[Rakeshmbalaji]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

We all have our style of writing. I prefer staying away from hyperbole. Referring to the part marked bold by me. I can't for the life of me figure out how you consider Tokyo's Narita (I assume) as stinking. Other than being immaculate and with excellent service it is also quiet. The Japanese are just so good at whatever they do. Either you are deeply biased or have simply not been there. Most large European airports with the exception of Paris have very decent functional lounges and in places like Amsterdam you can hire a cabin to sleep in if needed. JFK - the US airline lounges are functional with the usual brusque and not so friendly attitude towards hospitality but the lounges of other carriers (Lufthansa etc) are quite decent. In smaller towns less is available as is the case in India and all countries. And this thread is on lounges in India especially the Premium Plaza sort of lounge and not making a comparison with other countries. I'm not sure what this outburst is for.

Good morning Mr. Narayan, happy to share a pic of my visa stamping if you are singling me in a public forum. But don’t worry I am no way asking the same query in return, to a distinguished member whose posts I never miss

Yes I am biased against everyone inherently having a default feeling that facilities in India are always pathetic. And yes I have experienced unclean toilets and leftover tissues in the ‘supposedly-sparkling —clean-you-can-eat-food-from-the-floor’ Tokyo lounge . My point is not to contend you but erase off the overall perception everything is a utopian world outside India.

To make it sure for you, the outburst is not on quality of our lounges but more on the quality of certain posts being approved by the distinguished TBHP forum, which is usually seen by me as an intellectual place to gain tons of knowledge from. I would have cared two hoots if these kind of statements had come from any other strata, but God definitely not from my most beloved virtual place for so many years.

Have a good rest of the weekend, thank you.

[Chetan_Rao]

Too many people, too little space, civic sense harder to find than half a dozen croutons in a cauldron of tomato soup. I wonder where else I see that everyday.

Nothing to do with money either. The loudest, most obnoxious person I've ever encountered in an airport (lounge or otherwise) had more valuables on their person than my net worth!

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by Rakeshmbalaji

Good morning Mr. Narayan, happy to share a pic of my visa stamping if you are singling me in a public forum. But don’t worry I am no way asking the same query in return, to a distinguished member whose posts I never miss

Yes I am biased against everyone inherently having a default feeling that facilities in India are always pathetic. And yes I have experienced unclean toilets and leftover tissues in the ‘supposedly-sparkling —clean-you-can-eat-food-from-the-floor’ Tokyo lounge . My point is not to contend you but erase off the overall perception everything is a utopian world outside India.

To make it sure for you, the outburst is not on quality of our lounges but more on the quality of certain posts being approved by the distinguished TBHP forum, which is usually seen by me as an intellectual place to gain tons of knowledge from. I would have cared two hoots if these kind of statements had come from any other strata, but God definitely not from my most beloved virtual place for so many years.

Have a good rest of the weekend, thank you.

Thank you for your reply and putting your point of view across. My understanding is that this thread is about lounges in India going south and not exactly a comparison of India vs rest of the world. I guess we all have our perceptions and way of discerning our world. I actually did not find the posts elitist. Allow me to explain - a lounge service at an airport is meant to be elitist and charged accordingly {business fare, frequent flyer etc} and those buying their way to it are understandably peeved that it no longer meets their expectation with the credit card almost free entry traveller. Any way let's rest our respective cases and enjoy the Sunday.

Actually, this whole shing bang of air travel is built on perception of status. And we are all victims of this mental image building. I see it in my children who, being young adults, only travel economy and perceive business class, lounges, etc as aspirational. Honestly the real value I see in business class on international routes is the ability to sleep and the only facility at a international lounge I savour is the private bathroom. When it comes to business jets which IMHO are another overhyped species the only factor I used to value was the private hassle free check-in to security to boarding you get to enjoy. I guess the industry sells itself on image.

[poised2drive]

Originally Posted by Zippy_wheels

I dont think this is a post covid phenomena. Lounge access has been available on all credit and debit cards for atleast 8-10 years now. Mastercard had more tie up's if I remember. Debit cards had a limit of one entry every quarter. Even 5-6 years back lounges used to be full most of the time.
.

