In September 2023, we learned that Chicago Midway Airport (MDW) would be getting an airport lounge, for the first time in its 96-year history. There’s now an exciting update, as this lounge will be opening tomorrow.
In this post:
The Club MDW opens September 26, 2024
The Club MDW is opening on Thursday, September 26, 2024, and is the first and only lounge at Chicago Midway Airport. The 3,300 square foot lounge has seating for just 76 people, so it’s on the small side.
The lounge is located between Concourse A and Concourse B, so has a central location. Once you clear security, the lounge is located on the right, opposite the food court, right before the entrance to Concourse B. It’s open daily from 4AM until 10PM.
As far as access goes, there are two primary ways to visit this lounge:
- It’s accessible through Priority Pass, which is available through several premium credit cards
- Any passenger can purchase access to the lounge at a cost of $50
The Club MDW features a selection of complimentary food and drinks, and a variety of seating, including workspaces.
However, 3,300 square feet isn’t exactly a huge lounge, given the number of passengers who pass through the airport. Midway Airport is a massive hub for Southwest Airlines, but also has limited service from Allegiant, Delta, Frontier, Porter, and Volaris. I have to imagine crowding will be a serious issue, and that there will frequently be a waitlist to get in.
The funny thing about Southwest hubs & lounges
Here’s an interesting tidbit. Prior to this lounge opening, the three airports in the United States with the most traffic that didn’t have lounges were Chicago Midway (MDW), Dallas Love Field (DAL), and Houston Hobby (HOU).
These are three of Southwest’s biggest hubs, and Southwest doesn’t operate its own lounges. Still, that doesn’t mean that some Southwest passengers wouldn’t appreciate lounges, so it’s a bit surprising that no lounge operator has bid on a lounge like this, at least until now.
I’m curious if there’s more to this. Does Southwest control a lot of the terminal space in these airports in a way that prevents lounge operators from setting up shop, or…?
I know Southwest is very much about offering all passengers a civilized experience (well, or at least has been historically… things are changing). But still, you’d think Southwest would benefit in general from there being third party lounge operators, since it could make flying with the airline more attractive.
I doubt it’ll happen, but I’m curious if Southwest has at least considered the concept of opening its own lounges at hubs. These could be independently profitable (by admitting Priority Pass members), and the airline could maybe also offer access as part of certain fare bundles.
I doubt it’ll happen, but more radical things have happened, and I think the concept could make sense. Then again, this probably isn’t the time, given the turmoil at the company.
Bottom line
The Club MDW is opening tomorrow, and is the first lounge in the history of Chicago Midway Airport. It’s open to Priority Pass members, and access can also be purchased for $50 per person. It’s nice to see one of Southwest’s three biggest hubs getting a lounge, as this seems long overdue.
What do you make of The Club MDW opening at Chicago Midway Airport?
Not sure there's much to the fact that Southwest's hubs don't have lounges. Historically Southwest based their flights in small, underutilized secondary airports and avoided the major ones. Not surprisingly, those airports didn't have lounges. And because these remain small airports, there's not much space to add some massive lounge.
Heck, until the big terminal renovations, there was barely a place to get some food at mdw nevermind a proper lounge!
From the location description, it sounds like the club has replaced the stupid White Sox-themed restaurant where Harry Caray's originally had their MDW outpost. That would explain the 76 person capacity. For some reason I thought they were building it above the food court. While Southwest is the major airline there, it is such a small footprint that there really isn't another place airside to put it. The mezzanine only holds the chapel, and in...
From the location description, it sounds like the club has replaced the stupid White Sox-themed restaurant where Harry Caray's originally had their MDW outpost. That would explain the 76 person capacity. For some reason I thought they were building it above the food court. While Southwest is the major airline there, it is such a small footprint that there really isn't another place airside to put it. The mezzanine only holds the chapel, and in the last major restaurant renovation they ended up taking out moving walkways to place more locations.
I'm excited about this. I'm from Chicago and the only other Priority Pass louge is at O'hare. It is not a good lounge, but it gets the job done. It is small, maybe holds 25-40 people on a good day. Needless to say it is super basic WITH A LIMITED supply of snacks and drinks. Also, the carpet and all of the furniture needs to be replaced ASAP. With that being said, I welcome a new Priority Pass lounge to Chicago.
Hope it's better than the lounge at my home airport (and also Southwest hub), the Club BWI. It's awful.
Over at DEN the Centurion lounge is directly next to the WN gates.
76 capacity? Bahaha, these queues are going to make Delta's look short.
They'd open lounges it if meant Bob Jordan could save his job.
I just walked by Concourse 2 at MDW and amazingly there is already a line for this lounge!
Chicago is a loser's city. No industry--you name it--has a strong presence in Chicago.
Top law firms (Cravath, Wachtell) - DC & NYC
Top universities (Harvard, Princeton) - Boston & NYC
Top tech companies (Google, Meta) - SF & Seattle
Top private equity and venture capital - SF & NYC
Top hospitals and healthcare - Boston & NYC
Top arts and entertainment - NYC & LA
Top restaurants -...
Chicago is a loser's city. No industry--you name it--has a strong presence in Chicago.
