mia

Half-dozen posts that are more about Sapphire Reserve than Priority Pass have been rehoused:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/chase...-3-months.html

oliver2002

Also note that PP charges 27$ to someone when you visit the lounge. So if they would hand you a 15$ voucher to go away, the contract lounge would not get paid by PP because they didn't provide a service.

missamo80

Alaska Board Room access is subject to space availability. The Anchorage location is limited to cardholder + two guests. Note that the lounges in Seattle, Los Angeles, and Portland do not allow guests at all due to overcrowding. This can all be verified in the Priority Pass app/on the website.

Here's a long thread over in the Alaska forum about whether people have been turned away at the various lounges. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/alask...b-c-space.html

Also note there is no Board Room at the Etimesgut Air Base Airport

Neil

jamesteroh

The other lounges aren't that big of a deal to me since Delta has Skyclubs there (I did like the LA BR on early morning flights though with the Pancake machine but doesn't matter now anyway since Delta isn't in T5/T6) but I use the Anchorage one (but usually travel solo or with other PP members so not a big deal as long as they allow card holders in).

I'm surprised the BR is now putting in capacity controls. It seems like the lounges would be less crowded now that Skyclub members can't access it

missamo80

Chase Sapphire Reserve inundated them with PP members. It was pretty awful for a while. The new C lounge opening in Seattle is helping.

Neil

jmsnyc

On Qantas, what kind of ticket or status do you need for lounge access?


Were you able to use the credit on arrival?

BlueEngineer

I'll be down in Sydney in about two months if nobody gets there to try before me. Will let you know.

Boraxo

Please provide the facts supporting your cause-and-effect theory. Many credit cards provide PP access including Amex, etc. Yes, CSR has proven to be a popular product, but keep in mind that many of the new cardholders already had PP access through another product (e.g. Chase Ritz, etc.) I have yet to see any linkage to CSR other than rank speculation.

Keep in mind that in the old days there were many Continental PCs and even some UCs that were part of the PP program (generally non-hub locations). Over time the PP network within the USA has shrunk to the point where it now only includes some random foreign clubs (e.g. AF/KLM) and only AS BR's on the domestic side. So in many places AS is inundated because it is the only game in town regardless of what airline you fly. Even WN passengers are using the lounges now where they can at LAX, SEA, etc.

Zorak

I don't have data and I'll freely admit to answering a(n implicit) question with a question, but by the same token, do you have data supporting the claim that many new CSR holders already had PP access through another product? vs. how many people who maybe weren't travelers/likely PP users jumped on the CSR for the 100k bonus and started using PP because they now had it?

Is there a plausible alternate explanation for relatively sudden/recent increased crowding that caused AS and Escape Lounge to start barring PP?

missamo80

CSR provided more generous guest benefits than any of the previously-issued options, and combined with the Citi Prestige offering (with entire family allowed in), it dramatically increased the use of the already cramped lounges.

There's plenty of discussion about it over at http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/alask...b-c-space.html. Those of us who fly through SeaTac regularly have seen the effects first-hand with the frequent turning away of PP members, followed by the new policy of no guests allowed.

Neil

wco81

Turned away at Aspire lounge in AMS.

Said try coming back in 30 minutes. This was around 9:30 am.

Went to KLM lounge, which isn't bad. But got a long layover so may try going back there.

Happy

KLM lounge is huge. It is identical on both sides of the center reception area and for whatever reason one side is always much busier than the other side.

Aspire lounge is not as nice as KLM. I checked it out in May when we flew 9W in J on AMS-YYZ, and I tried to determine which lounge to hang out for 3 hours. Ended up staying at KLM's on the much quieter side.

wco81

Well I was at KLM from about 9 AM to 11:30 AM. They had some charcuterie, hard boiled eggs. Best thing were the soups.

Then around 11 AM, they brought out veggies and some dips.

Went back to Aspire around 11:30 AM. Yeah it wasn't nicer. Maybe the only thing of interest food-wise was some couscous.

Wifi was weak at the KLM lounge. Didn't check at Aspire. Only good thing about Aspire was that it was closer to my gate while the KLM lounge showed a display that it was 9 minutes walking from my gates.

Happy

To be honest, I have yet to see a 3rd party lounge in the airports we have been, is better than an airlines' own lounges at the same airports, except FCO which I did not check 3rd party lounge but the AZ lounges were VERY BAD when we dropped by on a morning departure last year. I would not comment on the utterly ugly decor (there are multiple "compartments" separated by neon-color transparent acrylic boards) - just the basic breakfast food was even lacking. The only thinks available were hard dried out rolls, sorry-looking greens in small individual "bowls", no egg, no cereal, no cold-cuts. BUT there was a manned bar right in the center of the lounge, at 9am in the morning. No idea whether it was free or not. Luckily we came from Hilton FCO and had our breakfast there already but to wait for our flight departed around 11am.

Even at HKG the Premier Lounges lack even the UA lounge, not to mention TG, CX and QF lounges. But the Premier Lounges in HKG are among the better 3rd party lounges in PP system - so far we only saw the Songololo (CX uses it, QR used to use it but switched to lesser one due to cost cutting) - it is 1 of the 3 PP lounges for Int'l flights in JNB is better than the Premier in HKG, and we have been quite a number of PP lounges in Europe, Asia, Turkey and South Africa when we used the AMEX Plat benefits long before CSR came along.

jamesteroh

Someone in my office was turned away from Aspire at LHR Monday. Not sure why they wanted to check it out so bad, he's a diamond on Delta and him and his wife had access to the Virgin Lounge which is one of the nicest lounges I've been in when flying out of Europe.