Certain lounges in UK allow you to prebook for a time slot to ensure you will be able to get in and not be refused due to space constraints. However, there is a fee associated with pre-booking. You can always try your luck upon arrival, of course.

That is, except for one lounge in GLA. The Lomond Lounge does not accept walk-in. You will have to pre-book to get in, and pre-booking costs £16.

So effectively there is no way to get in to this lounge without paying £16, even if one has a Priority Pass membership. I really do not like this trend.

Is the F&B decent to justify the walk-in fee?

There is no walk-in fee, only pre-booking fee. Walk-in is not possible, so I left.

Have you ever been inside the lounge and tried the food?

Noticed this and so called PC two weeks ago and was assured that my membership via Hilton Surpass was still valid. Pulled up the card today on the app and the 2026 expiry changed before my eyes to around February 8th 2024. Of course, ethical business practices would continue the membership till the yearly Amex card expiration. I wonder what would happen if I called Amex, cancelled and asked for a prorated refund of the membership fee?

If you downgrade to the free Hilton card American Express will automatically issue a prorated refund, but not if you cancel.

After taking the contrarian position I am rapidly moving in the OPs direction.

Too many of the popular lounges are now impassible due to long lines, no doubt due to the fact that everyone and their mother (in my case literally) have credit cards with free PP cards. Most recent example for me was SJD - the line was literally 35pp long at 11am and barely moving. We did not even bother. Last year I saw similar (albeit shorter) lines at PVR. Obviously these are peak times but honestly if a lounge is not available to me at peak travel times then it is worthless to me.

Then there are the lounges like OAK that are literally so consistently mediocre as to be negative value (i.e. could be better spending my time elsewhere).

I do a cost benefit analysis on all my cards with AFs. Going forward I will value PP benefit at zero (effectively this is already the case as I have multiple cards with PP). The only possible exception will be Chase cards (e.g. CSR, JPMR, RC) where the PP restaurant benefits are still usable (though did see lines at SFO on Wed. at one restaurant, but that could just be lunch rush LOL)

Priority Pass has the Planet Fitness problem: it is an insurance policy that only works well if people don’t make claims.

The benefit is useful sometimes, but I can’t imagine flying on an airline more than about 25k/year without having access to their own lounge. It is remarkable how much more pleasant Admirals Clubs/Alaska Clubs/Sky Clubs/United Clubs tend to be than credit card only lounges. (Even though they tend to have less nice F&B.)

As a 100k on AS/UA Silver/WN A-list based in Reno + SF I find different lounges useful for their own reasons.

My usual stops (JAX and HNL Plumeria) have not been a problem at all. I have been turned away at OGG for being more than 2 hours before departure (or 75 minutes before boarding on the wrong side of plant security) but did get in with my guests.
I would like to hear from International travelers on their experiences. I already knew that the domestic experience was at best supplemental to my United Club membership.

I remembered HNL had a good lounge with food options. This was about 5 years ago. It was kind of far away from the main terminals unless it’s been moved closer.

OGG had almost no food, only drinks and snacks. It was not worth my time there.

The Plumeria is over the Inter-Island terminal is wide light and spacious. decent food and drink options and it has a shower. OGG has nothing but local crackers and coffee, so it is not a luxe experience.

PP is good in Asia and especially for me on domestic flights or the short hauls all economy flights. Lounges are not full at all. I fly a lot in and from BKK, MNL, and not on Star A so the PP is extremely useful. The same in KUL too. On the long hauls I get my Star A lounge invitation so PP is still very useful for me at least for now.

Are there any decent lounge membership that is available that is not per flight or on a credit card?

Here is an article comparing Priority Pass VS Dragon Pass: https://theprofessionaltraveller.com...priority-pass/

There is also Lounge Buddy with is a pay per visit program: https://www.loungebuddy.com/

A few months ago I saw the Tegel lounge at T1 BER and the Star Alliance lounge at T1 CDG were both on the PP active list. Now I have a trip on a few weeks to both cities, but voila, both are suddenly missing from the PP roster. Indeed the only option at at of CDG now appears to be a Movenpick restaurant somewhere in the Terminal 2 hive.

Further value erosion if true. Can anyone confirm?

I see Movenpick in BER T1 and a YotelAir in CDG T2E. My PP is from Chase.