Top law firms (Cravath, Wachtell) - DC & NYC
Top universities (Harvard, Princeton) - Boston & NYC
Top tech companies (Google, Meta) - SF & Seattle
Top private equity and venture capital - SF & NYC
Top hospitals and healthcare - Boston & NYC
Top arts and entertainment - NYC & LA
Top restaurants - NYC, LA & SF
See a pattern? Every high achieving young person from Chicago has to move to a coastal city. So the only adults left over are losers.
takes one to know one
Except nowadays you can easily work for companies like Google and Meta, or major PE firms (Thoma, Vista, etc.) and live in Chicago with a far lower cost of living. But this really has nothing to do with this blog...
He sounds like a MAGA spewing troll who has never actually been to Chicago...
I graduated from Northwestern Law.
There are plenty of important businesses and universities in Chicago. Maybe it’s not as cutting edge as Silicon Valley, but you’re completely ignoring Northwestern University(#6) and the University of Chicago (#11), as well as major corporations like Allstate, US Foods, United Airlines, and Walgreens. Chicago is also considerably more affordable than the big costal cities.
At least now we know that Paul Weiss is in the “lower law firm” category, as opposed to Cravath and Wachtell…
Imagine claiming to be “rich” and not realizing Chicago is almost as important as NYC when it comes to finance/investments
“Almost as important” is synonymous with “not as important”
As someone who lives near but not in either city, I gotta say Chicago > NYC any day. But I'm sure most Chicagoans don't really care to explain to others why their city is better, last thing they want is the same cost of living crisis in all of the other cities you've mentioned.
Paul, I think you're going to have to tell us where you live to have any valid standing on this issue.
I live in New York City.
Your comment is nonsense. Chicago is home of the CBOE. Options trading runs through Chicago. It is home to 15 Fortune 500 companies and is at the crossroads of American rail and manufacturing. It is the hub for both United and American in the Midwest.
Also massive Professional Services presence in Chicago (serving companies in the region mind you). And headquarters do not matter for professional services. BCG and Bain are headquartered in Boston yet the Chicago offices are larger (in terms of actual consulting staff). McKinsey is New York but they have a huge Chicago office.
Professional Services are huge in Chicago - RSM, BDO, Baker Tilly, Grant Thornton and Crowe all have their HQs there.
Hahahaha. Let me guess. While you were at Northwestern none of the supposedly easy Midwestern farm girls paid you any attention because they could smell your east Coast douchebaggery from a mile away. So now you take out your butthurt by crapping on the city that have you your education.
I won't bother rebutting your troll post but will note two things: Londoners laugh at New Yorkers who think they're the center of the...
Hahahaha. Let me guess. While you were at Northwestern none of the supposedly easy Midwestern farm girls paid you any attention because they could smell your east Coast douchebaggery from a mile away. So now you take out your butthurt by crapping on the city that have you your education.
I won't bother rebutting your troll post but will note two things: Londoners laugh at New Yorkers who think they're the center of the world. And also, neither Harvard nor Princeton are in NY. I guess whatever you think you're tops in, basic geography ain't one of them...
"I have to imagine crowding will be a serious issue, and that there will frequently be a waitlist to get in." --> it's crazy how many lounges this line is applicable to these days. Maybe it's just me but I'd rather find a quiet part of a terminal with no free food or drink versus a 40 minute waitlist for a very crowded lounge with some free food and drink
In my opinion, the...
"I have to imagine crowding will be a serious issue, and that there will frequently be a waitlist to get in." --> it's crazy how many lounges this line is applicable to these days. Maybe it's just me but I'd rather find a quiet part of a terminal with no free food or drink versus a 40 minute waitlist for a very crowded lounge with some free food and drink
In my opinion, the value of lounge access has gone way down in the past few years because of overcrowding. Credit card companies did a great job getting people to sign up for their cards by, in part, offering lounge access as a perk but in the process ended up drastically devaluing that very perk.
To add onto this I would really, really appreciate grab and go 'lounges'. No seats, no nothing, just some snacks and drinks in a fridge someone lets you open if they scan your priority pass card and stuff. Probably be really cheap to operate too
Cheap to operate from what perspective? Labor, sure, but an operation that gives away food and drink to the most widely used lounge network with a turnover of 2min per guest? Not cheap.
The one at O'hare (Swissport Lounge) kind of has that vibe, as there a few seats, but fully stocked snacks, drinks, and sandwiches to go. It needs a complete revamp, so this would be a great idea for them.
During peak times, it seems like it can be difficult to find a quiet part of the terminal at MDW. Prior to other low cost airlines coming in, I used to go to the C Gate area for this. However, now that airlines have started to use them, there does not seem to be a great place for it at MDW in busy times with delays.
I am excited about the new lounge but am...
During peak times, it seems like it can be difficult to find a quiet part of the terminal at MDW. Prior to other low cost airlines coming in, I used to go to the C Gate area for this. However, now that airlines have started to use them, there does not seem to be a great place for it at MDW in busy times with delays.
I am excited about the new lounge but am wondering how often it will actually work to get in with such a low capacity. I was hoping that they would build the lounge above or below the regular level to create new space.