Originally Posted by
iahphx
That's one you have to actually pay for, right?
Not one of the churn cards. I have lots of churn cards, including AMEX, but nothing I've paid for.
Yes, and they won't forget to bill you the annual fee promptly.
Originally Posted by
Gold_Member
What about a status match to a one world carrier? Most elite tiers grant lounge access.
The only OW carriers matching status currently are CX and LA I think. CX will not match above SL/Ruby, even for SQ Solitaire PPS, so this is useless for OP unless he's planning on using his miles exclusively on areas served by CX lounges. Even if you already got rejected on the LA status match once before, if you have some future travel or revenue travel history to SCL/EZE and the like you should have a pretty good chance at getting a match to Sapphire imo. If you're flying domestic US or TATL there's no reason for LA to give you status. I've heard of BA matching a few people to Silver/Sapphire, but this is exceptional and pretty much only for people who BA knows will bring them lots of revenue.
You could buy AA Admirals Club membership, it's not cheap and the lounges mainly suck but they let in your entire immediate family as a policy unlike OW lounge access. They don't have
that many locations and, but their presence in South America is impressive. Also, membership does not include access to OW lounges as US/CO/UA lounge memberships do for *A.
If you have a bit more money to spend, you can try the QF Qantas Club. The fees are exorbitant, especially now with the high Kangaroo dollar, but you will get access to QF (excellent), BA (good), AA (better than nothing) and QF-contracted lounges when flying on QF, BA, AA or JQ. You also get a few little perks flying QF.
Originally Posted by
Happy
The reply does not seem to match OP's situation at all. (Bolded word).
Well, if the OP is willing to do an MR-type run for status on AA it might actually end up being cheaper/similar than buying QF Club membership and he would get RDMs as well as status and full OW Sapphire lounge access privileges. He only asked which was the cheapest way to get lounge access, not necessarily buying it outright. It all depends on how many people OP is travelling with. If it was just him + 1 any option would be fine, but most lounges frown on giving access to one person and 3+ guests and then his money spent would have been wasted.
The cheapest way tbh would probably be if you and your spouse both got Priority Pass and paid for your kid(s) to join you as guests.