How Airport Lounges Work And How To Access Them

Lounge Buddy

The first one I’m going to tell you about is Lounge Buddy. You can access Lounge Buddy on your computer and also through their app. You can look up all the different types of lounges in all the different airports around the world and who their passes work with. To access these lounges you will need to buy a pass, which you can do through Lounge Buddy.

Lounge Pass

Lounge Pass is another site where you buy lounge passes. Look at both of these and see which one works for you as they may have access to different lounges. Once you know you want to access a lounge on your travel day, the next thing to do is buy a day pass. In certain airports you can buy a half day, but look at all your options. Most of the lounges are gonna be day passes though, and usually average around $50 a day. 

Access Through Your Credit Card

If you have a travel branded or reward credit card, ensure you look to see what is all included. It is easily forgotten all the perks that come with having some of these cards. Lounge access is included in some and there are some parameters around it sometimes, but if you are already paying for it through your card, take advantage of it!

When you are looking at how airport lounges work you first want to make sure you’re looking at the airports of where you are planning on traveling from. Since there are very few of these lounges prior to security, you also want to remember you’ll need to be ready to go and fully through security before you can find the lounge. 

The best way you can get the most bang for your buck is to access these lounges when you have a long layover or arrive at the airport extra early so you can actually enjoy the amenities. Now, not all airport lounges are made the same. Some of them are really worth it and some of them are meh. When you are deciding to use an airport lounge check out what is included in the specific lounges you are looking at going to. You can easily find this information on Lounge Buddy.

Now, this brings me to how airport lounges work and why would you want to spend $50 to sit in this lounge when you could just sit at your gate? First off there are a lot less people and noise. You have really nice, big, comfortable chairs that usually have plug in ports beside you that you can charge all your devices. You also have free drinks, both alcoholic and non alcoholic. You get free food and snacks. There is dedicated free lounge WiFi, also newspapers, magazines and TVs.  There are also usually nice views to watch the planes.

When you get to the much bigger airports, you can get some really unique things inside the lounges. Sometimes, some premium features have an extra cost but they could be included. Double check any extra costs in the lounge you are planning to use to decide on if you should go into this lounge. Some of the specialty services include showers, spa services, private rooms for naps,business centers, gyms, shoe shines, along with a variety of food.

The food available will be different from airport to airport and lounge to lounge. Some have really great food and a wide variety, and some have okay food. Take a look at the reviews when you’re looking at all of these lounges to see how other travelers rate them. 

These passes can save you money especially in airports that have really expensive food and drink options. If you wanna have a couple of drinks before your flight, say at the Singapore airport, paying for the pass will more than likely save you a bunch of money since drinks are so expensive here. You’ll be way ahead of the game. 

Another important step in learning how airport lounges work is knowing which terminal you will be leaving from and where the lounge is in conjunction with that. In the really big airports, you are not always in the same terminal of that particular lounge. You wanna make sure that you’re able to get to the lounge you want to go to because sometimes you’re not able to access the different terminals depending on where your gate is. Plus, you don’t wanna be super far away from where your gate is so you can maximize your time here and your stress levels getting to your gate.

You can purchase these passes pre-trip, check it all out online beforehand, but you want to make sure about the different terminal access if it is a very large airport. You can also just open the app and see what lounges are available if you end up arriving really early, or a delay happens. Since you can pay for the passes in the app itself, it makes it so much easier. 

I hope this helped you figure out how airport lounges work, if lounges are for you and be able to determine if it’s gonna be worth it on one of your future trips.