I have to disagree and so do the recent reports. Lounge access was limited to only certain credit cards before the pandemic. That is the whole ruckus about.

"In 2017-18, banks issuing credit cards were giving out free lounge access benefits only to holders of premium credit cards. It was gaining the attention of customers who aspired..."

“During and after the COVID-19 pandemic, banks issuing the credit cards started giving free access to airport lounges on entry-level and mid-range cards, even as issuance to premium cards continued. “It started turning out to be a battle for market share with the feature of free airport lounge access..”

https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/bu...-11240661.html

"When banks started indiscriminately rolling out lounge access as candy to sell more cards, they were coming out of COVID-19 and needed a hero feature to bring in users, who were also coming out of COVID-19 "

https://livefromalounge.com/indian-b...lounge-access/

Originally Posted by Zippy_wheels

I havent been to one post covid but I understand it has become worse - but so has the traffic on the roads, the rush at the malls etc..
.

Now there are queue lines and waiting time for the entry into lounges and like a packed restaurant at a peak time!

Malls and Roads are public spaces where you can't expect exclusivity, but the lounges are supposed to be that- Aspirational.


I may not be a frequent flier but I did use the longe access before covid and after covid, a few times and the difference was baffling!

[Illuminati]

This discussion reminded me this NYT cartoon -

Pic credit - NYT

[Hayek]

Airport lounges are indeed a mixed bag, and always have been.

Before the current T2 was built in Bombay, we had airline specific lounges in the old T2, which ranged from outstanding to pathetic. The GVK lounge changed the experience - and initially was limited to business class and elite frequent flyers - with most credit card passengers having to use the lounge which is a little ahead to the left (forget its name). But with the collapse of Jet Airways, there weren’t enough domestic elite frequent flyers to make the Lounge viable, and hence Adani opened the lounge up to card issuers. With the return of travel, we are facing a temporary period where demand is greater than supply - and Adani has one of two choices - raise the charge per passenger so that card issuers are not as liberal in giving lounge access, or build more lounge space. They have already segregated an area for A.I. and Vistara Premium passengers - so personally I don’t have a problem on the few occasions when I am early enough to use the lounge in Bombay.

The T2 lounge in Bangalore is good, the Delhi lounges are pathetic, Hyderabad is terrible, as for AAI airports, the less said the better (they are still in the 1990s). Don’t see anything elitist about cribbing about the quality of lounges - if you have lounge access, it is to avoid the crowds. The problem is that our operators have oversold limited facilities.

[Jaguar]

Lounges being overcrowded is not just an Indian phenomenon though. I remember being asked to put down my name and return after an hour at the Heathrow Priority Pass lounge a decade ago.

Some people mentioned that they prefer going to the boarding gate and finding a peaceful corner. Can you please share where can one find such a corner in Bangalore T1? Other than La Tapenade and maybe Starbucks, all the other food joints are super crowded if you have a morning flight. The Tiffin Center can give Rameswaram cafe a run for the money with people waiting near your table to grab it the moment you get up. The point is, not just the lounges, but the entire airport is overcrowded. Flights have become more accessible and even my office peon flies to his hometown now. Good for the common man, maybe not so much for the old elite.

[Lobogris]

Originally Posted by DigitalOne

The lounges should also put up a terminal/kiosk where the passenger can check if his/her card is eligible for free lounge access. Now that lounge access is also dynamic (i.e. based on spend), I foresee the problem that people will wait in the queue for a long time only to be told at the last that they are not eligible.

They do. Most if not all lounges have several automatic machines where people can swipe their cards, choose access and check in. Adani Lounge at Bombay has several manned and automated kiosks spread across the airport on the way to the lounge. Delhi has automated machines as well.

[thanixravindran]

Not sure why the debate become heated on this topic. In fact, we should be happy for the increased air traffic and credit card (which is nothing but unsecured personal loan at obscene interest rates) issuance that banks don't see them as a futue NPA mess. Add the airport connectivity to small towns from metro cities which makes more people travelling by air and vie for the same lounges when they depart from metros.

