WHEN FORMER ENGLAND CRICKETER KEVIN PIETERSEN was denied entry to a Qantas airport lounge late last year because he was wearing flip-flops, he was not alone in falling foul of the Australian carrier’s tough new dress code for entry to its first class lounges in Sydney and Melbourne.
Since introducing the rules a year ago, anyone wearing attire not considered ‘smart/casual’ could be denied entry at the discretion of the lounge manager – a new policy backed by 84 per cent of its passengers, according to a Qantas survey. Not surprisingly, the volatile Pietersen vented his ire on social media, urging the airline to “get a grip” and making clear he was “tired, jet-lagged and just wanted to chill”.
But the spat highlighted just how airport lounges are moving front and centre in the airlines’ battle for the business traveller, especially those in the ‘elite’ frequent flyer category. Where it was once all about the premium aircraft cabins and what they offered, now it’s on the ground, before and after flying, that is where innovation in design and facilities is being focused. And maintaining dress standards is seen as an important part of ensuring the elite ambience remains.
A TOUCH OF CLASS
It’s the true elites – those holding first or business class tickets – who seem to be the ones now with the keys to the kingdom (or at least the best lounges). Qatar Airways, for example, limits access to its newly-opened Al Safwa lounge at Doha’s Hamad International Airport to first class Qatar ticket holders only, excluding those seeking access with their Emerald or Sapphire top-tier membership with Oneworld alliance partners.
Qatar also limits access to its new Al Mourjan Business lounge at Hamad airport to those flying with first and business class tickets only. The same restrictions apply to its Premium Lounge at Heathrow T4.
Cathay Pacific’s Pier First lounge in Hong Kong also now restricts access to Cathay’s first class ticket holders (business class passengers have their own version, newly refurbished), although it does also allow entry to top-tier status members of its frequent flyer programme as well as those with Oneworld’s Emerald top-tier members.
This strategy of restricting access only to the crème de la crème of business travellers is becoming something of a trend. At Frankfurt airport, for example, Lufthansa offers a private terminal to its first class (and private jet) passengers, along with those members of its frequent flyer programme who have clocked up 600,000 air miles or more in the previous two years – which would make them elite by most standards.
Lufthansa says that these elite travellers never need have contact with the main airport – they go through their own dedicated security lines – and have access to a personal assistant who checks them in and ensures they catch their flight. There are also all the usual trappings of top lounges – fine dining, day beds, showers (and a bathtub), office space and cigar lounge.
BREAD-AND-BUTTER BUSINESS
Yet the bread-and-butter business traveller on a budget is not being ignored. The growth of airport lounges not linked to individual airlines but open to all those prepared to pay a fee – known in airport jargon as ‘common-use’ lounges – continues to soar. Priority Pass, the market leader in this field since setting up its stall some 24 years ago, already offers access to 900 or so lounges worldwide after a record year of growth and seems likely to reach the 1,000 mark over the next year.
Hong-Kong based Plaza Premium Group, founded 18 years ago by a former senior bank vice-president, Song Hoi-See, is also growing strongly with over 140 lounges at 35 airports, including three at Heathrow. After he left the bank and started his own company, he became fed up with losing the lounge access he previously enjoyed while flying first class – so he set up his own lounge network.
Many British Airways flyers blessed with neither BA Silver or Gold cards nor business class tickets were relieved when the first independent lounge opened at Heathrow’s T5, dominated by BA since the terminal opened in 2008. The 4,000sqm lounge is co-owned by airport services operator Swissport (now part of China’s NA Group, which owns Hainan Airlines) and Priority Pass-owner Collinson Group. It functions under the Aspire banner, one of 13 premium lounges at UK airports operated by Swissport’s Executive Lounges division.
And airport operators themselves are also getting into the game: Manchester Airports Group (MAG) runs its new Escape-concept lounges at each of Manchester’s three terminals, along with one each at Stansted and East Midland airports. It recently upgraded Manchester’s T2 lounge at a cost of £1.6 million, increasing its size by a third. For £21, travellers get free wifi, food and drink and somewhere to relax.
