Why the allure to Lounges?

Old Dec 10, 2018, 12:30 am
  #16  
 
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Agree wholeheartedly with eigenvector's statement about mediocre lounges in less-developed countries. The ET lounge in ADD was a very welcome respite, as was the TG lounge in KTM last week. I avoid the three MLL lounges in YVR as they're each downgrades from the public portions of the terminal, bathrooms included.

C'mon Frankfurt...really? Free potable water is a late-2017 innovation?
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Old Dec 10, 2018, 12:35 am
  #17  
 
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Originally Posted by CZAMFlyer
C'mon Frankfurt...really? Free potable water is a late-2017 innovation?
Well, better late than never, I guess. To me, all tap water in Germany is potable.

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Old Dec 10, 2018, 1:02 am
  #18  
 
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Originally Posted by worldclubber


Well, better late than never, I guess. To me, all tap water in Germany is potable.

That was my understanding. I am still alive, so clearly that assumption was correct.

The YYC airport is the one major airport in Canada that had some strange problem with installing those bottled water filling stations. Did not quite understood why.

Lounges these days (across multiple operators) have this thing about flavored water. Basically a big fancy looking glass/plastic pot with water containing ice cubes and some vegetable or fruit floating in the water. It looks nice, and is usually cold. Only available in the lounges. Does anyone know if that is normally made with tap water or bottled water?
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Old Dec 10, 2018, 3:27 am
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Originally Posted by Fiordland
That was my understanding. I am still alive, so clearly that assumption was correct.

The YYC airport is the one major airport in Canada that had some strange problem with installing those bottled water filling stations. Did not quite understood why.

Lounges these days (across multiple operators) have this thing about flavored water. Basically a big fancy looking glass/plastic pot with water containing ice cubes and some vegetable or fruit floating in the water. It looks nice, and is usually cold. Only available in the lounges. Does anyone know if that is normally made with tap water or bottled water?
I can only tell you for German LH Senator lounges: The make it with (perfectly drinkable) tap water and ice cubes made from tap water, too.
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Old Dec 10, 2018, 6:27 am
  #20  
 
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Originally Posted by Fiordland
That was my understanding. I am still alive, so clearly that assumption was correct.

The YYC airport is the one major airport in Canada that had some strange problem with installing those bottled water filling stations. Did not quite understood why.

Lounges these days (across multiple operators) have this thing about flavored water. Basically a big fancy looking glass/plastic pot with water containing ice cubes and some vegetable or fruit floating in the water. It looks nice, and is usually cold. Only available in the lounges. Does anyone know if that is normally made with tap water or bottled water?
YYZ MLL Dom - Tap
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Old Dec 10, 2018, 7:02 am
  #21  
 
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Originally Posted by Fiordland
Does anyone know if that is normally made with tap water or bottled water?
Until and unless FNT gets a MLL, I'm perfectly happy with tap water for just about anything.
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Old Dec 10, 2018, 10:27 am
  #22  
 
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Place to sit and do some light work.

And (maybe counter-intuitive to some), access to _small_ bits of food. When I travel, I rarely feel like having the kind of large, greasy meal you often get at airport restaurants. A small bowl of spicy soup, a piece of fresh fruit*, some veggies, an espresso or two, all in one place ... that can be worth a lot. Sure, I can get all that in the terminal, but it's a hassle.

It should be obvious that I'm writing this from a U.S. perspective. In countries with more developed infrastructure, many of these lounge benefits fall away.

