncle Sam’s army confuses the premium lounge with their chow hall. Even the USO lounge looks empty
@MIchael S: Yeah, if people can easily access the lounge, then the exclusivity dies right there. It’s no longer a premium experience if the access is very easy to get in the first place.
I have a credit card that grants 2 one-day passes to the United Club. They expire after one year. My beef is that they are worthless, since nearly every time I travel, which becomes less and less each year, I find the Clubs are full and are not accepting the One-day passes. Useless.
@mary: I used to have that card many years ago and canceled the card for the same reason, expiring lounge access passes.
PP lounge access is almost a scam.
This industry needs a complete overhaul to make it “exclusive”.
When you have credit card with 299 fees advertised lounge access, you know it’s worthless.
I’ve been a Priority Pass member for around 20 years, and over the past four years I’ve travelled through Manchester Airport Terminal 2 approximately 26 times a year. Unfortunately, on every visit I’ve been asked to wait for lounge access, and by the time my name is called, I’m already boarding my flight.
I appreciate that lounges can be busy, but this has become a consistent pattern, and it means I haven’t been able to make use of the membership at all at this location. With that in mind, I’m considering whether it still represents good value for me going forward.
@MOHAMMED KAZI: This seems to be happening globally, no longer restricted to the US any more.
Priority Pass has become unusable in the US airports where we travel. There is always a line that never clears or, if the gatekeeper is more honest, simply told there is no space available. It feels like bait-and-switch – AMEX loudly touts the benefit of Priority Pass, but never delivers.
@Richard: Precisely, it isn’t a premium experience if you have to wait in line and keep staring at an app for your turn.
You nailed it- when everyone is special, no one is. I’ve completely given up on any access, any upgrade, any status and any perks. It’s just who can get me there fastest and cheapest. I invest that money in me now, not an airline or credit card. I’m certainly not standing in line or waiting to be paged for a lounge that has been trashed by gen z and millennial parents who think it’s cute that their kids are running around screaming and throwing food. Or frat boys seeing who can drink the most and cuss the loudest. I think Clear, TSA Precheck and Global Entry should be $1000 per year PER PERSON (at least), even minors.
No more entire families clogging up security on 1 person’s pre-check. And you have to fly enough to even be considered for it and take a test to know the basics of how it works. Same with premium credit cards. If you want exclusive it should be at least $2000 a year for the card. Priirity Pass should $2000 as well. Cut out the Gen Z, the people with kids and people bringing all their buddies. You get 1 person for free with you and if you have a gaggle of kids, you pay per kid to get access to the lounge- at least $50 per kid. Same with your frat boy buddies. Min credit score of 790 to get the card. This is just a microcosm of our society, a nose dive into below average. It takes below average credit scores to get in and it comes with below average dress, below average manners and below average social presence. I fly weekly- it’s just a sea of cameltoes in spandex, flip flops on nasty feet, people wearing sneakers with ill fitted suits and talking on their phones usually with the speaker on trying to sound important, thinking they’re important and yet not pulling either off. And drinking as much as they can, business or pleasure. Our future looks very bleak with this crowd of below average. I’m stunned they have jobs. Or money to fly. I guess that explains the massive credit card debt.
@CG: Indeed, the price we’re paying is premium, but the experience isn’t.
We get more than 5 hour and often over night layover and the new Centurion 5 yr rule is nail in coffin. Canceling at renewal in April. Other changes not a deal breaker with Capital One and Chase.
As someone with close to 3 million miles and 45 years of flying, I had access to the airline clubs when you purchased the membership directly with no credit card access benefit. The clubs were clean, rarely dull and the people respected that they were in a place where people were either trying to relax or work. Unlike most others acquired the credit cards and had access to the big of three airlines and AMEX.
The whole environment changed. They were crowded, not clean and filled with the same people I was avoiding at the in boarding gate.
It seems to be ok to talk load, take your shoes off and put your feet on the table, make sure every piece of luggage has its own seat and attack the free food as of it is your last meal. I ended up canceling all of the club cards. It just was not worth it any more.
I will admit intake mostly non stops and I like to leave in the morning. The club was for a pitstop, coffee and maybe breakfast. Some of the time with the lines I could not even get in.
I would typically spend over $75k on Amex so no limits, but many times I walked in and walked out.
@JohnFerrari: I second that. I have been traveling for the last 15+ years (nowhere close to as much as you have), but even I’ve seen the deterioration in terms of the experience.
I always use the virtual wait list now on the way to the airport . Not standing in line for a long wait. Only exception is Sapphire lounge as they are head and shoulders above the other 2 at LAS.