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"The Club" new PP lounge at ATL F

"The Club" new PP lounge at ATL F

Old Jul 30, 2013, 12:15 pm
  #31  
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Originally Posted by Chalky White
Sitting in the club at Atl right now. This place blows away the skyclub. Great food selection (chips, sandwiches, crudités, infused waters, etc). Also very nice complimentary liquor selection. Drinking a free Amstel right now. Whoever said this place is not better than a skydump is on crack.

Also, they have real espresso drinks here. Not that rehydrated douwe Egbert stuff that you see in Europe and at disney world.
^^

Nice to see the Delta SkyKlub, now enhanced with Gordon's spirits™ get some competition.
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Old Jul 30, 2013, 2:29 pm
  #32  
 
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I checked out this lounge (very briefly) on Sunday. Here is my 10-minute assessment:

-Bar: all liquors complimentary. Didn't check out the beer/wine selection, but was able to get a (measured pour) Bailey's free of charge. Decent free liquor selection: Bailey's, Jack Daniels, Jim Beam, Johnnie Walker, Kahlua, Bacardi, Beefeater, Smirnoff, Absolut, Tanqueray, Cuervo, etc.

-Non-alcoholic drinks: self-serve soda machine, espresso machine, and individual (8-oz) water bottles chilled in a refrigerator. Carry-out cups provided if you want to pour and run.

-Food: I didn't check out the "premium" options, but there was a good selection of free (real) food. Hot soups (broccoli cheddar and something else), veggie crudités, hummus and pitas, mini sandwiches and wraps (some kind of lunch meat and a veggie option), bags of chips, trail mix, and individually wrapped Lorna Doone cookies and Oreos.

-Showers: did not explore.

There were maybe 15 people in the entire lounge. It was quiet and relaxing, and the internet was pretty quick. I gained access using my Priority Pass Select card.

All in all, I would definitely return, and as long as my future layovers are long enough, I will be returning to The Club to the exclusion of visiting any other Sky Clubs at ATL.
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Old Jul 30, 2013, 2:38 pm
  #33  
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Originally Posted by eturowski

All in all, I would definitely return, and as long as my future layovers are long enough, I will be returning to The Club to the exclusion of visiting any other Sky Clubs at ATL.
I may start arriving at the airport early just for this place.
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Old Jul 30, 2013, 2:50 pm
  #34  
 
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I was ATL when they did their ribbon cutting. I didn't check it out, but instead ended up sitting on the SkyDeck in F.

It sounds like this club is a nice change of pace for ATL and a good alternative to the SkyClub. I wish a single guest would be full time for PP members, but oh well.

Other private clubs have been nice in my experience. This includes the Airspace Lounge at BWI. While its not unlimited complimentary drinks, they do give you a debit card with money to spend on food and drink. Plus they have real food.
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Old Jul 30, 2013, 3:34 pm
  #35  
 
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I really hope that Delta learns a thing or two from the new competition... probably won't, though.
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Old Jul 30, 2013, 7:44 pm
  #36  
 
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But, the question is--do we really believe DL cares about 'the competition'?

I think they are probably (for now) thrilled that people may use this lounge.

Reasoning:

Paid members: They've already got the fees. And, either those paid members are :
1) fine with the free swill
2) not drinking because of the swill being served
3) buying up to the 'Luxury Bar'
Pretty much at worst DL comes out even. But, more likely gaining from this scenario.

DMs who are admitted to the SC for free:
Same three apply here.
4) some DMs decide to forego their 'free benefits' and drink in the new Club.
Most likely a net gain to the bottom line.

Call me nuts (you wouldn't be the first ) but I think until DL sees members not renewing in droves, this new club won't do anything to convince DL to improve the amenities in the SCs..

ETA: It's great to see another option. Even though my 'go to' is OFS.

Last edited by BamaGirl; Jul 30, 2013 at 8:09 pm
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Old Jul 30, 2013, 10:50 pm
  #37  
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Originally Posted by BamaGirl
But, the question is--do we really believe DL cares about 'the competition'?

I think they are probably (for now) thrilled that people may use this lounge.

Reasoning:

Paid members: They've already got the fees. And, either those paid members are :
1) fine with the free swill
2) not drinking because of the swill being served
3) buying up to the 'Luxury Bar'
Pretty much at worst DL comes out even. But, more likely gaining from this scenario.
Luxury Bar revenue is up more than 50%, as far as DL thinks they made the right decision. I'm sure more to come.
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Old Jul 31, 2013, 12:45 am
  #38  
 
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Seems like they've upgraded the f+b offering in the past week. Probably has something to do with the BA/LH flights. It sure looked like a SC when I was there
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Old Jul 31, 2013, 6:19 am
  #39  
 
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Originally Posted by benzemalyonnais
Seems like they've upgraded the f+b offering in the past week. Probably has something to do with the BA/LH flights. It sure looked like a SC when I was there
Yes, I'd assume so.

The politics of this club are pretty interesting from what I hear from friends at ATL and at PP...

