Have you also noticed the sad decline of airline lounges?

Airline marketing departments go out of their way to make their frequent flyer lounges appear attractive. Online text is peppered with words such as “tranquil”, “elegant”, “relaxed”, “calm” and “exclusive”. Once upon a time this was the case, before the sad decline we are currently experiencing.

For me, lounges are an important part of the overall travel experience. I’ve been known to arrive at airports early to maximise my lounge time, and I always looked forward to checking out a new lounge. Recent experiences have been far removed from what I have come to expect.

The Marketing Promise

I’ve taken the liberty of lifting some text verbatim from a variety of airline websites and these are the promises. First up, “our lounges offer a tranquil escape from the busy airport environment.” Sounds good, right?

So do these two – “Within this tranquil sanctuary, warmth and elegance converge in an atmosphere of effortless indulgence,” and “Escape the hustle and bustle of the airport and steal moments of calm in one of our lounges. Discover our tranquil oases and choose where to find moments of relaxation before take-off.” Bliss, just what everyone needs before a flight.

How about these? “Sit back, relax and wait for your flight in a more enjoyable way in our exclusive airport lounges – these tranquil spaces allow you to catch up on work, enjoy some light bites or get some rest,” and “Experience unparalleled airport Lounge service in a quiet space to relax and recharge, or get a little work done between flights.”

It all sounds peachy, doesn’t it? I’ll get to wander into an elegant environment, sit down, relax, maybe whip out the laptop and do some work, grab a bite to eat and chill out. And so it once was, the marketing speak lived up to the experience, but no longer.

The Sad Decline

The number one problem with airline lounges today is capacity. For example, when I last passed through London Heathrow Terminal 5 and visited the British Airways lounge, I was shocked at the experience. The first lounge I visited was heaving with people, so much so that I left and went to an alternate lounge which was also packed to the rafters. Certainly not the “tranquil oases” I had come to expect.

It’s the same when I visit the Aer Lingus lounge in Dublin, and it was the same in Addis Ababa in the Ethiopian Airlines lounge. Further afield the Turkish Airlines lounge in Istanbul was also a mass of humanity and I couldn’t find anywhere to sit, so I left (shock, horror!) and the Malaysia Airlines Golden Lounge in Kuala Lumpur has also been overwhelmed by people each of the times I’ve been through it. Icelandair was the same, and so on and so on.

Why are lounges so busy?

I’ve noticed that quite a lot of lounges have not had any kind of expansion in years. For example, the British Airways lounges in T5 at Heathrow opened nearly 20 years ago. BA now carries 12 million extra passengers per annum, yet the facilities have not expanded in proportion to this.

More and more credit cards are providing lounge access as a perk. Some offer lounge passes, some offer straight up access and a lot of the time all you need to do is apply for the card. It really removes the “exclusive” part that the airlines are so fond of writing on their sites, doesn’t it?

Our current media landscape – and the current distribution of wealth – also has a part to play. Writers online (hi!) and video bloggers have drawn people’s attention to what lounges offer, making them an aspirational item when travelling.

That coupled with the fact that more and more people can afford to shell out for premium airline tickets these days has created the perfect storm. Crowded, heaving airline lounges, where frazzled staff struggle to cope with the cleaning and noisy children with tired parents run amok disturbing all the supposed “tranquility”. It can be quite unpleasant.

Overall Thoughts

The sad decline in airline lounges is pretty disheartening. I no longer look forward to visiting a lounge before I fly. Recently I booked business class tickets with Etihad. There’s no lounge access included and I don’t care. I’ll save my sanity and sit in the terminal, rather than endure the disappointment of full lounges.

It doesn’t really have to be this way. A lot of airlines have been making eye wateringly huge profits. Some of that should be invested in the ground experience. Some lounges need to be expanded, or additional facilities opened to cater for demand. Others are well overdue for a full renovation. Your design ethos is probably out of date and looking very sad after 20 years.

What’s your take on the sad decline of airline lounges? Are you finding similar issues to what I’ve described here? Are there any lounges you know of that still live up to the marketing hype? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

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