Airports lounges are overrated

I think airport lounges are overrated. Here is why.

The travel industry has done an incredible job convincing you that a $695 Amex Platinum card is a lifestyle upgrade. It is a credit card with a fancy waiting room attached. And millions of people pay for it every year.

My best lounge experience ever? I paid £40 at Heathrow during a layover in 2018. Hot shower, clean towel, complete reset. Genuinely great.

That was 8 years and roughly 50 flights ago. It has not happened since.

My worst? The United lounge at SNA. Packed wall to wall, lukewarm food, nothing you could not get at the gate for $15. I have had better experiences sitting on the floor near a charging outlet.

Here is what nobody says out loud. Most airport lounges are mediocre rooms with average food that happen to be slightly quieter than the gate. That is the whole thing.

I flew Southwest for years. No lounges. Not once did I land wishing I had access to one.

Now traveling with a baby, I care about two things. Nonstop flights and a fair price. A lounge does not enter the conversation.

The families who travel well are not the ones flexing lounge access on Instagram. They are the ones who grabbed a good fare early, bought a sandwich at the gate, found a quiet corner, and spent what they saved on something their kids will actually remember.

The $695 annual fee is a down payment on your next trip. Put it there instead.

Two quick questions before you go.

Do you read TWU on your phone, Ipad or laptop? And how long do you want this newsletter to be each week -- short and punchy, the current 1.5 to 2 minute range, or longer when the topic earns it?

Hit reply. It shapes how I write this every week.

Until next Thursday,

Jeff