What's Happening To Airline Lounges? Flying Isn’t What It Used to Be
Diminishing Promise of Lounge Access
I recently traveled through Heathrow Terminal 5, and it felt like I was being subtly gaslit by how I was treated with my Priority Pass membership. For anyone who's used to traveling with these little perks, you’ll understand when I say the service is not what it used to be. At Plaza Premium Lounge—located near the opposite end from gate A18—the reception told me I was too early. I arrived just under the three-hour mark before my flight, and the agent said they only allow Priority Pass guests two hours before departure. Hmmm! It says something different in the App!
Then came the real kicker: “We’re also full.” So, which is it? Is it both! Two walls for me to climb over? It felt like the shrinkflation you experience as packages in the grocery store get smaller while prices increase, but this time, with travel perks. Unlike Lisbon’s lounges, which meter guest entry as others leave—a smart way to meet fire codes, and customer service—this lounge at Heathrow seemed happy to arbitrarily deny access. I saw half-empty couches around the corner inside.
Meanwhile, Club Aspire, near gate A18, welcomed me with smiles. The staff were polite, warm, and didn’t seem to take pleasure in excluding people. That said, they didn’t have toilets inside the lounge. You had to leave to do xixi, which is never ideal when you’re juggling bags and comfort. Still, they had fast turnover, decent snacks, and a relaxed vibe. That wins points in my book. With a long layover, that's what I needed.
I Have Nostalgia for the Glory Days
When I worked at the WTO Secretariat and the OECS Mission in Geneva, business travel meant British Airways lounges. Back then, those lounges provided comfort and a space to relax or to work in a quiet space with reliable WiFi. There was a full à la carte menu, proper cocktails, and beautifully stocked showers. You could walk into those lounges like a human being and emerge feeling refreshed. Of course, I had to temper the cocktails on outbound trips because I was indeed usually finishing up a presentation or two. But, inbound! 🍸🍸
I still remember the branded perfumed soaps, hand moisturiser in the semi-private bathrooms, and the special salmon-and-egg croissant sandwiches and fruit bowls they’d make fresh during lunch hours. A glass of decent red wine, fresh juice, or sparkling water, a real seat to rest your back, and no one policing your entry like you were trying to sneak into a Michelin-star restaurant for free olives and bread (As a student, one of my literature professors used to do that in Paris). These were the days when lounges actually meant what they promised.
If you want real luxury now, or even just a decent space, you’ll have to find it outside of the West. The Middle Eastern and some Asian airports still take lounges seriously—think Doha, Dubai, Singapore, even Mumbai. In these parts, the idea of a traveler deserving respect hasn’t been entirely vanquished. Prayer areas, quiet areas with sleep pods, family rooms for your sleeping babies, children's play areas, and lounges with food and drinks that feel like five-star hotels.
Caribbean Lounges and the People Who Make Them
In contrast to the corporate-mildly polished West, the Caribbean lounges I recently visited felt like an old friends’ homes. At VC Bird International Airport in Antigua, the lounge closed at 5:00 p.m.—far too early for evening flights like the one I had with InterCaribbean. Still, what they lacked in hours and Asian poshness, they made up for in heart.
One of the staff chatted me up, and we clicked like old friends. I won’t say her name in case her boyfriend(s) reads this and gets the wrong idea. She saw my InterCaribbean flight was delayed (which is, I was told, its tradition), so she prepared a little doggy bag for me—two chicken wings and a mini pizza—and topped it off with a glass of chilled Sauvignon Blanc to help me forget my complaints about the lounge closing early. It worked! There’s something about kindness + wine that makes everything feel better.
In Barbados, the lounge was fine. Not extraordinary. Not bad. They had wine, which is good. But it was mostly flour-based snacks that I couldn’t eat because of my gluten allergy. I had already eaten at Cheffette anyway—a vegetarian burger, out of nostalgia more than taste. I used to live in Barbados. My lawyer friend in Antigua is obsessed with Cheffette, maybe because we were students together at Cave Hill. I think in his case, it's food tied to memories of good university days, because if I had a choice of a proper restaurant, I would have preferred that to fast food.
Priority Pass, Still Worth It?
The Priority Pass program has saved me more than a few times. Even if the food options aren’t always aligned with my “gluten-free, low-starch, low-sugar, low-this, low-that” lifestyle, just having a calmer, less crowded, more comfortable seat can be worth it. As you get older, you appreciate being able to sit somewhere where you are not required to jostle for a seat or, in some airports, sit on the floor (Reykjavik, Iceland, in the Delta waiting area).
Still, the erosion is clear. Rules are inconsistent, lounges are packed, and the value proposition is fading. Lounge access today is often a gamble—a nice-to-have rather than a guaranteed perk.
My Verdict: Reset Your Expectations
If you’re traveling and counting on lounge access as a core comfort, my advice is to adjust your expectations. Keep an open mind. Be grateful for the few lounges that still treat you like a welcome guest rather than a freeloader with the wrong card. Heathrow T5’s Aspire Lounge wins for service. Plaza Premium? Not! Gatwick? Yeah! Surprisingly flexible. Antigua? Warmth personified. Barbados? Functional.
What I’ve learned is that the lounge experience—like the flight itself—with seats packed tight, is no longer about luxury. It’s about the attitude of the people. The lounge staff who treat you with kindness are wonderful to have. The little gestures, an authentic conversation with a real person, are refreshing. The willingness to go beyond the corporate script and make you feel human again.
We’ll take what we can get.
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