Note: This is part of a package of four columns, running Friday and Monday, about luxury-class amenities for budget travelers.
July 21, 2003 -- Stuck in the Frankfurt airport coming home from London, roped behind the extra security cordon they use to quarantine off US travelers, I cooled my heels with a truly awful processed sausage and an overpriced glass of weak beer.
But it didn't have to be that way. I could have been in a plush leather armchair, surfing the Web on a Wi-Fi network as I guzzled free draft lager and had a grim German woman cut up fresh fruit for me -- the way I was on the way to London. The difference? On the way to London, I was part of the club, thanks to a complimentary pass from Lufthansa.
Airports aren't grim hospitals of transportation when you belong to an airline lounge club. Traveling from New York to Tokyo, I was recently given a glimpse of the British Airways club lounge at JFK airport -- a vast paradise of varied seating arrangements, broad windows, and free food.
Club lounges are designed for business travelers, and they certainly help you get your work done. With few distractions, many available electrical sockets, and Lufthansa's Wi-Fi network, I was up, running, and taking notes for a column in minutes. A club membership can be great for that new breed, the budget business traveler, who can unwind with the moguls and their $1,200 tickets before jetting off on a $99 AirTran flight.
But club lounges can also be great for anyone who's often delayed, as they let you pass your weary hours in a much more genteel area than your average airline concourse.
Priority Power
There's a catch, of course: normally, airline clubs require you to have a business or first-class ticket or pay several hundred dollars for an annual membership, making them more the province of Gary Walther's luxury-travel column (www.zyworld.com/brancatelli/gw/luxury.htm) than anything you'd see on this site.
Most club memberships cost $400-$600 per year and give you access to a few dozen clubs belonging to one airport alliance. But there's a better deal for frequent travelers who don't stick with one airline: Priority Pass, (www.prioritypass.com), an independent operator that has made deals with more than 400 lounges, including 29 of the 30 world's busiest airports. (The only airport Priority Pass is missing is Tokyo's Haneda domestic airport, which isn't much used by non-Japanese.) More than 800,000 members currently use Priority Pass's services, according to PP president Terry Evans.
Priority Pass offers three levels of service. For $99 per year, you can get an "a la carte" type membership where you pay $24 per club visit. A membership with 10 club visits built-in costs $249 a year. For $399, you can get unlimited use of all 400 clubs.
The down side: although Priority Pass offers clubs at each airport, they may not necessarily be in the terminal you're flying from. Within the US and Canada, Priority Pass has deals with America West, United, US Airways and Air Canada to give access to their lounges. But the Priority Pass club at New York's JFK airport is in Terminal 1 -- great if you're flying Air France or Lufthansa, but lousy if you're flying British Airways, American or JetBlue. They may also not be the largest clubs, or the ones with Wi-Fi. And Priority Pass may not be a good choice for families -- while most airline club memberships allow you to bring in your immediate family for free, Priority Pass will charge you $24 per extra person. But if you're a single, itinerant traveller who's faithful to no single airline, PriorityPass is the best of all possible worlds.
Otherwise, United, American and Continental all have compelling clubs, for different reasons. United (www.ual.com/page/middlepage/0,1454,1108,00.html) has a reciprocity arrangement with 17 other airlines, including Delta, US Airways and 15 international carriers, giving you access to a particularly wide range of clubs. But you'll pay a painful $500/year for the privilege if you're not a United elite flier.
American (www.aa.com/content/aboutAA/AAProducts/admiralsClub.jhtml) has a particularly good set of Wi-Fi clubs, with 19 of their 43 Admirals' Lounges belonging to the T-Mobile Wi-Fi system. But they don't have a great set of international lounges, as Qantas is their only international partner. A basic membership costs $450/year.
Continental (www.continental.com/travel/airport/lounge/default.asp) offers low rates ($375/year plus a $50 initiation fee) and a pretty good selection of lounges, allowing you to hang out in Continental, Northwest, Delta and 23 international club rooms. But they're not as comprehensive as United or Priority Pass.
Sure, club memberships are expensive. But they're a heck of a lot cheaper than business class tickets. If you feel like you spend far too much time in airports, joining a club can turn an ordeal into a civilized pleasure.