American Express Membership Rewards - First time using Platinum airport lounge benefit

Yesterday, coming home from PHL, I managed to utilize the lounge benefit for the first time at the Presidents Club in Houston.

Wow! I know this card will pay for itself. I'd never been in a club, but it was fantastic!---all the free drinks and snacks you could handle, a tv lounge, a concierge type desk with 4 friendly agents to help you rebook and avoid the masses if your flight gets canceled, etc.

I used to wonder why anyone would pay so much money just to go into some airport lounge, but after yesterday, I found out how much I've been missing out on the "good life". It's a whole different world in there, peaceful and no kids! I love it! My coworker has never been in one either, and needless to say, he loved it as well.

haha, yeah, it is great and addictive.
Also with the airline lounge fees by themselves being around $400-$500 a year PER airline, I think having the Platinum Card at $450 really does pay for itself even if you travel lightly, IMO.

Especially this summer with all the delays/xls. If I didn't have the ability to go to the PC I'd go crazy. Now when we fly my DH is so disappointed if there is NO PC at the airport. Its easy to get spoiled.

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Yes, it is addictive. I have just recently got Platinum card myself and used a lounge for the first time this year. it is a very nice benefit among others that Amex Platinum offers. For me, the membership fee is worth every penny. :)

Wow! I know this card will pay for itself.
Yeah, and considering how I now limit my travel to the airlines whose lounges I can get into, I can't imagine why more airline alliances wouldn't let AmEx customers in (wouldn't y'all- especially you non-elites like me- all love to have *A, too?!)

For me, the novelty wore off after a few times.

Now, I by-pass the Crown Rooms and just sit in the terminal.

Better people watching.

For me, the novelty wore off after a few times.
"Novelty"?!

There's Internet service, a comfortable workspace, distance from the Huddled Masses (I'm no Egalitarian; that's the biggest benefit yet) and less noise and distraction. Now that post-9/11 you have to show up at the airport nearly 3 hours in advance to be safe I sometimes have all this time to kill, and now I can get some work done.

It may be a novelty for some, but you'll have to pry this benefit from my cold, dead hands to get it away from me.

...Presidents Club in Houston....


Steel yourself for the reality that most locations will not be as grand as those at the carrier's major hubs, and the amenties vary. AA, for example, generally does not provide free alcoholic beverages, food or broadband.

Steel yourself for the reality that most locations will not be as grand as those at the carrier's major hubs, and the amenties vary. AA, for example, generally does not provide free alcoholic beverages, food or broadband.

Agreed, but as others have noted, any port in a storm....

Steel yourself for the reality that most locations will not be as grand as those at the carrier's major hubs, and the amenties vary. AA, for example, generally does not provide free alcoholic beverages, food or broadband.

Delta doesn't provide free broadband in their Crown Room at SLC (their hub).

The other stuff is "free", but after a couple of diet Cokes....time to go.

I'm just one of those guys who likes to sit and watch people at the gates.

I remember the first time I tried to enter a PC at IAH about two months after getting my card (this was about a year ago) and being denied entry because I'm only 19. I was devastated. :( I thought about calling to downgrade or to see if they'd at least reduce the fee for a year, but I never got around to doing it.

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Steel yourself for the reality that most locations will not be as grand as those at the carrier's major hubs, and the amenties vary. AA, for example, generally does not provide free alcoholic beverages, food or broadband.

Delta doesn't provide free broadband in their Crown Room at SLC (their hub).

The other stuff is "free", but after a couple of diet Cokes....time to go.

I'm just one of those guys who likes to sit and watch people at the gates.

If you can find a seat. Good luck especialy at Dulles. :)

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I remember the first time I tried to enter a PC at IAH about two months after getting my card (this was about a year ago) and being denied entry because I'm only 19. I was devastated. :( I thought about calling to downgrade or to see if they'd at least reduce the fee for a year, but I never got around to doing it.

In order to be admited to PC, you must be 21. I have read some posts here that some people did have some luck. However, if you travel with someone who has Amex Platinum and is at least 21, you can get in as a guest.

I also value the lounge benefit. I don't travel enough on a single carrier to justify buying membership in any particular airline club, and I fly Northwest about 2-3 times per year. If you can make use of the Fine Hotel & Resorts and the lounge privileges, the Platinum is very much worth the steep price.

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If you can find a seat. Good luck especialy at Dulles. :)


True....and I'll give you that.

Otherwise....I'll meet you at the gate.

And, if I flew commercial airlines often, I'd probably feel the same way you do.

I don't travel enough on a single carrier to justify buying membership in any particular airline club....

Have you checked out Priority Pass? It's good for someone who flies a variety of different carriers?
http://www.prioritypass.com/

Have you checked out Priority Pass? It's good for someone who flies a variety of different carriers?
http://www.prioritypass.com/

Thanks. I looked at the list of lounges, and it appears to overlap with what I will be using with the Platinum card (mostly Northwest).