Even before Covid, NPCI has tied up with lounge operators and banks to provide lounge access for Rupay Platinum cards to promote it. It was mainly debit cards and was an instant hit around 2019. So kindly spare some blame from covid and discriminate issuance of credit cards

But all of these points that we are fastly moving to be a middle income country (though many will point out we are still a long way in eradicating poverty). If the person is having a valid boarding pass and the same credit or debit card like you, why the entry has to be denied to them and on what grounds? The only issue I have is multiple card entry swiping for friends and family.

I still see Airline specific lounges which allow only business class and first class passengers in it. Also still believe card specific lounges like Amex are available for Amex Centurion card holders (Delhi Airport?). At least in Chennai Airport, there is a separate business class lounge in peak hours. I don't think they will be crowded with masses holding common credit and debit cards.

If one wants exclusivity, they may just book business or first class tickets or move up to elusive credit cards like Amex Centurion and be at peace. If not, just relax and take a stroll in the airport before getting into the cramped cattle class seats for the next few hours (I personally practice the latter)

[RMN]

The Industry is correcting this now. Lounge accesses have been revoked for most mid to low tiers. HDFC regalia doesn't offer what it used to, you need the Regalia Gold for that.

Banks just gave away Credits cards to everyone with lounge as a selling point, they were desperate to have people use CC and hopefully default payments By the looks of it, that wasn't really successful and they ended up paying quite a bit to the lounges.

I still prefer lounges even though its crowded because airport food is usually overpriced and not of great quality. I even prefer paying for lounge rather than having for the restaurants.

[vb-saan]

I don’t know much about the airport lounges in India, but in general I have reduced hitting the lounge during my travels. Airports in general is a happy place for me. At my home base, spending a couple of hours at the airport is actually quite therapeutic – laze around the shops, or sitting by the window with a coffee and watch the flights land/take-off, or just people watching. Only in certain airports I felt the need to go to a lounge, mainly due to the chaos and mayhem in the general transit area (e.g.; Frankfurt, Abu Dhabi).

[shankar.balan]

The eternal search for that ‘elusive sense of exclusivity’ from the common man’s perspective. Does nothing except feed the ego. And causes immense unnecessary frustration.

Airport Lounges in my experience are frankly very over-rated. Not-so-great food. Plenty of free alcohol (if one is inclined). Wash and change if required and some seats with a mild veneer of plush.

Honestly, I definitely prefer to wander about the Airport. No problem at all having a small bite at some cafe or restaurant which takes my fancy. And no problem at all hanging out with normal, regular folk and smiling at the world. After all, I am also a part of the normal regular folk only so absolutely no ‘airs and graces’ which are worthless anyway.

Hanging out in the Airport is much better than standing in one of those endless ‘entitled-persons’ queues at the Lounge entrance, waving one of those ‘exclusive’ credit cards or boarding passes at the over worked, harassed service persons and then finally after making it past the gate and slumping into some chair (provided one finds an unoccupied one), finding it out that one’s aeroplane is about to depart into the wide blue yonder and then rushing towards the boarding gate, slam bang into one more of those interminable queues.

Let us not forget that there are plenty of ‘Status-Correcting, Ego-reducing, Equalisers’ in the form of multiple ‘reality checks’ in a crowded country like ours where increasing prosperity provides greater access and thus ‘democratises’ ‘Travel as an experience.’

There are always those perpetual queues and interminable wait times, irrespective of whatever exclusive credit cards or elevated frequent flyer statuses or rarefied classes of ticket that one may hold.

To get things into perspective and to avoid unnecessary ‘stress’ on this topic, let us consider the traffic to and from the airports, the airport security personnel peering myopically and suspiciously at one’s identification (Im reasonably sure that many of them aren’t able to ‘read’ per se); then the process of check-in, immigration, security X ray scrutiny and conveyor belt snarls, hand baggage-checking, and then of course at the other end, the long immigration queues, passport control and then the interminable wait for the checked in bags and all that.

