Originally Posted by
Rebound
I did both in August, Holding Pen = Stress Free, going to the lounge (as nice as it was to have a shower) and having to go through all that security and passport checks = Stressful. Until they somehow sort out a better solution to get to the lounge i'll stick to the holding pen.
Agreed, it just wasn't worth it. The stress of dealing with the incompetent customs officer in my experience sealed it for me (and this being the US, its not hard to see how this could have escalated to a point where they refuse you to reboard your flight, because he just could not believe that it was possible my bags were still on the plane).
Given the space they have to work with, they have created not a bad area for the premium customers. Its better than some airport lounges i have been to in my time. Its very cool to be able to walk literally 20 metres to get on to the skybridge.