Does anyone know if I were to fly DL connecting to CO which club should I go to (or can I go to either) during the layover using my Plat card?

Thanks!

The airline you're traveling onward with is the club you should go to, not the least of which because you will most likely be closer to the gate you'll be flying out of.

Since getting my card this past July, I've frequented two NW WorldClubs and two Delta Crown Rooms. Compare to sitting at the gate (next to screaming children, crammed in between to large people), it's so much more tolerable. It makes you forget for that little moment of time that you're at an airport transiting with the masses. Worth every dime. And now I avoid flying all non-participating carriers. Ahem...US Air and United.

I've also managed to book a 2 for 1 domestic airfare (to Hawaii) as well as a 2 for 1 international itinerary (to Bali). So all in all, the $625 annual fee for the missus and me have been well worth it.

No kids in the lounge?!?!? Yeah, right.

Have you checked out Priority Pass? It's good for someone who flies a variety of different carriers?
http://www.prioritypass.com/

I personally have both the plat card AND Priority Pass since the plat card is pretty much only good if you do mostly domestic travel on the targeted airlines, none of which I fly regularly.

Amex seems to have recognized this since you get PP if you have either the Int'l dollar card or UK Amex.

Delta doesn't provide free broadband in their Crown Room at SLC (their hub).
Yabbut the good thing is with few exceptions, the non-free Internet is T-Mobile HotSpot, which I already have!

Amex seems to have recognized this since you get PP if you have either the Int'l dollar card or UK Amex.

Shame it's only available on the Platinum International Dollar Card (http://www10.americanexpress.com/sif/cda/page/0,1641,8444,00.asp), and not the standard Platinum Australia Card.

Must you have a Bus or First ticket AND your Platnum card to take advantage of this? OR can you get in with your Platnum & a coach ticket?

Must you have a Bus or First ticket AND your Platnum card to take advantage of this? OR can you get in with your Platnum & a coach ticket?

Just the Card and [any] onward ticket on CO/DL/NW does the trick.

You could have a seat in the lavatory and get in, as long as you have a same-day ticket and for the same airline you're traveling on (i.e., no code-share* or alliance partners).



* - but (FT'er) MIA will know for sure if I'm right on this part

... on CO/DL/NW
... and now, AA!

You could have a seat in the lavatory and get in, as long as you have a same-day ticket and for the same airline you're traveling on (i.e., no code-share* or alliance partners).



* - but (FT'er) MIA will know for sure if I'm right on this part

However, some have anecdotal evidence of getting in with a ticket on another (non-skyteam) airline, when the airline on which they are booked and CO/NW/DL share a terminal (like UA & CO in LAX), so, as always, YMMV. ;)

fantastic... this I like!

Any CO/DL/NW/AA will work. Ok, and where do I search for airports with this? interested in BOS and California.

fantastic... this I like!

Any CO/DL/NW/AA will work. Ok, and where do I search for airports with this? interested in BOS and California.

Generally the airline in question's website is the best place to start. (I'm not sure a master list of CO/DL/NW/AA lounges exists anywhere, but it is usually pretty easy to find on the airline's website).

http://www.loungeguide.net

Any CO/DL/NW/AA will work. Ok, and where do I search for airports with this? interested in BOS and California.

All AMEX Platinums should be aware that CO will soon be closing their President's Club in BOS and dumping their passengers onto DL's lounge. Thus, Plats flying CO in BOS will NOT have lounge access. See: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showpost.php?p=8326725&postcount=101

CO will thus be the only major network carrier in BOS without a lounge. Pitiful. :mad::td:

...where do I search...

Predictably, American Express links a database of participating lounges here...

https://www143.americanexpress.com/cards/platinum/benefit.do?benefitTemplate=template_c&benefitId=1

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In order to be admited to PC, you must be 21. I have read some posts here that some people did have some luck. However, if you travel with someone who has Amex Platinum and is at least 21, you can get in as a guest.

I know that, I just wish I had known BEFORE deciding to upgrade to Platinum, although I'd probably still have upgraded anyway. :)

Can I just find ANYONE with a Platinum Card and enter as a guest of theirs, or do we have to have the same itinerary? I'll probably never get to test this out, though, since I usually schedule my flights so that my next one is already boarding (or at least about to) by the time my first one arrives at IAH.

http://www.loungeguide.net

It does not list all the lounges in US

Finally got to use the Amex Plat in an Admirals Club the other day - BOS Terminal B.

My cat and I were admitted without a problem - a quick glance by the lounge dragon at the Amex Card cheat-sheet and we were waved on in.

I wass pleasantly surprised, as the BOS lounge has a "no pets" policy on the AA website, but I was more than willing to be turned away on that point.

No kids in the lounge?!?!? Yeah, right.

hey, hey.... my kids were well behaved ;)