superEGO

Man.. This thread is nothing like I was expected it to be...

I think we can all agree that airport lounges, specifically UA ones, leave something to be desired. There are plenty of valid complaints, occupancy level included. Why Alton is on the floor, who knows.. I don't honestly think it matters if the club was 100% at capacity or not. If the club is at a level of occupancy where it "feels full", then something is already wrong.

Public seating is going to start feeling full at around 80% (number roughly made up by me since I can't recall the actual number). Designing a space with seating is supposed to accommodate that into the final chair count. It's not like we are talking about a concert or performance of some kind.. we talking about a lounge. Actually, even if we were, some movie theaters without reserved seating will start refunding tickets when a theater is "full" but not "sold out".

I also think it's wrong for us to lump any celebrity into a single category. By and large, Alton comes across as very affable and he does quite a bit of fan interaction on social media.. so a post about his airport experience is neither abnormal nor unexpected... and having him post something negative is extremely rare. Lumping him in the same category as a Kardashian or Alec Baldwin seems silly.

F23Coupe

With anything, you have to take folks you don't know with a grain of salt. So whether Alton Brown was telling the truth or not, it has at least brought awareness to a potential issue. And I did not see his tweet as a DYKWIA either.

Seeing that this has resonated with other FTers who have also experienced the same, then perhaps this could have been the straw that broke the camel's back in terms of getting the attention it needed. As life often dictates, it takes high-profile cases for things to be done. If the UC in the other locations at LAX were going to take X weeks to finish, perhaps it will now take X - Y weeks to finish. If that's what happens, then great, Alton Brown's action led to something that benefits the users of the club. Would I watch his show more because of it or think more highly of him? Nope. He's just a paying customer with a "loud" voice. If it takes a loud voice to get things done, I'll gladly let him be loud with his complaints.

SoCal

Really? Sat on the floor? What's the point-- there are never seats? I'm guessing this rich dude, who apparently wanted publicity , didn't have a membership and paid to use the club on a one-time basis. His post doesn't say, but apparently there were no seats available. At least he didn't find one (on rare occasions I've had to hunt to seats at various clubs of various airlines). Wonder how many seats were taken up by people putting their bags on seats. This happens a lot, both in clubs and in the main terminal areas.

Third class? Poor little rich boy. When my wife and I used this club, there were very few seats, and my wife asked one man if he seat next to him was taken. Sugar Ray Leonard graciously said, no, she was welcome to visit there. This famous chef (I haven't heard of him but that doesn't mean much) should have gone to the front desk, said there were no seats, and asked for his $50 back. IF he did that, then he should do his tweet (but if he got his refund on the spot he wouldn't have gotten his publicity). Oh, the traumas of the rich and famous.

F23Coupe

If you've already invested in a membership, it'll still be better than sitting near the gates (of most airports). If I had to pay per visit, then yes, I would look at other clubs as well.

I'm not sure why you're attacking his character other than him being rich, male and posting this tweet, but doesn't he have a voice in the matter, too? Would you have the same opinion if UA was dragging its feet in renovating its other club in the vicinity and you and others complained to no avail with zero response? If Alton Brown raised up a legitimate and a valid concern, let him speak and get the attention of UA management it deserves! I don't see anything in his tweet as DYKWIA...

airplanegod

There are many complaints (celebrities aside) that UA has an overcrowding issue at UA clubs. Not only on here, but I also know people personally who complain about this. I admire you trying to defend UA here, but there is absolutely no need to bring down DL/AA. There is no evidence or any complaints that DL/AA clubs have the same overcrowding issues (if any at all) compared to UA.

SS255

In addition to the closure of the T-6 UC, the T-7 UC is down to about 75% of its former seating capacity, due to construction. The over-crowding is very real these days, even at 5AM.

I find the former GF lounge upstairs to be consistently less crowded, since many people haven't "discovered" it yet.

UA needs to install those red and green lights (like they have in parking garages) over each seat.

VickyKing

I haven't been to many DL and AA lounges lately, so even if I suspect something, I wouldn't make it sound like fact.

Lori_Q

+1! Great show!

