Lounge Buddies

Ahh, the airline lounge. That hallowed place of the privileged, a place to relax, work, drink and eat in the hours leading up to your flight, away from the masses in the crowded airport terminal. 

To gain access to a dedicated lounge is to be recognized as a top tier traveler through your loyalty with a particular airline or its airline alliance. The lounge is still considered by many to be the single best benefit of reaching the highest levels of airline status.

In recent years however, the lines have become increasingly blurred. With so many more people travelling, reaching these tiers has become an easier prospect. Through boosted ways to accumulate status, more people reach top tier level (usually Platinum), bringing an ever increasing amount of people into the Business Class lounges. Even the First Class lounges are unacceptably crowded, available to Platinum travellers no matter what class of travel they are flying that day.

The result is a complete shift in the attractive nature of the lounge, shifting the dynamic and thus the ability to work, unwind or relax. Most lounges are now vastly overcrowded, at peak times as busy as the main terminal itself.

Such is the popularity of lounges all over the world and the insistence to be in there, that many people are happy to squeeze into what is often just a small sized room with uncomfortable chairs with minimal spacing between them. There is a complete lack of privacy and a less than satisfactory food offering and often no table service. Anything for a free drink, it would seem. This is mostly true of domestic airport lounges. Why would people consider sitting on top of each other with little breathing space as a superior offering? Yep – it’s those free drinks.

With the overcrowding comes changes in behavior. Once the lounges were hushed zones, with space to move, quiet areas to be with one’s self, where much could be achieved pre-flight. Now, it’s a different story.

At International airports, with the mass of people crowding inside, many lounges are not unlike the crowded terminal outside their doors. People eating on their laps as there is no room at the dining tables, people sleeping over more than one seat with their feet on the seat opposite, and then, the one thing I find most annoying, the phone calls.

Lounges were always places where there was enough consideration to not make personal calls unless in a dedicated quiet zone. Many lounges still display signage to ask guests not to make voice calls. Very few respect this anymore.

The worst examples are when a businessman makes a call and jumps out of his seat and starts pacing up and down the aisles, his volume increased dependent on the “urgency” of the call. Another, and this happens often, is the bored traveler, who rings his/her partner, wife/husband or friend and just chit chats away inane conversation which always goes: “I’m just in the lounge in (insert city) and waiting for my flight to (insert city), how’s things, how’s work, how’s the dog?” etc. Whiling away time, in clear earshot of a dozen or so around him/her. God help you if he/she has headphones in, blissfully unaware of the increased volume that resonates right through the lounge. Sadly, my experience proves that my fellow Australians are by far the worst offenders. Check this one out – I’m writing this from a lounge now – he’s five calls in and actually using the loudspeaker. Pardon my language, but this guy is a class A (insert expletive)

A sight that truly astounded me recently was at a lounge in Colombo, where a young man was seated on the floor, legs crossed, in a completely meditative state. The lounge was busy and there was plenty of noise. He was perfectly still, eyes closed, no headphones. He was positioned right in a path where people needed to walk around him. Nothing would have taken this man out of that state of zen. This was meditation perfected. As irritating as his choice of place to practice his art was, I was very impressed at his ability. 

Then there is the attire. Shorts and flip flops. Please. Just don’t.

There are moves afoot to restrict lounge access with more difficult entry criteria as the airlines simply cannot handle the volume of people. The lounges are a victim of their own success and marketing. I’ve seen some reconfigured to deal with the capacity, turning into ugly, almost conference like spaces. On more than one occasion recently, there was not a table available, or a bar stool to sit and enjoy a meal and drink. If you can’t use the space, then one of the prime benefits of your loyalty has been lost.

Just recently I skipped the lounge and wined and dined in one of the many bars at Sydney International. Apart from the marked-up extravagant cost, the experience was actually quite pleasant. Tucked away inside, it was great to people watch and imagine where all those people may be going and for what purpose.

I found the experience more relaxing than any of the lounges I visited around that time. Sometimes it’s better to keep it simple, there is now more anonymity amongst the masses with more to see, enjoy and contemplate.