[* Honestly, fresh fruit by itself almost makes whatever access price worth it. After a long flight, on a long layover, facing another flight, it's a small reminder that there's an outside to all these sterile spaces.]
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Old Dec 10, 2018, 10:32 am
  #23  
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Better lounge than no lounge. But "allure" is a bit of a strong word in this context. At least when dealing with most MLLs and the like.
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Old Dec 10, 2018, 10:45 am
  #24  
 
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Lounge access isn't particularly high on my list of priorities, but I like certain amenities, like Wi-Fi (the public wi-fi at some airports sucks or is even non-existent), printers, showers (not at United Clubs ), and available seats/power (in theory, at least). The agents can be handy during IRROPs, too. I could live without the food, and I only occasionally drink the bad-to-mediocre booze.
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Old Dec 10, 2018, 10:51 am
  #25  
 
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Long haul travel from Europe to Australia via Asia (HKG) OWE lounge access allows me relax, recharge and rest in absolute serenity and luxury.
Also the toilets are much nicer and cleaner than in the public area.











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Old Dec 10, 2018, 11:03 am
  #26  
 
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Originally Posted by Stranger
Better lounge than no lounge.
This sums it up perfectly. Unless my gate is an unreasonable haul from the lounge, Id rather hang out in a lounge than in the terminal.
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Old Dec 10, 2018, 11:03 am
  #27  
 
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Originally Posted by pitz
The lounges have turned into zoos that are often busier than the general airport terminals. The 'allure' is basically the nicer chairs, the all-you-can drink alcohol and the food.

I think some lounge patrons are also in denial of their alcohol abuse habits. I've seen people who have downed a bottle of Crown Royal in their lounge session, and certainly could afford to pay for the drinks at a normal airport bar, but having a $200 bar bill on their credit card that gets seen by their wife would be quite unacceptable. So they booze it up in the lounge where there is no monitoring of portions or of amounts consumed. In the lounge they can drink themselves silly discretely, while a person who drinks $200 worth of liquor at an airport bar "with service" alone might be viewed as a bit of a weirdo.
This.

Besides, if you can have AC pay for all of your alcohol instead of having to pay for it yourself why wouldn't you let Calin be on the hook?
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Old Dec 10, 2018, 11:07 am
  #28  
 
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Originally Posted by Santander
The agents can be handy during IRROPs, too.
That's a great point, and one reason I buy an annual lounge pass for years where I often connect through high-IRROPs airports (ORD, DEN, for example). Lines are _much_ shorter, agents are less overworked, and if things go south, at least I have a nice space to hang out in for a few hours.
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Old Dec 10, 2018, 11:32 am
  #29  
 
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Originally Posted by Fiordland
Lounges these days (across multiple operators) have this thing about flavored water. Basically a big fancy looking glass/plastic pot with water containing ice cubes and some vegetable or fruit floating in the water. It looks nice, and is usually cold. Only available in the lounges. Does anyone know if that is normally made with tap water or bottled water?
Every other coffee shop in Vancouver has these with various fruit/veggie slices or sprigs of mint floating in them. It's just tap water here, but then - ours is pretty good. I would hope that anywhere in North America (perhaps KFNT excluded), Europe or northern Asia would use their regular municipal water supply.
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Old Dec 10, 2018, 2:39 pm
  #30  
 
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Originally Posted by phdtraveller
I am operating under the assumption most FTers are paid corporate flying, and also have a per diem to spend on meals per day.

.... the food is so bad (unhealthy), you couldn't pay me to eat it. Additionally, the alcohol while might be free, is also very poor quality (you couldn't pay me to drink some of their wines). The economic value I place on these lounges ...maybe $100 for a nice shower at an Asian lounge. But for a Maple Leaf lounge, I definitely wouldn't pay more than $5. Your thoughts!?
I am amazed you'd pay $5 since it looks like you expect them to pay you eat and drink there and another key point is you don't actually pay anything. Your $5 is just an arbitrary amount you made up as a benchmark to rant against them which is baloney. The other end of the range, e.g. the $100 shower sounds pretty daft as well.

If you don't see value (for a free/included facility) then don't go in, solving the problem and leaving others to experience one less Negative Nancy who can sit outside and buy a Subway sanny.

How does the type of traveler (corporate or not, without evidence if it is true or not) and per diem apply in this argument since the per diem is not used in the lounge?
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