Lounging

I still have one more Greece post to finish but it's taking a while to finish that one. In the meantime, here's something I wanted to say about airline lounges for a while.

This might be a shocking start to a blog post from me but I hate traveling. Hate it. Can't stand it. There are few things in life that I like less.

Surprised? Don't be. I don't mean traveling like when I get where I'm going. I love that part. It's the getting there and coming back that I hate. Seriously. Let's look at what's involved here. Hours and hours of getting to the airport on or in whatever form of transportation is getting you there. Waiting at the actual airport then dealing with boarding, which may or may not be on time. Taking off and flying smoothly or turbulently or both (I really hate turbulence). Then landing, going through immigration (overseas, of course) before picking up luggage (if there is any checked luggage) and then doing the whole getting from the airport just like the trip to the airport at the beginning of the trip. You end up tired and cranky and probably gassy. What in all that sounds fun? 

Is it all worth it? Oh yes, it really is most all of the time. Travel is the best. There's nothing like discovering someplace new or re-visiting someplace familiar that you love. I'm telling you, I love all of it. Except for the part I hate.

I hate the journey part of travel (and I'm particularly talking about the airplane part of the journey here) so much that I'll do almost anything to make it better. Well, anything that doesn't cost all that much, that is. Remember my limerick: I'm still cheap most days of the week. And I have just one word for you that makes a huge and significant difference in my airport travel experience: lounges.

The Chase Sapphire Lounge in Boston's Logan Airport has made to order shakshuka. Score!!!

There was a time a long, long time ago (let's say a dozen years or so...) when the notion of me spending any time in one of those exclusive, members-only airport lounges would have just been completely out of the question. I have never had status on any sort of airline in my life and there's no way I'm paying an exorbitant per-visit fee to spend a couple of hours nibbling on food and sipping drinks in a slightly quieter room than the genpop occupies in the main airport. But then either things started to change, or I started to figure stuff out. 

I'll come back to that. Storytime first.

Last December, we checked out of our hotel in Vienna, Austria; boarded the U-Bahn near our hotel; transferred off the U-Bahn to the non-stop airport train; got through baggage check, passport control and security; and sat at our gate waiting for our non-stop flight back home. One problem: Austrian Airlines decided to cancel. No explanation. No warning. No help. The staff just announced the cancellation and then split.

Our next 24 hours were spent picking up our checked luggage; re-booking our flight home; finding a hotel at the airport; waiting to check-in and being told to wait because we were too early; eating lunch in the hotel lobby; waiting some more; checking in to the room; walking back to the main terminal for dinner; and then getting up the next morning and going back to the airport. This time our flight was on time but it wasn't non-stop. It connected through Geneva.

And in the Geneva airport, sleepy from a night in an airport hotel and in the same clothes as we wore the day before, we found a little slice of heaven on the way to our gate for our flight home in the form of the Aspire Crystal Lounge. Heaven. I'm telling you.

Kigali, Rwanda.

Sounds melodramatic, right? It's not. These lounges are little oases for me as a weary traveler (in fresh or day-old clothing) to get away for an hour or maybe more from the part of travel that I hate the most. I cannot convey to you the joy in finding one of these things in an airport terminal somewhere in the world. There is true satisfaction in finding a corner of a lounge to shed whatever load I am carrying, to spread out, to sit in a comfortable chair and just grab a bite to eat or maybe, just maybe, if I'm really lucky, a glass of wine or beer to chill with. And it's all free. Well, free from a certain point of view.

So how are we lucky enough to be able to hang out in the Aspire Crystal Lounge in Geneva or some of the other many, many similar lounges all over the world? Honestly, we have the right credit card.

I remember when I first set foot in an airport lounge. I had just signed up for the Chase United Explorer card and one of the perks of that card was that you got a pair of lounge passes at the initial sign-up and two more each additional year you held onto the credit card (and paid the annual fee). Now, you had to be flying United to get into the lounge but when you did, you felt like you were somewhere exclusive that the regular other travelers that were later sitting right next to you in economy couldn't dare to dream to enter. A couple of beers...some snacks...a quiet-ish room...I felt like royalty. Royalty, I say!!!

Sometimes you just need a bag of chips and a beer. Especially in Rwanda.

But the two passes a year thing just wasn't cutting it. And paired only with United flights on top of the limited access. There had to be a better way.

Now back in those days, there maybe wasn't. But things would change soon. These days there are all sorts of large annual fee, airline-branded credit cards that come with unlimited airline lounge access. But they won't admit you if you aren't flying their airline (so, I guess it is limited). You can also pick some kinds of American Express cards (again, with high annual fees) or a Capital One X credit card that will get you into AmEx and Cap One lounges respectively. Limited locations there, though.