1. This is the airport's club built for BA/LH...not built or developed by any third-party. PP claims it's theirs and the airport did allow them to throw their name on it and it also allowed a completely different party to run it (a company called GTMS) but PP had nothing to do with it except act as a contractor. PP made no investment in it...the airport did 100%. And don't think that ATL wasn't thinking that they'd want this to be better than a Skyclub...they did of course.

Some people inside ATL are apparently pretty upset with PP for trying to take so much credit for it when all PP did was apparently make some demands of the airport that slowed down the project.

2. This explains why the product is so much better than the similar LAS unbranded "Club" that PP puts their name on; the airport is paying for it whereas no one is paying for the low-end PP product in LAS. ATL is a very similar situation as the one that's in DFW Terminal D that DFW built for BA, etc..

So ATL built this to keep BA and LH happy and we are the beneficiaries!

I'm a big fan of these non-DL-clubs popping up including this one. But, unfortunately, the location of this is going to keep me away on most of my trips.

The Airspace Lounges in BWI and CLE, in contrast, are nicely located for DL customers, offer incremental adds to the network (there are no SCs in either spot) and are of a consistent high-end quality. Airspace seems to work well with DL ground staff in CLE; Ive been hoping there is some sort of ptshp w/Airspace to fill in more blanks in the SC network, but from what I hear there isn't one.

This ATL lounge really wasn't built for the regular connecting customer to use and even if I try to go out of my way...I probably wont make it here on 9 out of 10 trips to ATL that require the standard T/A/B/C/D type of connection. That being said, Im glad it's there to shake DL's tree a bit!
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Old Jul 31, 2013, 10:17 am
  #40  
 
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I'm connecting in a week or so in both directions. Outbound I have a couple of hours and my flight leaves from F. Inbound I have 3 hours and I arrive in E and probably leave from T.

I have to decide on which end of the trip I want to visit the new lounge. One time I'll do the Sky Deck, the other time I'll do the new lounge. Decisions...
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Old Jul 31, 2013, 10:37 am
  #41  
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Originally Posted by iamhereandthere
I have to decide on which end of the trip I want to visit the new lounge. One time I'll do the Sky Deck, the other time I'll do the new lounge. Decisions...
I don't see what the big deal is with the SkyDeck--it's small, it's hot, because there is no bar outside, you can't get a drink out there (swill or not) and it's a pain to wheel your luggage and your swill through the two sets of doors, and the wi-fi even slower outside than inside, if you can believe that.
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Old Jul 31, 2013, 11:44 am
  #42  
 
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Have not visited the PP lounge...yet. My friend at DL tells me that they are completely and utterly unconcerned with having that lounge there. It doesn't alter their strategy one bit. They don't even really see it as competition because the SC has such a monopoly on DL flyers. That noted, as someone else mentioned, the only way that DL will take notice is if they see an alternative as being a legitimate threat which would likely require membership to drop significantly and quickly.
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Old Jul 31, 2013, 5:27 pm
  #43  
 
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Originally Posted by FLYPWM
I'm in the Club ATL and wow, what a diference. There's a whopping total of 9 people here and the food selection blows the SkyClub away...soups, sandwiches and decent snacks. Three woodfords on my inbound are preventing me from checking out the bar but it looks like a very nice selection.
Was there last week as well. I have to say that it is certainly a notch, or two, above the SkyClub. Food was better (sandwiches, soup, warm Otis Spunkmeyer cookies and cheesecake being distributed by a waiter) and beverages were better. This will become my new hangout when transiting ATL, despite also having entrance privileges to Skyclubs.
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Old Jul 31, 2013, 6:39 pm
  #44  
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Originally Posted by jsmith50
Have not visited the PP lounge...yet. My friend at DL tells me that they are completely and utterly unconcerned with having that lounge there. It doesn't alter their strategy one bit. They don't even really see it as competition because the SC has such a monopoly on DL flyers. That noted, as someone else mentioned, the only way that DL will take notice is if they see an alternative as being a legitimate threat which would likely require membership to drop significantly and quickly.
I see two ways that the new lounge could hurt DL:

There could be fewer sales at the Luxury Bar in the SC as people who have privileges at both lounges realize that they can get decent free alcohol in The Club.

To the extent that it encourages other carriers to continue service at ATL, especially on lucrative routes, it helps to maintain competition to DL at ATL, with the resulting lowering of fares, number of tickets sold at various price points, and profits. Moreover, carriers such as LH are unlikely to encourage their passengers to book domestic connecting flights on DL rather than their own partners.
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Old Jul 31, 2013, 10:53 pm
  #45  
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Being in F it won't have much impact on DL SCs. Most DL passengers don't use F concourse or even E concourse, so it is a long trek to get to The Club for the majority of DL passengers. Most passengers don't plan a long layover in ATL just to use a lounge. Even those FF's originating in ATL wouldn't come to the airport super early just to go to F for The Club, especially if their flights depart from T/A/B/C or probably even D.
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