Partial list of airport lounges closing or already closed- some temporary others permanently. Some have received extensions. When I asked Delta, only got a chuckle and a "you wish". If DL loves NY so much why have they reduced JFK flights and closed one of their Crown Rooms. Anyone else been affected by closing or had luck?

http://www.usatoday.com/life/travel/...0-31-clubs.htm

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"Fly me to the moon and let me earn alot of miles."

It's been predicted here that we are going to pay more and more and end up getting less and less. Apparently true.

Thanks for your many wise and senseible posts.

I live and learn.

So we paid for an annual membership based on all the lounges being open. When do we get our refund?

Actually, not. The club membership agreements are usually quite clear on this point.

I don't know about other airlines, but I think that AA at least is offering refunds for those members whose home airport had a closed lounge.

Los Angeles - Continental Presidents Club closing early - It used to be open to service passangers on the 1:30 AM flight that serviced the Latin American hub in Houston. Went to the airport the required , two hour early for an international flight, rang the bell only to see new hours posted 6:30 to 9:30PM.

Needless to say the rest of the airport was a ghost town except the Continental Counter and Gate.

However I can understan since the last time I took this flight there was more staff than customers and they have changed the equipment fro a DC10 to 757 - a business first one would be nice but . . . . .

More cuts to come

Steve, I'm sure the fine-print legal text agrees with you. But the Clubs are marketed heavily as being there when you need them, wherever you need them. Now they are yanking them even though there are paying members knocking at the door.

The reason they are closing the clubs is to cut payroll costs. They don't get a break on airport rental fees since those are on long-term leases. So the airlines are screwing us again just to save a few dollars on payroll even though we have already paid for the service in advance.

Apparently Virgin are closing their clubhouse at Gatwick (according to a thread on the Virgin fourm) - a real huge shame I think :-(

Boo

Actually, Steve, there might be perfectly sound legal defense for a request for a refund due to club closings. You're absolutely right that the contract text stipulates that the airlines reserve the right to modify services in any way post-agreement. Still, the insertion of a "we can change this contract however we want" clause probably isn't legally recognizable for the same reason that any parking garage that claims explicit exemption of liability for lost/stolen items is actually held legally responsible.

The law tends to side with the intentions of the contract. Many legal theorists say that what really matters is the contract's "skeleton" which, in this case, is an agreement of one party to provide a service to another. Thus the contract has been broken once services are no longer provided.

The reason that managers of parking garages are legally responsible for the contents of your vehicle (and the reason that airline luggage liability limitations are usually not legally recognized) is that an explicit exemption from liability-- even if agreed to by both parties in the contract--allows one party to take advantage of the other (i.e., stealing items from a car, selling baggage, or halting airport lounge services). The airlines know this...otherwise they wouldn't compensate as much as they do for club closings.

Don't mention that legal opinion (which I share) on the Continental forum. The CO apologists will eat you alive.