I've had better experiences outside the USA but typically only use it when there is no airline lounge I can get into. It varies so much airport to airport -- my most frequent airports not so helpful. What airports do you frequent, especially where there may be multiple good options?

"Useless" is an overstatement, but there are recurring disappointments:

1) Many times lounges turn away Priority Pass members when they are approaching capacity, or if they need to hold spaces for premium passengers of contracted airlines.

2) The quality of participating lounges varies and some of the airline operated lounges offer lower quality food/drink during the times that they admit Priority Pass customers.

Reminds me of the Nutella wars.

Then again, I always had higher hoper for Korean Air's lounge in Tokyo Narita (NRT). Wonder if what you mentioned above is the case....

KE lounges suck. Is there any major airline with consistently worse lounges? Even their "flagship" lounges at ICN are pathetic.

I agree with you, but PP is a free/low cost membership. People expect too much from a free or low cost product that is why they are disappointed. Don't compare PP lounges to business/flagship lounges. If you want service from business/first class then pay for business/first class price.

There's such a wide variation in Priority Pass lounges. Some are awful. Some are surprisingly nice (FCO and BCN come to mind). This is true of business class lounges, as well.

I totally agree. My point is we should not disappoint even the lounge is awful. How much does PP pay to the lounge? My guess is around $20 per person. For $20, what can you get at the airport?
Edit: How much do you pay for PP membership per month? Myself and my family $0, therefore I don't expect anything from PP.

I think the comparison is with airline-specific and alliance lounges since that is the competition. And I'd say 100% of the UA/DL/AA/CO/LH/QF lounges I have visited post-pandemic were nicer than any PP lounge ever. The EK/SQ/CX were even better. The only exception may be the Aberdeen PP lounge which featured single malt scotches LOL.

Consumers don't care what PP pays the lounge. They care about the product.

I concur with your assessment. I have also visited many fine CO & NW lounges. But none post-pandemic. ;)

Sorry that was supposed to be AS (love the Alaskan Amber). And yes I miss those PCs (and the old RCCs too)

These Priority Pass memberships are not free. They are included in the cost of the credit card.

I agree. At the airports where I use Priority Pass, I'm typically just happy to find a lounge. Good example would be CTA or HKT - neither will win any awards, but I was just happy to find a lounge.
I think many of us consider it free, as it's not a motivating factor in acquiring the card. I have several cards with PP access (2 Amex, 1 C1), and this is true for all of them.
I could provide a substantial list of UA/DL/AA/LH lounges I've been to that are worse than Priority Pass lounges at FCO or BCN.

Just for a starter, I'll direct you to the AA lounges at PHX or CLT, UC at SEA, or DL at MSP.

In my case, it is free. Chase says PP is complimentary and my cost is $0 for PP. Let me explain. My annual fee is $450/year. I always get back $300 travel incident which bring it down to $150/year. This year I use the free night certificate and 15000 marriot points to book at St Regis Rome which is around $1000/night. In my point of view, I made a profit from my credit card and my cost for my credit card is $0.

Agree. We travel to some quirky places around the world. Often, a Priority Pass lounge is the only option even though we are flying on business class tickets.

Tijuana - large lounge admitting people with Priority Pass. It has a private entrance for clearing security. Very nice.

Cabo - Priority Pass lounge where we hang out between airport arrival and flight departure We never know how long it will take to clear immigration and the wait might or might not be long.

Tenerife - was just there, awaiting a flight on easyJet which certainly has no lounges. It was a very pleasant lounge. We had a 4 hour evening flight ahead and were happy to have trays of tuna fish sandwiches on offer along with a wide range of beverages and other snacks.

This. Consumers don't care what it costs to visit PP -- however, they were marketed a "premium experience" card, often billed as luxurious. Akin to airline cards promising you "early boarding!" only to find yourself in zone 4/5/6. For me. So you sign up for a premium card and get a less than premium experience; it is the expectations setting, I guess, For some customers who don't travel as much, the card's benefits are aspirational, so that one time every now and then you want to use benefits or give your spouse a special experience you find yourself locked out of the lounge or in what feels like an auto dealer waiting room and you are disappointed.

I get value out of a card on its a cash basis, with PP being a random benefit I may use once a year when I find it nice to have, but whatever, just like some other benefits I'll never use like "concierge services" (which I have friends that use extensively and love it, btw). I'd offer up CLEAR in similar vein for me, I signed up based on the reimbursement but don't think of it as an actual benefit because I don't find CLEAR useful at my typical airports.