Need Lounge Access? There’s an App for That…
Joe Cortez December 22, 2017
New LoungeBuddy app lets flyers buy lounge passes for $25 and up.
Flyers who don’t hold elite status with airlines or a credit card that guarantees lounge access can now buy their way in per day, starting at just $25 per day. Billed as the “ultimate guide” to lounges, LoungeBuddy offers flyers the opportunity to buy day passes when traveling through their app on their day of travel, or up to two months in advance.
Using the app or website, flyers can search for lounges based on which airlines they will be flying to see which lounges are available. While LoungeBuddy will offer reviews for all airline lounges in an airport, only certain lounges, including Alaska Airlines’ Alaska Lounge and independent lounges, are available to purchase a day pass into. After finding a lounge, travelers simply book the time they want to visit, make a secure payment through the app and their lounge pass will be delivered straight to their phone. Flyers do not have to fly the airline to get into a lounge they purchased a pass for, so long as they buy a day pass on LoungeBuddy.
Prices vary for lounge access at different airports. Running a search at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), prices ranged from $39 at the independent The Club at SEA, to $45 at the Alaska Airlines Lounge. At New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), lounge prices went from $50 at the Wingtips lounge, to $59 at the Lufthansa and Swiss Airlines Business Class Lounges.
Is it a good deal for flyers? LoungeBuddy told Forbes the price of purchasing lounge passes for 4.8 flights annually is $168 at an average of $35 each – a cost significantly lower than high-end credit cards. However, for those flyers who already have elite status which includes lounge access, flying on your airline of choice may be a better option than buying a lounge pass.
[Photo: Shutterstock]
It looks like most of the Lounge Buddy lounges are also members of the Priority Pass network, which may offer better value.
If you fly into different airports a fair amount, the Loungebuddy app is invaluable. It takes your club memberships, types of credit cards, PP, elite status and airline/class of travel into account to tell you what lounges you can access in what airports at what times. Then it tells you where the lounge is, what amenities it has (such as showers), all about the F&B, reviews and pictures, and so on. No where else can you find all that information in one place, and you can't possibly remember it all. Nor can you always find as much on airline websites, and certainly you cannot depend on the check-in staff to know it. (And no, I am not a shill for LB, just a frequent flyer that uses it a lot for info. I've never even purchased access through it.)
I wonder how much the author was paid for this "article"?