Originally Posted by
scubadu
Urrr... so the better path would be don't have a policy and then it would likely be even more crowded than what you just described?!
(you said folks were being actively turned away, which means with no policy they'd be jammed in too)
It's silly to suggest that the only alternative to bad policy is no policy at all.
The reality is that most cardholders won't even bother with the lounge if there is no seating or even if there is seating and it's so crowded, and that's what is already keeping the SFO lounge from being "even more crowded". I left the lounge after being unable to find seating and witnessed others doing the same, which was far more people than the two I overheard being denied access for being more than three hours early. As is also obvious from this thread, there are already many cardholders who are voluntarily keeping themselves away from the SFO lounge overcrowdedness, because who even wants to be in there if it's like what it was yesterday.
And to be honest, I'm amazed the place even keeps under fire capacity. It was that difficult just to navigate one quick loop around the lounge yesterday.
Originally Posted by
Kacee
I'm not sure I understand this comment. Without the restrictions, crowding would be even worse throughout the day. Now at least there's a hope you can get a seat during nonpeak hours.
I haven't had problems getting seats at SFO at non-peak times, which is the root of my complaint. If AMEX is going to introduce a policy that restricts access and reduces benefits for its cardholders, that policy better make a dramatic improvement when it needs to. That's why it's such a bad policy.