I'm over (most) lounges

[Larko1]

Fixed it for you

Past experience suggests to me that some pax with status are even less capable of aiming or flushing. I sometimes wonder if such skills are another unannounced “benefit” to status, or simply an unannounced “enhancement”?

Or simply "CGAF"

 

[Justinf]

It’s been a few years, but last time I was there with not-work there were some interesting lower-volume options too. Main terminal dunnies were less queuey & no dirtier.

I kinda think, even as a not-so-frequent flyer, I do have a similar sentiment to @RooFlyer.
My introduction to lounges was first a workmate & then my wife having QF P, being in Sydney that meant their flagship lounge a bit over 10yrs ago. And although not EK’s fanciest lounge, still the AKL J lounge was pretty nice when we were on the first A380 of the day so it wasn’t that busy yet.

Now I’ve not even been to a lounge post-COVID, so if some lf the services have been cut back, that’s getting pretty sad in some places. And if a lounge doesn’t offer a quiet place to sit, doesn’t offer anything reasonable to eat or drink, doesn’t offer showers or a clean toilet you don’t have to queue for … then yeah I can see how just killing that time in the terminal might be somewhat more pleasant. Obviously it depends on the lounge too, in what limited experience I’ve had I’ve probably been to more lounges that didn’t offer anything beyond free very-cheap booze & a really limited choice of bad snacks, than those which offer more.

But one of a Tier 1 airline’s flagship lounges is probably still going to be a decent place to spend time.

International lounges are great for a midtrip shower.
Othwerwise I’d take them or leave them.
I just don’t find them relaxing in the slightest. So I hear you loud and clear.

 

[jastel]

Have just done my first big trip for a couple of years and used passes to get into the lounges.
Was amazed that there was a line for the toilets IN the lounges too.
Yes they were cleaner but still need some more.
A couple of showers in LHR and SIN were well needed before the flights.
Food was slop, I only found soup and noodles, the occasional nice desert thing was good.
I dont drink wine or coffee so no benefit there. One beer maybe....

The few European airports I visited had not much offerings outside the lounge either, only egg and mayo sandwiches, croisants or $$$$ fancy restaurants. Nothing in the middle.

The only decent airports I think is SIN and DXB, where you can actually get a choice of things to do.
Im sure there another few but I havent been there.

The good news is it now I am Gold again, and all you guys are not going in there again things might improve for me! Haha!

 

[Matt_01]

I lost interest in most lounges many years back however depending on the lounge they are still a good place to go if it is only to leave your stuff. I don’t mean just find a seat, leave your stuff there and piss-off back into the terminal. In many lounges the gate keepers are more than happy to put my rollie behind the counter when I asked if it would be ok as I would like to take a walk to stretch my legs. Japan is even easier as they have lockable cabinets you can leave your carry on in, further there are also areas you can leave your stuff unattended. I am happy with the second option as no one will normally touch or move your stuff, at times I wonder if the only reason lockable cabinets exist are for the distrusting regions outside of Japan.

I tend to agree with @VPS comments around visiting lounges for the first time or not very often. Mrs&MissM get excited every time they go to a lounge and want to spend hours there, this logic I did not understand until MrsM once said ‘you do this week in week out, we don’t.’

When I was travelling and in MEL on a weekly basis I sometimes stayed with a friend. He is an AV geek (I am not) and at some point he picked up on one of my posts and asked about abbreviation SG. I said it meant Scum Gold, he said call it what it is, it is a SeaGull club, I don’t think he half wrong.

 

[MonteCristo]

Depends on the lounges, and the particular airport you're at.

Sure, some lounges are pretty ... mid. The food and drink offerings are often meagre; the space is often small; seating can be limited at the best of times. No showers, or there are showers and there's a wait. The furnishings can be worn. Sometimes there are ... horror of horrors ... children.

Yet, out in the terminals, it can be a literal zoo. Tour groups. The encamped backpackers. It may be crowded, but there's still enough room for feral kids to zoom around. Food and drinks aren't provided. There's a million and one PA announcements. The terminal can also be dated, and I've rarely encountered a comfortable seat or bench at a terminal.

Generally, I'd prefer the lounge.

That said, some terminals are pretty great. Went to some airports in China last year that were modern, had a tonne of room, minimal people, and the people who were there were all civil. Generally a pleasant environment.

But even then, I'd still try a lounge if I had access. If only to scout it out.. See if I could get a quick shower if I was in transit or after a big day and had a long trip ahead. Also, to see if there was something appetising for a meal, snack, drink, or something to take with me for the flight if I thought I'd be left hungry.

