Airport lounges, please post your experience, how to get to the lounge, if it was worthy of the visit, and if you had to go through security again...

[CalGalTraveler]

If your priority pass allows restaurants (Chase Sapphire does, not all AMEX do), then go for the restaurant. $28 for you and a guest toward food/drink.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Centurion Lounge at ATL Opens Tomorrow - Miles to Memories

At nearly 26,000 square feet, this will be the largest lounge in the Centurion Lounge network.

milestomemories.com

 

[jwalk03]

If your priority pass allows restaurants (Chase Sapphire does, not all AMEX do), then go for the restaurant. $28 for you and a guest toward food/drink.

The Ritz Card is a Chase card so yes it does include the restaurant benefit.

 

[sun starved Gayle]

Question on the $28.00 restaurant benefit for both the card holder and “registered guest”.

How do you go about registering a guest? We both have Chase Sapphire Reserve cards and don’t alway travel with the same people, do you need to pre-register each time you have a new guest?

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Question on the $28.00 restaurant benefit for both the card holder and “registered guest”.

How do you go about registering a guest? We both have Chase Sapphire Reserve cards and don’t alway travel with the same people, do you need to pre-register each time you have a new guest?

No it is who shows up with you at the restaurant. You show PP card before seating.

 

[sun starved Gayle]

Unfortunately, That’s not how it worked at PDX last month at Caper’s Restaurant and Lounge. They said the guest had to be pre-registered. I am scratching my head over that, still trying to figure it out.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Sounds like an excuse. Where did they say you were supposed to register your guest? Would complain to PP.

 

[jwalk03]

I used my Priority Pass for the first time last week!

ATL- Used the restaurant credit for the Sam Adams Brew House in Terminal B. The food was ok, nothing spectacular, but for free I'll take it. We easily stayed under the $56 limit for me +1 so the only out of pocket cost was a tip for our server.

ATL- We also went to the Club ATL in Terminal F. It was very nice. Full bar with a good selection for free and they had a nice buffet setup as well. If I had realized they had a full buffet offering I would have skipped Sam Adams and just eaten in the Lounge. I did have some cookies and a salad that were good. It was not that crowded and comfortable. Well worth the effort to take the Plane Train over there.

BWI- The only Priority Pass Lounge at BWI is in The Club in Concourse D which is not connected airside to Concourse A, B, & C. So I decided it wasn't worth having to clear security twice just to visit the lounge for an hour or so during my layover. But we did walk over to the Harbor Grille in Concourse C to use the restaurant credit there. I had a delicious crab cake and my son had a really good fish & chips. We went over the $56 credit this time so it cost about $10 plus tip out of pocket. Still worth it. I do wish they would connect all the concourses air side.

 

[silentg]

We received a lounge pass from Aer Lingus, has anyone been to their lounge? In Dublin? Going in June.

 

[Luanne]

My daughter and I used the United lounge passes provided by another generous TUGGer in Denver. We weren't able to use them on the way out as the lounge was full and not accepting one time passes. On our return trip we were able to use them. It was great as we had an almost 3 hour layover. So much nicer to wait in the lounge with comfortable seating, food, and clean restrooms. Thank you again @Seaport104 !

 

[jehb2]

deleted

 

[JudyH]

My best lounge ever was Hong Kong while we waited to fly onto Viet Nam 2017. Great food. Returning to Hong Kong for Cathay Pacific, from Singapore, we could only go to a mediocre lounge. First world problem.

 

[jwalk03]

Went to The Club LAS (near D33- Terminal 1) at Harry Reid International Airport today. It was an EXTREMELY underwhelming experience.

The staff was nice but the food offerings were pretty bad.
- Cold, Bland Penne Pasta with Tomato Sauce
- Cold BBQ Pork Sliders that had about a thimble full of pork on each one. (They even brought out a fresh batch and they were still cold!)
- Bag of spring mix in a bowl with dressing- no croutons, or cheese or anything else to have on the salad.
- Tray of Peppers
- Vegetable Soup (didn’t try it)

They did have a bar with beer, wine & spirits so that was good- and the bartender was very friendly.

Also nice bathrooms and once we found seats they were nice as well. But the food offerings were just really really poor!

Hopefully the new Chase Sapphire Lounge will be open before my next trip to Vegas!!

 

[melissy123]

From Chase:

As of July 1, 2024, you will no longer have access to restaurants, cafes, and markets participating in the Priority Pass Select network as part of the Priority Pass Select Benefit associated with your card. Access to Priority Pass Select’s network of lounges and other select airport experiences is not impacted by this update.

