How wonderful a lounge can be!
 

I'm writing this from the SAS domestic lounge at Arlanda. I was on the 18.25 domestic depature to ARG but we had to shift plane. Now the people are queing at Gate 41 to get on the new plane estimated to leave at 20.00.

I on the other hand is sitting watching those passengers from the palm-planted interioer of this wonderful lounge.

I thought why wait to board when I can enjoy this instead. Not bad for a domestic youth stand-by ticket that I paid $22 dollars for...

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

I already love this silver card.

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Goldlust

Goldlust
I will join you in the domestic lounge at Arlanda in a few months. EuroBonus Silver here I came. You do keep your boarding passes from all youth tickets in Sweden, both booked and stand by ticket?

And on the other hand.....
How awful a lounge can be:
Got into LAX last Saturday after 18 hours of flying from Singapore. Airport not too busy at 9am. Pop into Red Carpet Club for our 2 hour layover and it's a zoo. My wife and I find two seats about ten feet apart. My chair gives me a potted palm in my face. After about ten minutes of "relaxing" we leave and find acres of empty seats across the way in the terminal. Anyone know why RCC-LAX was so busy last Saturday morning?

I am in a good 40+ airports a year often sharing a car with colleagues(which means we get to the airports as early as the first team memeber's flight). As I will never accrue Elite status,(non-profit puts us on cheapest flights with no brand loyalty ... can't say as I blame them), I would like to join a lounge/VIP club nad will have to pay $$. Any suggestions? I fly to Asia and Europe only a few times a year... otherwise it's a crapshoot what airports I'll be in. What's your favorite? Least?
Thanks ahead of time for YOUR time! These forums are the BEST!
Joe

sfoJoe:

My recommendation would be to join the RCC. Not only do they have clubs all around the world (unfortunately with varying quality http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif ), but when travelling Star you could use all the business class lounges across the Star network (AC Maple Leaf, AN Golden Wing... and the list goes on). There is no oneworld equivalent because, for example, AAdmiral's Club membership does not get you into any other OW clubs.

Hope this helps...

You might want to look into Priority Pass.

There are two membership plans:

• Standard Membership: $99/year + $24/lounge visit
• Prestige Membership: $295/year with no charge for lounge visits (obviously, the better deal if you use lounges more than 8 times a year)

(See their web site for information about corporate and group memberships.)

But wait, there's more ...

If you join the International Airline Passengers Association:

... as a $299 "Gold" member, you get the "Prestige" Priority Pass, plus all of the IAPA benefits.

... as a $49 "Bronze" or $99 "Silver" member, you can purchase a "Standard" Priority Pass at a discounted price of $75. "Bronze" looks like a pretty good deal; I'm not sure "Silver" adds enough value to justify its cost.

Tip of the day:

You can get a 3 month Free Trial Membership in IAPA.

Disclaimer: I am not a member of IAPA, nor do I have a Priority Pass.

If you fly to europe and asia a few times a year and don't otherwise have lounge access, look into the Diners Club card which gets access to quite a few overseas lounges. Check out the website for a list.

For domestic lounges you need to look at the cities where you most often need one and then check out the airline lists for a substantial match.

RCC is great overseas too (because of the *A reciprocity above).

Thanks y'all!

I'm checking them out and researching the links/advice. I'll let you know what I decide thanks to y'all. Thanks again!

Yes I do. When flying Youth with SK you can actually "double-dip" in your booked youth ticket. You get EB miles AND when you've flown 16 one-way you get a free return ticket in Europe (north of the Alpes).

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Goldlust
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Also se my post in the SK forum a couple of weeks ago http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum42/HTML/000126.html

I spent several hours at SK's beautiful lounge in Copenhagen last year. By far the nicest lounge I've ever been in (although I haven't been in too many outside the U.S.). The downside was that I had to fly on SAS -- a very disappointing airline.

Could the LAX RCC be the exception that proves the rule? I have been in a few clubs, and the LAX RCC is by far the worst club I have ever been in ... it's just way too small for the number of passengers UA handles at LAX.

If you want to see real lounges, visit any of the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouses, especially the one at London Heathrow (Library, Music & Film room, Miniature Golf, Free Salon and Haircuts, Free Full Bar and Full proper menu, not just snacks, games area, 360degree viewing conservatory).

Only problem is that you can only get in you are:-

a) Flying Upper Class
b) Are Flying Club Gold
c) UK AMEX Platinum or Centurion holder.

No one else, but then that the price to be paid for such a marvellous lounge.

New Virgin "Clubhouse" at JFK is a hit
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum53/HTML/000067.html

This is not correct. I am not an AAdmiral Club member, but I know they have reciprocal agreements with at least 2 or 3 others OW lounges including Qantas Clubs. Canadian Empress Lounge used to have such agreement with AA too when they were in OW.

For what is worth, being a former Oneworld Sapphire and a current Star-Alliance Gold, I feel that Oneworld's lounge program is better. I never had to buy any club membership b/c mine is complimentary with Canadian Plus status and not only I had access to ALL Oneworld Business Class lounges(excluding few notable First Class lounges unless traveling First Class). This is also valid even traveling within the U.S. Furthermore, not only I have access to AA Admiral Clubs, I also get two complimentary drinks automatically at the bar! I really like their clubs in Honolulu and Chicago. Oneworld has much less exclusions than Star-Alliance in terms of reciprocal lounge access. Very often, the best lounges (i.e. the ones at the home hub of each airline such Air New Zealand, All Nippon Airways, Varig and etc.) cannot by used by Star-Gold status or RCP membership. This is not the case with Oneworld. I am also surprised by the lack of First Class lounges in Star-Alliance. United doesn't have one, All Nippon Airways and Singapore Airlines have but you can't use unless you fly First Class. Compared that to Oneworld's lounges in Hong Kong, Sydney, London Heathrow and various places in the U.S., Star-Alliance lounges seem to be slightly lower in standards.