Guide To Airline Clubs

Image: Photograph courtesy of American Airlines

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After 30 years of business travel, I have just one remaining unshakable belief: Membership in an airline-sponsored airport club is the single best investment you can make in your own comfort, productivity, and sanity on the road.

For just a few hundred bucks a year, you get access to private hideaways outfitted with comfy chairs and sofas, televisions, desk space and office equipment, a bar and snacks, a place to stash your coat and luggage, and even conference rooms. You can wait out delays, canceled flights, and missed connections in comparative peace and quiet. Airline agents are on the premises to help with flight arrangements.

I can’t think of a single reason for any frequent business traveler not to belong to at least one network of clubs. They have no downside and the public alternatives—crowded gates and jam-packed bars—really have no upside.

But how do you pick a lounge network from among the systems operated by the nation’s six traditional nationwide carriers? Simple: Join the one run by the airline you fly most frequently, which will likely have the most locations at the airports you use.

Don’t fly one airline more than another? Then consider the finer points of each network that I’ve outlined below. Or take a membership in Priority Pass, the multi-airline, transnational system I wrote about at length last year.

Admirals Club
Operated by American Airlines, the Admirals Club has outposts in 38 airports around the world. The new Admirals Club lounge in the American Airlines terminal at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport is visually stunning and spacious; the other clubs around the system are serviceable. Best perk: The lounges in the U.S. and Latin America offer free WiFi access. Biggest downer: The domestic clubs charge for alcoholic beverages. Admirals Club members may also use clubs operated by Qantas, the Australian carrier, but only when they are flying that airline. Depending on your status in American’s AAdvantage frequent-flyer program, a new annual membership costs $300 to $450 a year or 45,000 to 75,000 AAdvantage miles.

Crown Room Club
Delta Air Lines’ Crown Room Club lounges can be found in 34 airports, most of them in the United States. Crown Rooms are blandly efficient, but the drinks are free in the U.S. locations. You’ll pay for wireless access, however. Best perk: reciprocal admittance to the club networks operated by Continental and Northwest airlines when flying with them. New members pay $250 to $450 a year or 40,000 to 80,000 miles, depending on your status in Delta’s SkyMiles frequency program.

Presidents Club
The Presidents Club network run by Continental Airlines spans 20 airports. Generally speaking, Continental’s clubs are the best-maintained physically and I’ve found them the best-stocked with complimentary newspapers and magazines, snacks, and beverages. Many clubs have discreet “family rooms” outfitted with televisions and other diversions to keep young travelers tranquil. U.S. Presidents Clubs also offer free WiFi access and free alcoholic beverages. Members also receive admittance to the Alaska Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Northwest Airlines club networks, on days when they’re traveling on those airlines. The annual fee for new members is $350 to $450 depending on your status in Continental’s OnePass frequent-flyer plan.

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