 

[mchct]

Ouch, I wasn't aware that Chase was changing and removing the Priority Pass restaurant dining credit! Thanks for the update.

We have the JPM Reserve (formerly Palladium) card and do like to use the Priority Pass restaurant dining credit especially if we're flying out of SFO. According to the Points Guy, these four cc's still have the Priority Pass dining benefit: Bank of America Premium Rewards Elite*, Capital One Venture X , Business Citi Prestige® Card, UBS Visa Infinite Card. But it sounds like most cc's are slowly getting rid of the expensive or not cost effective benefits.

Otherwise the JPM Reserve cc benefits are pretty identical to the Chase Sapphire Reserve, except that the JPM offers a United Club membership.

South East Asia is where we found Priority Pass lounges to be more plentiful and pretty good, but some of the lounges closed during covid and downscaled when they re-opened. And those PP lounges tend to be a bit more useful because if we're not flying United or a United partner, we can't access the United Club. And in SE Asia we'll usually fly on a low cost carrier from the main airports like Bangkok, Malaysia or Singapore to a smaller city, so it's nice to have the Priority Pass lounges available. And those SE Asia PP lounges are much nicer than the US ones.

When we're flying in the US, we use the Am Ex Centurion lounges through the platinum American Express. Usually, we're generally stuck with United Clubs and so far we've been lucky and haven't encountered a fully packed United Club so we've always gotten in. The United Polaris Lounge at SFO was packed the last time and no seating at all and the buffet spread was meh.

We like the Honolulu United Club, as they have a Dole Whip machine! And the last couple of trips there they had local eats - steamer tray of kalua pork, Hawaiian sweet rolls, and steamed white rice to build your own sliders or bowl in addition to the usual (salads, veggies, cut fruit, cheeses, snack mix, etc.) airline lounge food offerings.

For international, in Haneda Tokyo you and two guest can use the ANA lounge with your United Club membership (or if you're Star Alliance Gold, plus one guest) and they have a ramen and udon noodle bar that you can order (with scannable QR code app) food from. They also have shower rooms to freshen up with nice (I think Shiseido?) amenities and they also used to have Dyson hair dryers too although the Dysons are gone now and replaced with a Japanese brand. At Narita, you can go to the United Club or ANA lounge with your UC membership or *AG. In Bangkok, UC members or *AG can use the Thai Airways lounge and I think they also had a noodle bar or something.

I haven't been to any of the newer Chase lounges, but husband likes the one in Boston Logan and Dulles IAD and gets access via the JPM Reserve Priority Pass membership. On his UA flight last week, he got an email invite to the secret United "Classified" at EWR and had never been, so he tried it. It's not free and you need an invite and I guess it's something that United does to try and make it special? He said it was just ok (good to try once) and wouldn't go if invited again and would just go to the United Club instead. Not sure what criteria United uses to determine who gets invited, but assuming their elites? Hubby is UA 1K this year, so maybe that's why. Or maybe there weren't as many UA Global Service members around for them to invite! If interested, here's a link to some info on United's EWR Classified. https://www.travelandleisure.com/united-airlines-newark-restaurant-classified-reopens-6746452

Anyways, we do like to have lounge access as it makes the travel much more comfortable especially if there are any delays. You have a more comfortable place to sit, have snacks and drinks, maybe shower, check messages/emails, charge up your phones/tablets/power banks. And if it's an airline lounge the front desk there can usually help you if you need to re-book or change seats on your upcoming flight. Just wish that the lounges weren't as crowded, people would stop (or move outside, away from everyone!) having major/loud conversations or facetime chats, and parents would control their wild kids! Too much to ask for...

 

[rickandcindy23]

That is a major downgrade in Chase Sapphire Reserve benefits, especially since DEN has ZERO Priority Pass lounges. The airport is huge, so I see no good excuse to not have a lounge for card holders. They currently do have the two restaurants, but they better build something in Denver quickly, or we will have to drop one of our CSR cards.

 

[djaneczko]

PP can get you in the Chase Lounge in LGA (terminal B) once per year…no family or friends.
We went on our way to New Orleans this week, it was very good.

MSY has The Club which is also PP and good.

 

[frank808]

PP can get you in the Chase Lounge in LGA (terminal B) once per year…no family or friends.
We went on our way to New Orleans this week, it was very good.

MSY has The Club which is also PP and good.

You can use your non chase PP to visit any one Chase lounge once per year. I have only visited the BOS and I don't know if the IAD one has opened yet. I know the LAS one hasn't last week.