These overcrowded conditions in United Clubs happen regularly at places like Newark, where there are no seats to be found. Even if the club agents informed people as they're coming in, that would be a help.

Darlox

DL lounges can still be crowded, but are generally MUCH less full since changing their access criteria last year. AA lounges I can't speak to, but I used to love the US lounges in places like BOS and PIT. They were often ghost-towns to the extent that they were some of the quietest most productive places I can think of to get work done. No idea if that's changed in the last ~9 months.

Overseas, it's not even a question. The UA club in NRT is usually a jam-packed zoo with miserable amenities to boot. Down the concourse at the NH lounge... bliss! You can't even compare the UA lounge in HKG to the CX lounges.

I have been to a pretty large sample of lounges, and the current overcrowding at UA is endemic, and arguably worse than any other airline I can think of, globally, except for maybe LH (whose own lounges are often famously overcrowded...)

Boo_Radley

You don't have to guess if he used a one time pass, his tweet makes it clear how he entered. I'm also not sure if someone who's literally on TV would tweet an airline complaint for the sake of publicity. He probably does commercials and stuff that's picked up by more than just his followers and an airline sub-forum.

+1. Why was Mike Rowe's CR7 rant so well-received, but Alton Brown is getting torn apart?

sinoflyer

Just to put things into some perspective, a new UC is planned on a new level to be built above the current concourse at T7. According to the LAX T7 Plan, it will be larger than the 3 lounges (2 current + old CO) combined. (First mention of this appears on page A-6.)

Still, IMO this doesn't excuse what happened to Brown today. If UA couldn't deliver on a reasonable level of service, it shouldn't have taken his (or anyone's) $50. The fact that UA took the money (at first, which I presume it will refund) says a lot about UA's smallness that unfortunately no longer surprises me.

Overall, LAX is a mess right now with construction going on everywhere, and it will continue for the foreseeable future. I can't imagine how T7 will be like in the coming months, when the real construction inside the terminal begins.

superEGO

Maybe this is core point of disagreement... whether or not posts on the internet that do not backup our own personal experiences are trustworthy?

Ignoring the irony that this entire conversation consists of things I am actively reading on the internet....

A huge part of the Flyertalk community is precisely based around comparing and learning from others experiences. Pretty much everything I know about playing the frequent flier game was learned over the last 10 years of reading posts here. So by and large, I've come to trust (and witness as accurate) most of what I've learned. Coincidentally, the same is true of how much I learned about cooking from Alton Brown.. So in another way, he has earned my trust.

The overcrowding issue is something others have commented on and that I have experienced. Finding a seat in ORD, SFO, or NRT during peak hours? It can be rough... in the context of this whole debate, it doesn't matter what other airlines lounges are like. That said, I will second the notion that LH lounges are at least as bad, and even though the NRT NH lounge is often quiet, I've also been to NH lounges where I left because there wasn't seating.

'Cause 'Murica...

jamesdenver

Reminds me of a tactic in that the HBO Scientology doc I watched over the weekend.

When a critic brings up a charge against you, ignore the actual charge and attack and disparage the critic down to every possible little negative thing they've ever done in their life, true or not.

cerealmarketer

Well at LAX the Delta lounge situation is a similar travesty. Constantly overcrowded. Delta, like United, is in the midst of construction to expand.

AA has the only reasonable lounge situation in that LAX south complex at this moment - just a very large club - and they haven't gone through the full merger logistics yet, while DL and UA are bearing the loads of two former carriers in single terminals.

Even the Alaska club is often jammed.

But in 2 years...both will be shining cities on a hill.

VickyKing

Barclays didn't issue a PMUS card back then that allowed lounge access the same way the Citi ExecAA or Chase UA Club card does. Those credit cards drive up the utilization but also the crowdedness.

If you depart an airline's primary TATL hub at the early evening bank, it is bound to be crowded. The BA JFK Galleries was a zoo at 7pm too. I've experienced crowded Amex Centurion lounges too (LAS, sunday, noon).

Of course there's also a certain population that goes out of their way to obtain Aegean Star Alliance Gold just to use UA lounges domestically.