The “Lounge Within a Lounge” Concept: Good Marketing?

I recently flew out of Warsaw with LOT Polish Airlines, and had access to the airline’s newly renovated Business Lounge. An interesting feature of this lounge is that there’s another separate lounge, inside the main one, which you can only access with Star Alliance Gold status.

LOT isn’t the only airline to embrace this “lounge within a lounge” concept. Even Qantas has more exclusive lounges inside some of its airport lounges. So, why do airlines do this… and should others follow?

The LOT Polonez Business Lounge in Warsaw

For a bit of context, LOT opened the Polonez Business Lounge at its Warsaw hub just a month ago after an extensive refurbishment. The main lounge is really quite nice, with several different buffet sections, natural light, views of both the runway and check-in area, showers and plenty of comfortable seating.

As you walk further into the lounge, a separate lounge entrance appears on the right. This “premium” area has its own reception desk where you need to scan your boarding pass again, and is only accessible to Star Alliance Gold members.

I am lucky enough to have Star Alliance Gold status with Turkish Airlines, so I had a look at the Gold Lounge. The food and drinks were almost identical to the main lounge, including the hot food available, except that the Gold Lounge had proper champagne. Nice!

The main differences were that the Gold section was quieter, as it had fewer people in it, and darker as there was no natural light.

There was also a relaxation area at the back of this lounge with comfortable chairs to nap in.

As an aside, I find it interesting how European airlines often treat Star Alliance Gold passengers better than their Business Class passengers. Star Alliance Gold is definitely nice to have when flying in Europe!

Other airlines with separate premium lounges

Many airlines offer differentiated lounge experiences for different types of customers. For example, Qantas offers domestic Business Lounges at major Australian airports for passengers booked in Business, as well as Platinum and Platinum One flyers.

In Brisbane, the Business Lounge is even located within the same physical space as the Qantas Club, with a separate reception area at the back of the main lounge.

Qantas also offers both Business and First Class lounges at some international airports – as do many other airlines. For example, Cathay Pacific offers a separate First Class section at its London Heathrow lounge, in addition to dedicated First Lounges in Hong Kong.

But this isn’t the case at all airports. When Qantas refurbished its Brisbane international lounge last decade, it removed the dedicated First Class section and made it a combined “International Lounge”.

Qantas is now doing the same in Auckland, with the dedicated First Class cupboard section being removed to make way for a larger space with more capacity overall.

Is this just good marketing?

On one hand, having a more premium, private area for customers that the airline considers more important can make those eligible to access it feel more important.

When the premium section does genuinely come with more premium service, this is a great benefit. For example, there’s a huge difference between regular United Club lounges and the United Polaris Lounges which are reserved for long-haul Business Class passengers. Similarly, Air Canada’s Signature Suite offers a much more premium dining experience than the regular Maple Leaf lounges.

British Airways similarly has a “Concorde Bar” hidden inside its lounge in Singapore, exclusively for First Class and Gold Guest List passengers.

But is there really such a big difference between the Qantas Club and the domestic Business Lounge? Other than perhaps a few more premium wines, and some extra dining options in some lounges (like the spice bar in Melbourne), I can’t think of too many tangible differences.

Sure, the domestic Business Lounge in Melbourne has a better view than the Qantas Club. But the opposite is true in Canberra, so it’s not a systematic thing.

In Warsaw, the only real difference between the LOT lounges that I could tell was the champagne and the relaxation area.

Not the most efficient use of space

One of the main downsides of segmenting a lounge into designated areas is that it’s hard to change the capacity of each space. One part of the lounge might be overflowing, while another sits mostly empty.

Admittedly, the additional peace and privacy is kind of the point of having a more exclusive “premium area”. But if this ends up working the other way around, it can be problematic. This is one of the reasons that Qantas last year moved the wall between its Qantas Club and domestic Business lounges in Sydney by about 20 metres. That took several weeks of construction to complete.

Combined lounges use the available space more efficiently as you don’t have walls or partitions built into the lounge.

And just because there isn’t a dedicated “premium” section, that doesn’t mean an airline can’t offer a more premium experience within the same lounge to its VIPs. For example, Qantas has a secret champagne and a la carte dining menu in some of its international lounges for Platinum One and First Class passengers.

Should Virgin Australia adopt this concept?

Looking at the Australian market, the most obvious opportunity to adopt the “lounge within a lounge” concept lies with Virgin Australia.

Virgin Australia has lounges at seven Australian airports. While they are generally quite nice, they can get quite busy and the food and wine sometimes feels a bit cheap.

If it wanted to, as an example, it wouldn’t be that difficult for Virgin Australia to turn the upstairs section of its Sydney domestic lounge into an exclusive area for Business Class passengers and Velocity members holding the airline’s soon-to-be-launched Platinum Plus status. This section could offer a slightly better menu or perhaps some extra a la carte dishes, more premium wines, and spirits.

Yes, it would cost Virgin a bit more to provide these extra things. But it would also greatly elevate the airline’s Business Class experience and create more of an incentive to earn Platinum Plus.

What do you think of this concept?

So, AFF, over to you. What do you think of the “lounge within a lounge” concept? Is it a great benefit for premium passengers, or just hype?

You can share your thoughts on the AFF forum:

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to more than 100 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. His interests include aviation, economics & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.