Originally Posted by Katlor

I started going to business class lounges (mostly lounges operated by non-US airlines like Japan Airlines' Sakura lounge at SFO and Tokyo) in the late 2000s and what made them so great then (besides the good liquor and snacks) was that you could hear a pin drop. Going into a lounge was like a sonic vacation in the midst of the airport/travel. In the early 2010s I got domestic Delta Sky Club access through Amex Plat and those were noisier but still not that bad. When the Centurion Lounge opened in Las Vegas in 2013 it was as quiet as the old business class lounges, with people sitting quietly at the tables and sofas, mostly single and paired travelers. The furniture was brand new and clean, buffet was delicious, bar was hospitable.

Then quickly everything changed. I guess more people heard about the Centurion lounge benefit and signed up for Amex Plat and by 2015 the LAS lounge and others were a totally different experience, with loud groups of adults and lots and lots of families. I'll never forget being in the IAH Centurion lounge at 5 AM after a red-eye and listening to a child screech every two minutes for an hour, with a Centurion staff member walking over to pointedly stare at the parents hoping they would do something, but they didn't. After that I got a United Club card because even though the Centurion lounges have better snacks and drinks, the madhouse atmosphere that they often have is no longer preferable to a boring domestic airline lounge.