BOSishome

The DFW lounge was slammed last night from 5-6. It was difficult to find a seat, lounge staff couldn't keep up with busing the tables nor replenishing the buffet... I think that an easy fix would be to change the guest policy to one vs. two... That way, people can bring their spouse but it would limit the amount of people bringing multiple coworkers who they're travelling on business with.

bocastephen

I think the first stop is eliminating access for anyone except the primary cardholder plus only the primary cardholder's guests - we need to get rid of the corporate people who are using company cards branched off a single owner's master account.

mia

Business and Corporate Platinum cards net cost is higher than personal Platinum. Why should American Express exclude them?

gtran26

I wonder if the HKG lounge would hold onto my luggage while I go into the city. That might be asking too much.

joe_miami

Perhaps the non-U.S. lounges are different, but I believe Amex lounges have a policy against doing this.

krazykanuck

I doubt they would. But HKG at least has a convenient left luggage service right next to the MTR station in the terminal. Will cost you no more than a few $ for the day.

Steve M

You'd also need a favor from both an airline representative and HK Immigration: once you go through transit security to gain access to the Amex lounge, there's no normal way to exit the departures area and be admitted to Hong Kong. You first have to find an airline representative that is willing to take you to Immigration (ostensibly with a good reason why you need to leave the departure area after you entered, which normally would be that you flight was serious delayed and not that you just wanted to use the Amex lounge for luggage storage), plus Immigration has to sign off on it.

evergrn

fliesdelta

Centurion cardmembers.

evergrn

But they had at least half a dozen of the nicest tables reserved. Do that many Centurion card members really exist to justify keeping that many tables blocked for them? Based on what I've read about its criteria, it's hard for me to imagine that

I already have Hilton Aspire, so really the main thing I was looking for with Platinum card was lounge access at SEA and sometimes HKG after UA Club's rule change on Nov 1st. If I had to do it all over again, I'd just keep my UA Club Card for Star travels, use Priority Pass (from Aspire) as needed, and then cover occasional day pass fees with CSR.

bocastephen

Not excluding the primary cardholder, but the employee cardholders, basically those getting the card for free as a perk of employment with cards that branch off the primary cardholder's account, should be excluded.

mia

Please finish the thought and explain WHY employee cardholders are less worthy of access, and WHY American Express would want to devalue accounts that pay higher fees.

bocastephen

Because the employee cardholders are not paying for their own access, and with the crowding situation, a tough call needs to be made - and that means prioritizing lounge access for primary cardholders who are directly paying their own membership fees. If we restricted access to primary cardholders and ONE guest, the lounges would be far less crowded and be a more pleasant (and less stressful) experience for everyone. The guest policy itself could be flexible - during hours where the lounge is is forecast to be under 70% full, and coupled with the 3hr rule, a primary cardholder could bring in two guests, but a one guest policy would kick in prior to, and during forecasted busy periods to make sure primary cardholders have a place to sit and relax.

How do Business Platinum cardholders pay higher fees? The annual fee is lower for Business vs Personal cards.

dhuey

Diplomatico

Business Plat = $595/year.

Personal Plat = $550/year.