 

[n7of9]

The only thing I require from a lounge is a slightly more comfortable seat in a corner somewhere and a preferably quieter environment (and acknowledge that 50% of lounges can't even offer that!).

Other than a seat, everything outside of a lounge is better. i prefer to walk around an airport and just browse stuff. A massage before a flight is amazing (Seoul, Changi, Bangkok). I only go into lounges out of boredom and when there's nothing better to do or look at. I do enjoy a shower between international flights, though, that always feels like a nice treat.

 

[Scarlett]

I’m not over them. Yet.

Coffee, water, maybe some snacks. All good.

 

[RooFlyer]

Another reason for me to rant against lounges.

Bad advice. I was in the Extime business lounge here at CDG terminal one with boarding for my QR flight on my BP saying 8:20 am. It’s not a bad lounge and of course I’m happy to undergo the experience for the benefit of AFF.

Lady comes round and talks to each Qatar passenger in turn at 8:00. Says business is boarding now, not withstanding I point out that it’s 820 on my BP. She’s insistent. Something about the flight being early.

So off we all troop and of course at the gate we met with





if I was sitting in the terminal, I would’ve followed the boarding signs on the screen screens or probably wandered to the gate five minutes early.

as it happens, we are boarding late, of course.

 

[Daver6]

Another reason for me to rant against lounges.

Bad advice. I was in the Extime business lounge here at CDG terminal one with boarding for my QR flight on my BP saying 8:20 am. It’s not a bad lounge and of course I’m happy to undergo the experience for the benefit of AFF.

Lady comes round and talks to each Qatar passenger in turn at 8:00. Says business is boarding now, not withstanding I point out that it’s 820 on my BP. She’s insistent. Something about the flight being early.

So off we all troop and of course at the gate we met with

View attachment 453938



if I was sitting in the terminal, I would’ve followed the boarding signs on the screen screens or probably wanted to the gate five minutes early.

as it happens, we are boarding late, of course.

To be fair, QF in the home ports in their own lounges can't even get this right. They call boarding and you turn up at the gate and boarding hasn't commended. Or they call boarding, you turn up at the gate and they're onto group 3 or 4. So you land up queuing on the air bridge.

 

[RooFlyer]

To be fair, QF in the home ports in their own lounges can't even get this right. They call boarding and you turn up at the gate and boarding hasn't commended. Or they call boarding, you turn up at the gate and they're onto group 3 or 4. So you land up queuing on the air bridge.

you reinforce my point. You should be able to rely on advice given in a lounge, but you can't.

 

[aspro2]

I guess it also depends on how people process the world. I think I appreciate the less "busy" environment of a lounge (in the sense that, even if it's a zoo, there's less movement all around me than in the actual terminal). On the other hand, if the lounge seating is very close together I will eventually prefer some nook somewhere in the terminal instead.

I find VA MEL pushes the limits a bit for me because there is so much to-ing and fro-ing by pax to the buffet and cafe counter.

And ANA's lounge at HND was horrendous. (Also really awfully managed space, with everything cramped, including the food area, and the bloody electronic shower queue meant that the expected wait time was about three days! (because the system allots something like 30mins per person, and doesn't seem to cull non-responders).) The only thing making that visit tolerable was that a very interesting stranger got chatting with me so I could filter out the zoo.

I've given up expecting anything from lounges on the F&B front. There are occasional surprises, but it's mostly abysmal mediocrity (and I think even the SQ lounges at SIN, are damn average for F&B, despite the noodle station etc, but of course better than the overwhelmingly more mediocre lounges around the world). QR's Al Mourjan Garden Lounge was (during my only visit) tranquil and well catered. Very pleasant.

 

[tgh]

We have been quite happy in some fairly simple and small lounges in out of the way airports because the alternative was akin to a free range zoo.
Everyday lounges do become boring and it is easy to be critical, but there are still many situations where the lounge is much better than other options.

 

[Daver6]

you reinforce my point. You should be able to rely on advice given in a lounge, but you can't.

Why should the lounge be any different to the call centre?

 

[RooFlyer]

Why should the lounge be any different to the call centre?

. because they should KWIA

 

[DejaBrew]

So off we all troop and of course at the gate we met with

Given you're in France, I thought you were going to say that you arrived at the gate and were met with some sort of a staffing strike

 

[Daver6]

. because they should KWIA

They do KWYA....hence the shoddy service