Is it worth paying for lounge access? It is a moot point for corporate travel buyers. According to Paul East, chief operating officer UK/Europe and Americas at Wings Travel Management: “The perception is that clients won’t take a specific fare just because of a lounge.” Corporate deals with airlines can sometimes include lounge access. But if not, suggests Corporate Travel Management (CTM) director Stuart Birkin, “travel buyers should be pushing for this as a value-added benefit”.
Airlines may be open to such trade-offs, especially as lounge access helps build corporate loyalty to the carrier at little extra direct cost. HRG director Matthew Pancaldi points out that “if a travel programme is of a significant size and scale, but with little premium cabin travel, airlines might be willing to include in a negotiated deal a limited number of loyalty cards which give lounge access. It is always worth asking and you never know what an airline might be able to accommodate.”
Another angle for buyers to consider, however, is the corporate social responsibility (CSR) position. CTM’s Birkin thinks that “ensuring the traveller gets as good an end-to-end experience as possible for their budget is critical for good CSR”.
He suggests that “paying what is a relatively small sum for Priority Pass or Plaza Premium on certain trip types – mainly long-haul – is likely to be beneficial to the traveller and their productivity, and we’re seeing an increase in requests to purchase such lounge access programmes, either via the TMC or by the traveller personally”.
BBT spoke to several travel buyers who say they’ve initiated Priority Passes for travellers, in some cases to mitigate policy changes that reduce business class travel. The per-visit cost is significantly reduced compared to buying individual lounge passes – for example, around £15 compared to £35 at Heathrow T5. And the provider does negotiate corporate discounts on memberships, dependent on volumes.
COMMON GROUND
While common-use lounges have wide appeal in Europe and Asia, there is significant potential for their development in the US and Canada, too. This has provided an opportunity for MAG to export the Escape concept to the US, opening its first American lounge last December at Minneapolis-St Paul airport. And this summer it opened a US$2 million, 2,700sqft lounge at San Francisco’s Oakland International airport, where Norwegian started direct flights to London Gatwick earlier this year.
MAG’s Rosemarie Andolino, CEO of its US operations, is not surprisingly bullish about the potential. “Common-use airport lounges are still a new concept in North America and we look forward to working with more airports there to improve passenger amenities, especially lounges,” she says.
American Express is another newcomer to the non-airline airport lounge market, opening its first Centurion-branded lounge at Las Vegas airport in 2014, with six more following in the US – the latest opened recently at Houston airport. There are also four lounges open outside the US: Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo and Delhi. Access is free to Amex Platinum or Centurion cardholders, although those holding more modest (green) Amex cards can still get in by paying a US$50 fee.
Driving Amex’s entry into airport lounges is the fact that many US domestic airport lounges are often crowded, need serious updating (including their food and beverage offerings) and lack the amenities (showers and so on) which are found in more modern lounges in the US and worldwide. For many regular domestic travellers, they are not a pleasant experience, especially in comparison with international lounges operated by the major global carriers from Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
BA’s Concorde Room lounge at T5 won the accolade for best airport lounge in last autumn’s annual awards from readers of BBT’s sister magazine Business Traveller. Virgin’s Heathrow Clubhouse came second.
But some US airlines are fighting back. United Airlines last year ended its deal with Priority Pass to allow its members access to its 49 airport lounges, mostly in the US but globally as well. Instead, United allows passengers flying with its Star Alliance partners the option to pay US$50 for entry at the lounge door, or US$550 for a one-year membership to its United Club programme.
At the other end of the scale, probably the ultimate ‘elite’ lounge at present can be found hidden within Etihad Airways’ new New York JFK T4 lounge, which opened late last year when the airline started its A380 service from New York to Abu Dhabi. The guest (or guests) staying in the aircraft’s luxury three-room suite – known as The Residence – can enjoy similar privacy in the airport lounge: a private suite comprising a living room bathroom and prayer room – all hidden behind a ‘secret door’. But it’s probably the least you can expect when paying US$32,000 (about £22,000) for a one-way ticket.