Nowadays it feels like there are few secrets left when it comes to airline travel. Sometimes it feels like everyone and their second cousin is sharing their “travel hacks” online, and will tell you how they flew on an $8,000 flight for FREE, and how they save so much money by having premium credit cards and eating in lounges before their flights (or maybe my algorithm is just doing its thing)!
With that in mind, here’s something that I’m surprised more people aren’t aware of, in an era where there seem to be fewer and fewer “tricks.”
A tale of three Star Alliance lounges at Bangkok Airport
For the return portion of my review trip to Bangkok, I flew Thai Airways’ 787 business class from Bangkok (BKK) to Milan (MXP). I had some time at the airport, and my first stop was the Thai Airways Lounge. Logical enough, right, since it’s the airline I was flying, and it’s the carrier’s hub?
As you’d expect, the lounge was absolutely slammed, given the size of Thai Airways’ presence there, plus how it’s a banked hub. I didn’t take any pictures, as I’ve recently reviewed the lounge, and wasn’t planning on doing so again (for that matter, it was too uncomfortably crowded for me to review it again, and to take pictures while trying to respect the privacy of others).
Honestly, nowadays I expect lounges to be full. People generally come to lounges with one of two primary motivations — to eat and drink, and/or to have a quiet place from which to relax, work, etc. I’m generally more in the latter category than the former category, since I eat plenty on planes.
Since I had some time to spare, I decided to see if there were any better options. Thanks to reciprocal Star Alliance lounge access policies (as a Star Alliance business class passenger), I visited the Turkish Airlines Lounge, only a short walk away. This lounge no longer belongs to Priority Pass, due to the airport’s shady rule changes.
While the Thai Airways Lounge was packed, there was no one in the Turkish Airlines Lounge. Like, zero guests. Umm, talk about quite a contrast. Maybe the Turkish Airlines Lounge food spread isn’t quite as good as in the Thai Airways Lounge, but I’d take this setup any day of the week.
For giggles, I also decided to check out the EVA Air Lounge, which admittedly is a bit of a trek from the central part of the terminal. When I arrived there, I found a total of two guests in the lounge. Again, what a contrast!
I guess it’s good that more people don’t know this?
I suppose it’s not too surprising that the average premium traveler isn’t aware of reciprocal lounge access policies. I think most people just go to the lounge of the airline they’re flying with, because that seems like the logical thing to do.
Furthermore, I tend to think we see a lot more savviness with credit card lounges (since those people are putting effort into maximizing their lounge experience by virtue of getting a card), plus when you’re closer to the United States (kind of the epicenter of miles & points, due to higher interchange fees, which fuels the whole ecosystem).
I’m always amazed when I’m flying out of London Heathrow Terminal 3 on American, how there are actually people using the American Admirals Club, when they could instead be in the far (far, far, far) superior Cathay Pacific Lounge or Qantas Lounge. With reciprocal oneworld lounge access rules, oneworld business class passengers and oneworld Sapphire members could use either of those lounges.
On the one hand, I’m tempted to go into the Admirals Club with a megaphone and do a PSA. On the other hand, I guess I’m grateful people don’t know, or else the Cathay Pacific Lounge would be slammed, while the Admirals Club would be empty.
Bottom line
In an era where it feels like there are very few premium travel “tricks” remaining, it’s interesting to me how reciprocal lounge access policies only seem to be known by a small percentage of people (in the scheme of things). With the major alliances, you typically have quite a few options as to which lounge you can visit, assuming you’re in a premium cabin or have elite status, and are flying from a major airport.
That was very clear to me during a recent visit to Bangkok, where the Thai Airways Lounge was beyond packed, while the nearby Turkish Airlines Lounge had zero people in it, and the EVA Air Lounge was also really quiet. Personally, a quiet environment is the single most important thing for me in an airport lounge, so I’m grateful for the opportunity to “shop around” as to where I want to hang out.
Anyone else surprised by the general lack of knowledge of reciprocal lounge opportunities?
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