Steve M

The value proposition and pricing of Amex Platinum and AAdmirals Club membership are completely different. I stand by my earlier guestimate that the average number of Centurion lounge accesses per year for Platinum cardholders is closer to 1 per year than it is to 1 per month. And, I'd guess that the majority of Platinum cardholders have zero visits per year. As you mention, people also have Amex Platinum for FHR, partner elite status, Priority Pass, Platinum Travel, prestige for some, and many other reasons. Compare this to Admirals Club membership: I think it's fair to say that more or less the only reason one has one is for the lounge admittance benefit, and that the average number of visits per year is many times that of Amex Platinum cardholders. This is why I don't buy the scalability problem argument, at least as you put it forth. It's not as simple as comparing the annual costs of the two products against the number of lounges at DFW.

cmd320

As stated, AA can manage and Amex cannot because it's footprint of clubs is far bigger, and the clubs themselves are also far worse which IMO causes there to be less demand. With that said, I don't like the guesting policy there anymore than I like it with Amex. I still believe guests should be limited to 1 person, family or not.

I only guest people I'm traveling with or people I know who may be in the same airport at the same time but not necessarily on my flight. Still, I feel with the crowding level the way it is, that's a benefit that I see as overly generous at this point.

kirkwoodj

Good point, I was simply giving crowding updates on visits to the various CLs, but that is obviously no longer the purpose of this thread. Enjoy.

notquiteaff

The thread started out with post #1 suggesting possible fixes, not just giving crowding updates @:-)

dhuey

It's true that the crowding is very time-dependent, but we can see from the many data points here that over-crowding can occur just about any time of day or day of the week.

Yes, limits would surely generate complaints. But the complaints are likely to come from those who are already getting very good value for their money with lounge visits (whether solo or with lots of guests). If, for example, someone who racks up 50 person-visits per year threatens to cancel the Plat if they will get limited to 30, I'd call that a bluff.

Symmetre

I completely agree that crowding is time-dependent. I was in the Centurion lounge at MIA last Thursday - at 2:00 pm it was like a refugee camp, with people slumped over their belongings everywhere.

Then 45 minutes later, it was nearly deserted. Go figure.

I haven't read through the previous 52 pages of posts, but I wonder if it would be possible to implement a reservation system, at least for the business center?

cmd320

Thanks to AA's lovely idea of re-banking its hubs.

SeaHawg

Was in IAH today for three hours post-AM rush. It was not crowded at all. It was so quiet that everyone could hear two people walking in circles around the lounge gabbing on their phones instead of taking it to the phone room.

A man, his wife, and their three kids were admitted with his personal plat. I don't see the big deal. Of course, it's everyone's goal to have whatever suits them best become policy.

AATrout

My fix is to just head to ACs. The DFW Centurion was nice while it lasted last year. I've been thru DFW 5 times since mid-January, various times of day, and it's packed. Twice I had 3 hours before a TATL departure and was interested in the back massage - no dice - booked.

Great food, booze & showers. But the club is small and the seating is awful. There are maybe 6-8 comfortable chairs, everything else is upright around those little tables.

Instead, I'm usually going to the ACs. After AA terminated the AC access for AMEX PLAT I just applied the $200 to the AC membership. ACs are improving - at least the food. I'm in DFW Saturday after 0930 to 1230 and may stop in the Centurion one more time. Maybe that time frame will be better than afternoons when I usually show up.

JHake10

Maybe the new increased AF will thin the crowd.

AATrout

Maybe. But I'm going to pay the extra $100; I need the card for lots of other benefits & the CL mobs aren't a deal killer.

dhuey

I think improvements in other lounges would have a much bigger effect on crowding than the $100 increase. It's actually a decrease for those of us who use Uber regularly and will utilize the new Uber credits.

mia

Discussion continues http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...te-family.html

See also the announcement of DFW lounge expansion here:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...l#post28015126

WearyTravellerMSP

Even two guests is too many. Should be one guest max regardless of relation.

JHake10

Something needs to change. Whether it's access policies specific to a location or another change network wide. Every week it's been getting worse at SFO. It's quieter in the terminal.

I tweeted askamex and got a canned response back saying the lounge is capacity controlled. Obviously, they didn't read my complaint as everybody was being let in and there was a line of around 30 people.