ATL Future Lounge Landscape
 

Curious to get everyone's thoughts on what we might expect in the lounge arena with QR and TK launching service next year.

Both of them are known for their product and customer experience. Will they just use the 'Club at ATL', which is marginally better than the F SC and already very crowded with BA and LH passengers, or will we see the addition of a ME3 club or Amex Lounge maybe?

As much as I'd love it, I can't imagine that Amex would open a Cent Lounge at ATL, due to the Amex/DL relationship.

Doing so would put them in competition with the DL SkyClubs that own ATL, and provide another, very nice lounge option for people not flying DL.

I cant imagine they would open a lounge until the route proves to be a good one for them. If they do I guarantee it will raise the bar in ATL for the club experience.

I wish AMEX would open Centurion Lounges everywhere! :D I know it's not going to happen but it sure would be nice!

I know I'm in the minority here. But I don't even see the viability of lounges anymore. They are expensive. Many charge extra for drinks. Many don't have real food. Most are over-crowded. Most airports have high quality restaurants and watering holes these days. What's still drawing all of you?

I would be shocked if QR or TK open their own lounges at ATL. TK has lounges only in Istanbul, and QR currently has lounges only in DOH and LHR (the QR "lounge" at DFW is operated by The Club and is just a dedicated section of a third-party lounge). If either carrier decides to open a new lounge, ATL is not going to be next on the list.

I get access to lounges through Amex Platinum (i.e., DL Skylubs and Priority Pass).

The gate area tends to be crowded and noisy, so to sit down and read or get work done on my laptop, I go to a lounge.

Most (good) airport restaurants are crazy overcrowded too, worse than lounges, frequently with a wait just to get in. Plus, you get 'seated' usually, at a place of someone else's choosing, not your own, and then you frequently wind up wedged into an awkward spot avoiding eye contact from the person who was just seated uncomfortably close to you. Then you have no power, no ability to take a phone call if needed, etc.

At least in a lounge you have control over where you are seated and 90%+ of the time I can still wedge myself into a spot with at least some personal space that is conducive to getting some work done. Bad as they are, a lounge still beats an airport restaurant the vast majority of the time for me.

Space to work (often with a desk), generally reliable wifi, and access to arguable better CS agents with shorter lines when necessary. Food/drink are the least of my concerns - most of the time I just want some water or a coffee.

Plus, if you're accessing with something like an Amex Platinum or actual membership and fly even moderately, the per-visit cost is not bad: $450 AF for Amex less $200 fee credit, 75 segments a year, use lounges for 1/3 of those = $10/visit. And that's ignoring other card benefits. Many people, including myself, use lounges far more than 25x/year.

Did LH close their lounge? If so, seems like a bad move in their part.

I agree! I'm curious if anyone has knowledge of this. Are the lounges operated at a loss for AMEX? The point of my question is how they can operate such a nice lounge with vastly superior offerings compared to any US carrier's lounge. For less money too!

They have to operate them at a loss, right? Otherwise the airlines are just being horribly cheap. That can't be true, can it? :D

This.

I have not been in The Club, but it looks pretty comparable to what TK and QR use at the out-stations I've been at. Any dedicated lounge at ATL would seem highly unlikely anytime in the near future.

Amex is desperate to retain cardholders, particularly premium cardholders. I wouldn't be the least bit shocked to find they run the clubs at a loss.

The LGA and SFO Centurion Clubs are located to provide service to UA and AA AMEX cardholder who lost access to the airline clubs. I haven't been to the other locations but imagine it's much the same.

It's geared to AMEX Platinum and Centurion member with others paying a fee which at $50 apiece, most likely offsets the actual cost of what they consume.

Access to empowered customer service agents in the case of IROPS. About once a year, things go wrong in a spectacular fashion, and being able to talk to someone in person beats even the Diamond line (particularly when a ticket is stuck under airport control).

In particular, there's no better feeling than explaining the situation, having the lounge agent get to work on fixing it, and relaxing in the lounge in the interim until I'm paged with new travel plans. (Or, more accurately, calling my family and colleagues to tell them I'm stuck :))

This also holds true with other airline partners. In particular, KLM and Virgin Australia are two airlines where "Not Possible" is the mantra of their ordinary customer service, but where DL elites are treated extremely well by lounge staff.