That's a slippery slope as far as I'm concerned. I don't want them to charge me for anything in there. After all, I would not want to be charged on board a plane either.
Originally Posted by
raehl311
Just left the CO lounge at LAS; figured I'd stop in before the reciprocal arrangement ended. I wasn't sure if it was done on Oct 1 or Oct 24, so I asked upon arrival if they still let NW rejects in. I was promptly handed a flyer offering to match my NW/DL status over to CO, and another flyer offering me (but no guests) admission to CO President's Clubs through 1/31 and, if I wanted, a CO President's club membership with the $50 initiation fee waived AND at the price level that corresponds to my DL elite level (so, as a Plat, I would get the same price CO plats get).
What I found especially intersting, on top of the availability of real cheese and the presence of a toaster for bagels (although no bagels since it was post 11 AM) and a healthy selection of chips and other snacks was CO's answer to lounge revenue generation - the availability of premium alcohol for a fee. (They still had complimentary alcohol as well.) So instead of taking DL's approach of stripping out value, they found a way to ADD value that people might pay for. They even tied it into their CC program - $3 off the premium drinks with the CO-branded CC.
See that DL? Generate more money out of your lounge program by providing MORE value, not LESS value.