For each passenger making an attempt to determine if a $17 slimy ham and cheese croissant and their cellphone’s 34% remaining battery will maintain them for a four-hour layover, there’s somebody smugly sipping a complimentary gin and tonic in a secret luxurious lounge.
As soon as a refuge for frequent enterprise vacationers, airport lounges are more and more rising in popularity (and crowded) with informal vacationers, encouraging some firms to create much more unique areas—or increase the barrier to entry:
- Capital One opened its largest lounge (13,500 sq. toes) in June at NYC’s JFK Airport, full with Ess-a-Bagels and a delegated cheesemonger (in addition to traditional lounge facilities, like bathe suites and a cocktail bar).
- Over half of JFK’s total Terminal 4 lounge house has been added within the final two years.
How a lot would you pay for exclusivity?
The rise in international airport lounge visits in 2024 (31%) has outpaced progress in air visitors total (10.4%) in comparison with the earlier 12 months. And entry isn’t low-cost. United prices $750 yearly for particular person entry to its airport lounge community. Amex not too long ago introduced that the annual payment for its Platinum card—which incorporates the perk of lounge entry—is growing from $695 to $895. And one of the fashionable journey perk playing cards, the Chase Sapphire Reserve, simply ratcheted up its annual payment from $550 to $795.—MM
This report was initially printed by Morning Brew.
