i mean, don’t all lounges pretty much have waitlists. Chase/Amex/C1 all have their own lounges, but far more of their lounges are third-party (like Priority Pass). C1 getting rid of guest access will help reduce crowds/waitlist of their own lounges, but that’s only a handful. I doubt it will move the needle much, if at all, for the bigger third-party lounge networks. The other issuers own lounges also have the crowding issue, and so don’t really need higher utilization either.

Clearly, C1 strategy vs. Chase/Amex is completely different. The latter 2 are clearly aiming for top segment of the travel market, who can afford the higher fees (even if many paying the fees make it back…and then some, with the benefit credits). They clearly feel the extra they can get from appealing to a smaller group of high-spend folks will be better for them. C1 is clearly the low-price leader in the market, aiming for a bigger group of folks that don’t necessarily have the spend/income levels for the other 2 cards, but can afford a lower priced version yet want some luxury within their budget. With that cones benefits that are not as rich - how can C1 offer the same level of benefits at a price point that is now essentially half of what the others charge. Clearly, like Chase did when they entered the market, C1 came on strong to get an initial surge of customers - the free AU with full benefits, the PP restaurants, etc, but had to dial back to make the kind of profit they wanted. That’s why you have seen the pulling back of benefits, most recently and probably most impactful by cutting guest access. So C1 didn’t raise their fees, but the down side of that is having to cut benefits vs. add them and raise the fees. Nothing wrong with that, but folks have to realize you can’t have it all at a lower fee, and that it is not going to be worth it for everyone. Our family does almost all of their travel together, and so needing to get either multiple accounts or $125 AU fees for the lounge access just doesn’t make sense - we are 4. It might if we, say lived in DEN (or nearby where most trips connected there), and so every trip started there (and very few other lounges, to boot). The card might still be worth it based on other benefits - I’m still figuring that out. Cap1 made their strategical choice, and as a cardholder, you have to figure out if it still makes sense. For me, might not any longer.