If you have 3 PP memberships from different credit cards, you can visit 3 Chase lounges annually using a different PP card each visit. With no guests.

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[frank808]

That is a major downgrade in Chase Sapphire Reserve benefits, especially since DEN has ZERO Priority Pass lounges. The airport is huge, so I see no good excuse to not have a lounge for card holders. They currently do have the two restaurants, but they better build something in Denver quickly, or we will have to drop one of our CSR cards.

Product change to the Ritz Carlton card. You get Chase lounge entrance and same PP benefits as CSR.

The AF is $450 but you get $300 flying credit with whatever airline. You do have to call in to have agent apply the $300 credit (usually takes about 3 minutes). And you get an 85K FNA certificate. Just $55 more than what the standard Amex Marriott card gives you but the standard Amex card is a 50K FNA.

I have using this RC for years but now with no PP restaurants starting July 1. The RC PP has no limit to the number of guests you can bring to a lounge. The most I have tried is 4 guests and I did not get charges. Also authorized users on the RC card is free and each AU gets their own individual PP membership. I did enjoy the Chase Lounge at BOS. So will still keep the card for Chase and PP lounge access.

Guess you have to get a United club membership if flying out of DEN. If you get rid of one CSR you can get the United Club card for $525AF. Delta lounges are a bit better than United lounges IMHO (although I have seen long lines at Delta clubs but never at United). I have found United lounges to be pretty consistent and have never not found a seat. For longer layovers in DEN, we would use PP at Sweetwater Taphouse. Then on the way to gates, stop by the United Fly grab and go by gate B60 and stock up on some pretty good snacks for our next flight.

The standout lounge in the United Club network is at EWR by gate C123. Large, airy, lots of staff, a nice bar, 2 or 3 agents if you need help with reservations and the only domestic United Club with showers. I have eaten at the EWR Polaris lounge then just relax at the United club in C123. I have never had a really long wait for showers in United club but everytime I have tried at Polaris lounge it has been a 15-30 minute wait. And the polaris showers are smaller than the club ones. I compare the food in Polaris (only been to the EWR one ) to be comparable to the Chase Lounge. Nothing like a gourmet meal but definitely a step above regular lounges. Polaris and Chase meals equal to or a step above the PP restaurants(of course some restaurants accepting PP are better than others).

Hope this helps with your lounge trek.

We fly mainly United and Star Alliance partners on flights outside Hawaii. Have tried to make our travels as comfortable as can be for the least amount of money. Seems to follow our TS ethos also.

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[frank808]

.

When we're flying in the US, we use the Am Ex Centurion lounges through the platinum American Express. Usually, we're generally stuck with United Clubs and so far we've been lucky and haven't encountered a fully packed United Club so we've always gotten in. The United Polaris Lounge at SFO was packed the last time and no seating at all and the buffet spread was meh.

We like the Honolulu United Club, as they have a Dole Whip machine! And the last couple of trips there they had local eats - steamer tray of kalua pork, Hawaiian sweet rolls, and steamed white rice to build your own sliders or bowl in addition to the usual (salads, veggies, cut fruit, cheeses, snack mix, etc.) airline lounge food offerings.

For international, in Haneda Tokyo you and two guest can use the ANA lounge with your United Club membership (or if you're Star Alliance Gold, plus one guest) and they have a ramen and udon noodle bar that you can order (with scannable QR code app) food from. They also have shower rooms to freshen up with nice (I think Shiseido?) amenities and they also used to have Dyson hair dryers too although the Dysons are gone now and replaced with a Japanese brand. At Narita, you can go to the United Club or ANA lounge with your UC membership or *AG. In Bangkok, UC members or *AG can use the Thai Airways lounge and I think they also had a noodle bar or something.

I haven't been to any of the newer Chase lounges, but husband likes the one in Boston Logan and Dulles IAD and gets access via the JPM Reserve Priority Pass membership. On his UA flight last week, he got an email invite to the secret United "Classified" at EWR and had never been, so he tried it. It's not free and you need an invite and I guess it's something that United does to try and make it special? He said it was just ok (good to try once) and wouldn't go if invited again and would just go to the United Club instead. Not sure what criteria United uses to determine who gets invited, but assuming their elites? Hubby is UA 1K this year, so maybe that's why. Or maybe there weren't as many UA Global Service members around for them to invite! If interested, here's a link to some info on United's EWR Classified. https://www.travelandleisure.com/united-airlines-newark-restaurant-classified-reopens-6746452

Anyways, we do like to have lounge access as it makes the travel much more comfortable especially if there are any delays.

