Airport lounges have become a point of contention among frequent travelers, with users complaining of crowding or long waits to get in.
Cardholders of some credit cards issued by Capital One will have a harder time accessing the company’s airport lounges in larger groups after the company announced changes to lounge access.
Starting next year, Venture X and Venture X Business cardholders will lose the ability to bring free guests with them into Capital One-branded airport lounges, and access for additional cardholders will cost $125. Previously, additional cardholders were afforded the same lounge access as the primary cardholder without an additional charge.
Venture X cardholders can regain the perk of guest access after spending $75,000 on the card within a calendar year. After that, they can bring two guests with them into the Capital One lounges and one guest to the new lounge/restaurant concept, Landings, without paying an additional fee. Otherwise, guest fees of $25 to $45 apply for each guest a cardholder wishes to bring into the lounge with them.
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Capital One Bank operates airport lounges for its top-tier cardholders at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, Denver International Airport, Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, and Washington Dulles International Airport. The Landings lounge at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is currently open, and Capital One has plans to add additional Landings locations at New York’s LaGuardia and Kennedy International airports later this year.
In addition to the Capital One-operated lounges, Venture X cardmembers have access to the Priority Pass network of lounges, but they will also lose the ability to bring guests into those lounges unless they hold the Venture X Business card, which will maintain the benefit. Priority Pass has a much larger lounge network, with more than 1,700 airport lounge locations around the world.
Venture X cards currently carry an annual fee of $395, lower than competing cards that come with lounge access.
Airport lounges have become a point of contention among frequent travelers, with users complaining of crowding or long waits to get in. Once limited to premium cabin fliers, airline-designated VIPs, or frequent travelers paying an annual membership fee, they’ve also become popular perks for many credit card issuers. Some issuers grant their members access to existing airline lounges as part of airline frequent flier partnerships, while others have opened their own lounges entirely for their cardmembers. American Express opened the first Centurion lounge in 2013, and now has 15 U.S. locations and another 14 internationally.
Banks have moved to limit access to address complaints about crowding and long lines, which has annoyed some frequent travelers who had grown accustomed to generous access policies. Annual fees have crept up, and limits on which cardholders have access to the lounges have also been implemented. American Express and Capital One have both narrowed the card types that include lounge access from their initial lounge openings, and airlines have also narrowed some of the access privileges.
Delta now only sells lounge memberships to elite frequent fliers and has put a cap on the number of times an American Express cardholder can visit their SkyClubs unless they reach certain spend thresholds. United and Chase Bank have raised the annual fee for the Chase card that includes United Club access, and the membership no longer includes access to lounges operated by United’s Star Alliance partners unless they pay for a more expensive “all access” membership.
While limiting access and increasing fees to alleviate crowding, airlines and banks continue to aggressively solicit new signups, showing ads before airlines’ onboard entertainment, or even making their way into inflight announcements made by flight attendants.
American and United also have higher-tier lounges with much more restrictive access policies dedicated to passengers traveling on long-haul flights in Business Class. Delta, which has long grappled with crowding at SkyClubs, opened the first location of its own top-tier lounge earlier this year at New York’s Kennedy International Airport.