But things really changed when we picked up a credit card that came with a Priority Pass membership. Priority Pass is a lounge access card which is partnered with various types of airport lounges, restaurants and other amenities all over the world. Their coverage is impressive. I struggle to find airports that DON'T have some kind of Priority Pass affiliated space. But the best part is...they are airline agnostic. Flying United? American? Emirates? Ethiopian? Scoot? You can access Priority Pass lounges.

And so, when we got to Geneva Airport on a stop home from Austria that we never intended to make, we whipped out our Priority Pass cards and slid into the Aspire Crystal Lounge in Terminal 1 at GVA. Heaven. I am telling you.

Part of the food spread at Dubai's The Gallery lounge.

My love of airport lounges exists on so many levels. Sure, I love the free food and beverages and I really, really love a free beer or glass of wine when I'm waiting to take off or connecting. Free is definitely up my alley. At heart, I am for sure a huge moocher and I can't resist free stuff. I also genuinely love the more relaxed atmosphere that usually comes with a lounge. Usually is the key word here. I've been in some packed lounges. Get to the Turkish Airlines Lounge at IAD at the wrong time and it's more stressful than being in the main terminal (although the food in that lounge is killer good).

I think more than anything, though, it's the fact that someone might treat you nicely when you are waiting in or transiting through an airport, and that's relaxing and hugely appreciated when I'm doing something I hate. Part of it is the exclusivity. But it's not really all that. It's just a place that has a different stress level than most airline travel, which is almost always too expensive; loaded with all kinds of hidden strings and fees; and way too often requires you to get too close to someone you would never under any other circumstances get that close to. For me, for a time, lounges solve all of that.

The most basic lounge. Zanzibar Airport. Still welcome.

A couple of points of advice here.

First, not all lounges are the same. The atmosphere, occupancy level, food, amenities and overall vibe can vary wildly. Keep your expectations low. Go to the lounge in Zanzibar airport and you'll find a couple of old couches placed in an unused gate area with a folding table with some snacks displayed that the person attending to you in the "lounge" microwaves on your request. Stop in to the Gallery lounge in Dubai and you'll receive restaurant-quality food and service for as long as you want. There is value in both of these places, as there has been in every other lounge we've set foot in. Just be patient and find what's special about each one.

Second, tip. Yes, the food and drinks may be free but that doesn't mean the person serving you doesn't deserve some gratuity for their trouble. What you will tip won't come close to the value of what you consume so I'm pretty confident most reasonable adults can make this work in their favor. When we flew out of Kilimanjaro Airport in 2018, we went straight to the one lounge in the airport and told the bartender we were going to give her all our remaining Tanzanian shillings which I dumped on the bar. We got great service in that lounge. We also didn't get pointed out as having stayed in the lounge too long when the lounge police asked the bartender if there were folks who had been there longer than the lounge's policy allowed. Be nice to people. Karma is a thing.

There are a number of credit cards out there that come with some sort of Priority Pass membership. Just google something like "priority pass credit cards" to find an array of choices. Some offer unlimited lounge and other amenity access; others cap annual visits are 10 or 12 or something like that. Of course, most come with annual fees of some sort. I used to think only suckers paid annual fees on credit cards but I've totally changed my tune on that issue. Some cards have amazing benefits that recoup the annual fee cost easily. Priority Pass membership is a great benefit to have on a layover you never expected to have to take in day-old clothes. Or a planned layover for that matter.

About to get a couple hours nap in DXB. It didn't work. Couldn't sleep.

Some Priorty Pass memberships come with other perks, including credit at airport restaurants (usually $28 per person) and access to sleep pods or rooms in airports where you can catch a couple of hours nap in an isolated environment on a long layover.

I know we travel more than a lot of other people do but this year alone, Priority Pass has gotten us away from the crowds at Dulles, Dubai, Kigali, Zanzibar, Boston, Munich, Athens and Zurich airports. Think of each visit as a $30 meal on the road per person and the cost savings add up pretty fast and that's ignoring the emotional support reasons I seek out in these lounges. We've also taken advantage of the $28 per person restaurant credit in the San Francisco airport and tried to get a couple of hours free shut-eye in a sleeping pod in Dubai (neither of us actually fell asleep).

I'll say it again: I hate traveling. Lounges make my experience better. If I could take three things only with me on every trip in my carry on luggage, it would be my iPad, a set of headphones and my Priority Pass card. Lounges make travel more tolerable. The right lounge refreshes you and gets you ready for the next leg. 

One last thing...if you ever get the opportunity to visit an Air France Lounge and they have the turkey sandwiches on baguette, get some. I don't know what it is about these sandwiches. They are just turkey, bread, butter (or maybe mayonnaise) and lettuce but they are absolutely incredible. It's incomprehensible to me how the people that make these sandwiches make them taste so good but they are out of this world good. I always get at least three. They are irresistible.

These sandwiches...I'm telling you.