And let us smile a little and lighten up. One can only be as fast or as slow the slowest person ahead of one, in whichever queue, or as fast or as slow as the slowest vehicle ahead of one in traffic.

A few bonuses from casually wandering open-eyed, about an airport and not choosing the so-called, over-rated ‘lounge cocoon’, are shown below; from some travel that I undertook last week.

[SoumenD]

Just realised my lounge experience is just like watching cricket at stadium experience. Have experienced cricket live only in Adelaide Oval twice as crowd was less. In India seeing the crowd rush, I never dared. Similarly lounge also I have used only in Singapore but in India seeing the long queue(looks crowded) never dared yet

I used the services of Changi Airport (Singapore) lounge back in the day(2015-16) while I was staying in Adelaide and used to travel home once in 6 months. That too was mostly because I used to take slightly longer layovers to visit the city. Post visit after returning to the airport I used lounge service to take shower, have food & rest for sometime before catching the connecting flight.

I remember we used to get 40SGD coupons if we had return tickets on Singapore airlines. 20SGD I used for lounge access & rest could be used for duty-free shopping. The city visit too was free from Singapore airlines if you had >6hours layover. Peak desi moment I know

However in India seeing the looooong queue I never dared to step in yet. I usually reach airport 2 hours before takeoff time, post check-in & other formalities have like an hour or so to kill which I spend strolling around. I fly thrice a year domestic now and all flights are direct connection, so don’t have a real need of trying out lounge yet. But in Feb-2024 I will have a transit in Hyderabad, planning to give it a shot there.

[chinkara]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

The eternal search for that ‘elusive sense of exclusivity’ from the common man’s perspective. Does nothing except feed the ego. And causes immense unnecessary frustration.

Airport Lounges in my experience are frankly very over-rated. Not-so-great food. Plenty of free alcohol (if one is inclined). Wash and change if required and some seats with a mild veneer of plush.


And let us smile a little and lighten up. One can only be as fast or as slow the slowest person ahead of one, in whichever queue, or as fast or as slow as the slowest vehicle ahead of one in traffic.

A few bonuses from casually wandering open-eyed, about an airport and not choosing the so-called, over-rated ‘lounge cocoon’, are shown below; from some travel that I undertook last week.

Well said. Agree with all that. Where I find lounges useful are international stopovers - sometimes 5/6 hours. Mainly because of the coffee and the laptop / mobile charging.
For domestic, the only use case is when a meeting gets cancelled and you reach the airport 3 hours in advance because your colleague could advance his/her flight but you could not.
In normal circumstances with only about an hour in hand, very little use.
What other airports could do though is create many more seating spaces with charger access like in Delhi T3. BLR is especially bad.

Speaking of domestic lounges, Adani in T2 Mumbai is quite ok, I also find the Chennai airport lounge quite good. BLR T2 was good, but last week there was no space - so it has become crowded like all others. Delhi is horrible.

[lazy]

- Even the UB City mall is so crowded these days, and this mall has only premium brands. Not fun anymore.
- There's so much traffic, can never really enjoy my German's power,
- Just about everyone has an iphone now, Apple should stop selling last year models for cheap,
...
...
...
- Lounges are so crowded and filled with people with no manners, who speak loudly, crowd the counters and eat a lot, totally spoiling the exclusive and tranquil experience for me.

Maybe a different perspective to consider:
- Feel happy that a larger number of our country is prospering,
- Not everyone got etiquette guidance,
- Each lounge usage can save about 1000/- per person (coffee + food), not insignificant for anyone (even Amex Plat or Infinia holders),
- WRONG - lounge access to only rich/moneyed folks (high fees, high spend on CC linked access etc) will provide a peaceful and relaxing experience, as being implied by so many here,
- TRUTH - a peaceful ambience comes from well mannered and non-entitled folks, which the moneyed/rich are almost always not,
- or maybe, if one's really moneyed, fly private and get the peace.

cheers
lazy