Have never been inside the Centurion lounges but have walked by the one in SFO and LAX at TBIT. I have heard when they opened they were awesome. But now they are overcrowded and the food and drinks are not what they once were. On par with Polaris food offerings?

I have found the EWR Polaris lounge a zoo all the times I have been in. I actually just get a meal (the Polaris burger) and then walk 4 minutes to the United Club at C123. Better showers and usually less crowded than the Polaris lounge. I see you mentioned Polaris at SFO is crowded also. Have only flown international out of Newark so that is the only Polaris I can compare to and like I said it has been crowded everytime. Like asking to seat with other people crowded. Buffet spread at Chase lounge at BOS was better than Polaris offerings.

If you leave on an early flight out or arrive early in HNL you can also use the ANA lounge as a United Club member or *G. Their food offerings were way better than United clubs. This was before covid. I have only flown red eyes leaving HNL since 2020 and arrive after the lounge closes at 2pm.

Wife and I had a meal at Classified on a longer layover. Food was ok but nothing really good. For the price, we would rather eat at a nice restaurant in New York. I still get invites almost every time we fly out of EWR but have never gone back. I think United keeps it to 1K and GS. I have never been invited as a Platinum or Gold member.

I love the experience we had at BOS in the Chase lounge. Food is on par or better than Polaris offerings.

Agree that having lounge access has made our trips better. Especially when there are flight delays. We were delayed 6 hours at BOS and made use of the Chase lounge.

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[rickandcindy23]

Our son works at DEN as fire protection engineer and said there are no Priority Pass "The Club" lounges in the works. He works with project managers of all of the airport projects and so far, nothing has come across his desk for a PP lounge. He asked me why we don't join another airline lounge program. I don't think we can use any other airline lounge while flying SW, and we mostly fly Alaska to Maui.

We have a Capital One Venture Card, and I think we can get into that lounge maybe once or twice a year. It's not a high-dollar card.

I guess we will just not worry about lounges in DEN. Such a big airport and taking away the restaurants is a big deal to me.

 

[billymach4]

Bump as a placeholder so I ca edit tomorrow

 

[beejaybee]

Two recent lounge experiences:
United Club SFO on a Tuesday morning was crowded with limited breakfast selection. Since it was lunchtime back home I ordered a sauvignon blanc and was charged for it. Knowing our future travel plans figured it was time to use my annual Chase United pass.
Capital One Club at DFW yesterday @11:30 was wait-list only and a small waiting area was filled. We decided to head there from Terminal C after seeing our flight home was delayed. The attendant at the entrance was ready to scan my card to put us on the waitlist but I stopped her before she could do so for 2 reasons. #1- we didn't have that long of a layover and who knew how long before we were admitted to what would likely be a very crowded lounge. #2- concern that if my card was scanned our once a year privilege would be considered used.

 

[rickandcindy23]

We did use the Capital One lounge in DEN on Wednesday, when our SW flight was cancelled due to weather in FL.

The lounge is nice, lots of seating, an open bar, limited food. There were some small salads, basically Caesar salads in bowls and some sloppy joe sliders. Rick liked the chocolate-covered raisins. He grabbed me a couple of dark chocolate squares that were really good. There was also fancy coffee.

 

[Pompey Family]

Paid a recent visit to the BA Galleries Lounge at LHR T5. They're now moved the business class check in to the other side of the terminal so it's now located at the A section. It's a bit nicer and also takes you straight to a dedicated fast track security which then leads to the entrance to the North Lounge. This lounge was previously my one of choice as I found the South Lounge was always busier although it is larger however on this occasion the North Lounge was absolutely crammed and I couldn't find a free seat. I attribute this to the movement of the check in desks as now you're filtered straight to the North Lounge.

I decided to make my way to the South Lounge which means a walk to the other end of T5. It was still fairly busy but being larger there was plenty of seating available. I had just caught the tail end of breakfast and most of it was being taken away. There was a full English selection, cheese, cold cuts, smoked salmon, porridge, pastries, breads, fruit, yoghurt and cereals. Lunch selection consisted of a chicken in a cream sauce, vegetarian pasta, vegan goan curry, chicken, leek and ham pies, various salads, sandwiches, soup and a variety of fruit.

There were three free pour red wines and three white along with champagne. The fridges were stocked with beers and sodas and plenty of tea and coffee machines around. The self serve bars contained a variety of spirits but I didn't take any time to note what they were.

I'll be at the Gatwick Galleries lounge on Sunday which I prefer as the food and drink selection is the same but the lounge is much quieter. I'll also be interested in checking out the newly revamped lounge in Palma. The previous incarnation was pretty depressing.