Airport Lounges Are Worth More Than Just All-You-Can-Eat Snack Mix

by joeheg

I remember the first time I had access to an airport lounge and was able to go through those doors that had been forbidden to me for so long. It must have been with one of my first business class award tickets. Checking in at the desk, I was welcomed to a quiet oasis in the airport. I was visiting a magical place inhabited by important people.

I’ll admit that, over time, airport lounges don’t do much for me anymore. Unless I know that it’s a particularly good lounge, I’m not going to waste time, effort or money to go into one. I fully realize this makes me make sound like I’m a pretentious jerk but, well, it’s the truth ;-).

Over the years, I’ve experienced several times when the amenities of the club were not important but the knowledge of the staff was extremely helpful in solving problems.

My first experience was on a trip from Orlando to New York (Newark) to see a screening of Mystery Science 3000 with my dad. We had a late flight on United that was due to leave Orlando at 8:05 PM and arrive at 10:39 PM. Because I notoriously run late (Note from Sharon: I’m habitually early. Can I just say his running behind schedule drives me nuts?!?!), I told dad get to my house extra early so we could get to the airport and relax before the flight. I had some passes to the United Club from the Chase United MileagePlus Explorer credit card. and I figured I could treat him.

passes

My one-time use passes for entry to the United Club

After we made it through TSA Pre✓® with a minor delay (my dad obviously didn’t read our article For Newbies: Going Through X-Ray or TSA Pre✓® As Easily As Possible and was reminded by the friendly TSA Agent that even though your toothpaste tube, mouthwash and shampoo are almost empty, you’re still not allowed to bring them in your carry on if the original containers’ sizes are over the limit). We headed towards the gate area and even with this slowdown, were there by 6 PM. I stopped to grab a PB&J sandwich and since it was still almost 2 hours until our flight, decided to treat Dad to the United Club at Orlando Airport.

zzzloungeunitedatmco1609

United Club at Orlando International Airport (MCO)

We checked in to the lounge with the passes and I asked the gate agents if there were any updates to our flight. I noticed when arriving at the airport that the two United flights leaving to Newark before us were really delayed (see photos below).  Important tip: I’ve found that the more you know, the more the employees will go out of their way to help you. This was a case where having a little knowledge went a long way. Just mentioning that I noticed the delays to earlier flights set the wheels in motion.

The two lounge agents mentioned there was an issue with high winds in the Newark area and it was really messing up the air traffic patterns. Flights were delayed all evening. They asked if we had checked bags (we hadn’t) and if we wanted to be moved onto one of the delayed flights that were still at the gate. We said yes and both agents worked on getting us changed onto the flight that was getting ready to leave. They also assigned us seats in the exit row. They printed our new boarding passes and told us we’d be best to leave now because the boarding was almost finished.

Then the agent who scanned in my passes started to apologize that he already scanned us into the club and didn’t have any comp passes to give me. He felt really bad that I had “wasted” the free pass and even said that the next time I was flying I could stop by and remind him of what happened and he’d try to get me in to make up for it. I assured him that getting me on a flight that wasn’t 2 hours delayed was more than worth the passes.

Just as a reminder, they did not have to do what they did. At the time, United charged $75 for a same-day change (they now allow you to stand by for an earlier flight for free). The seats in United Economy Plus (exit row or extra legroom seats) usually go for $50 to $100 for the MCO-EWR flight. So for each of my lounge passes we received at least $125 in value. That’s worth a whole lot more than some free snack mix and cheap liquor.

As it ended up, we really didn’t save that much time. The flight we were moved to was delayed another 45 minutes and we arrived at 10:30 PM. Our original flight left pretty much on time and arrived at 10:45 PM. However, we didn’t know that at the time. The peace of mind of being on a plane you knew was going to leave was well worth it. Not to mention the exit row seating was totally empty. I was able to move from the middle seat of my assigned row and took a whole row of 3 seats to myself.

On a more recent flight, I was reminded how valuable club access can be. We were connecting in LAX on our way to Hawaii. With my AMEX Platinum Card, we spent most of our 4-hour layover in the Delta SkyClub.

About 60 minutes before boarding time, the lounge staff announced for passengers to Hawaii to line up to get their wristbands.

a person's arm with red wristbands on their wrist

These bands showed that our travel documents were pre-screened and we satisfied the Hawaii Safe-Travels protocols. When we arrived in Kauai, most of the passengers on our flight lined up at the airport while we only has to flash our bands and walked out. We got our bags as soon as they came off the belt (in less than 20 minutes so no extra SkyMiles) and were on the Hertz shuttle before most people were out of the terminal.

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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary

7 comments

Mel & Suan February 26, 2017 - 9:34 am

Indeed, one can get a lot more help in the lounges.
We always enjoy the use of the lounge, even if it is only for the food and drinks! LOL

Reply
joeheg February 26, 2017 - 11:31 am

This was the second time that staff at an United Club has saved our hides. The other time in Newark they got us seat assignments on a totally full flight. We had tickets but no seats when we checked in. The the flight was already released to the gate agents but the club staff went in and got us 4 exit row seats.

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Mel & Suan February 26, 2017 - 9:39 pm

That’s priority for you. Sometimes we think the lounge agents relish in making these overriding changes! LOL

Reply
joeheg February 26, 2017 - 10:48 pm

Ok. Long story short. We booked 4 last minute tickets to EWR for a family emergency using Air Canada miles. Flight was oversold coming home (why they released award tickets??). Lounge agents got us seat assignments. Winning for us to get home and worth the lounge access.

Reply
Mel & Suan February 27, 2017 - 12:49 am

Fabulous! As long as the miracles keep a coming!

Giorgio O’Connor February 23, 2022 - 10:23 pm

Favorite memory: Hong Kong lounge, my 8-year old and my wife found a quiet and little yoga room, complete with a tv and a yoga instructor’s video playing. They had a blast and I have the pictures to prove it.

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Les Pontiac February 23, 2022 - 11:44 pm

United is getting rid of there in person customer service agents. They plan to replace that with virtual agents. As someone who has been a member of United club for 6 years and I’m in my younger 30s they will lose out on my business going forward if this is the path they are going to take. I love the customer service agents at United clubs and I know some of them personally because they have gotten me out of thick and thin all these years.

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