Originally Posted by
notquiteaff
If we assume that the banks created too many PP members by offering enticing credit cards, it seems to me that those of us who got those cards really have no beef complaining about it because we jumped on those offers.
In an ideal (mythical) world, PP's lounge capacity would be elastic and adapt to the increase in PP members. But in the real world that doesn't happen. Lounges don't get built or expanded overnight. Should Chase & Co have turned down applicants for their high-end cards after reaching a certain threshold?
PP did not reject memberships, they took the money from Chase and others.
They could have said we're getting oversubscribed in North America, we need to raise rates or limit memberships.
Companies turn down business all the time for a variety of reasons. Not being able to deliver is a very common one.
Originally Posted by
acarney
Chase and co could have negotiated directly with lounge owners if PP as a whole was too crowded. They could have offered their customers once a year you pick if you get into Delta Sky Clubs, AS Lounge, United, or AA. Then pay directly to whichever airline you picked. Sure that limits our options some and we have to plan a head how we use that perk, but I suspect a lot more customers would be happy knowing they could pick their lounge and always get in etc.
Heck, customers might actually even be more happy if they offered a separate $250 credit or something for any lounge membership that was bought. I don't know what the PP agreement actually costs the card issuer but at least that would turn a very frequently unusable product into a nice perk that just always works. It also would allow the lounge owners to get more of an idea just how much capacity they might have to deal with...
AMEX just ratcheted down its Guest policy on its own lounges. The Chase Reserve card is somewhat unique in that unlimited guests are allowed in on PP. I'm not sure how big of a deal families are, but disallowing or limiting guests might be a way to address this as well.