Originally Posted by
raehl311
Just left the CO lounge at LAS...
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.
I recently paid a visit myself. I too find it interesting that CO, Alaska (and NW) are/were able to offer real cheese, decent snacks, etc. for about or less than the same price as DL want's for the SkyClubs.
I also agree that they can generate more money out of their lounge program by providing MORE value, not LESS value. I spent $24 on two glasses of champagne in the CO lounge, but DL's SkyClubs make me want to spend less and less time there.