Is it worth paying for access?

It’s 1:15pm and my flight has just landed at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport, where I need to lay over for 9 hours before connecting to Sydney. I could do a city tour, but I’ve already seen the main sights. Plus, I’ve been traveling for 19 hours and I’m not feeling very refreshed. A 7-hour layover at the airside transit hotel at the terminal would be the best option, but when I booked it two days in advance, there was no room.

The next best option was to use a paid airport lounge, and I went to the Miracle Business Lounge in Concourse F, but there were no showers. “Go to the First Class Lounge in Concourse G,” they told me. It cost $50 ($74.72) for two hours. I signed up for the double lounge and was in. There were only three other travelers in three separate seating areas. There was a small selection of Thai food—a pork dish with basil, vegetables and tropical fruits—and a table with wine, spirits, soft drinks—all unlimited—and coffee and tea.

While not an eye-popping choice, the lounge was exactly what I wanted—large, serene, and comfortable. I went straight into the shower and then settled into a large, comfy recliner. In total, I spent nearly seven hours in there, emailing, reading, and napping. That was well beyond my time limit, but no one tried to change my mind.

For travelers with long layovers who don’t have access to their airline’s business class lounge, paid lounges are a godsend. You can pay right at the gate like I did, or you can join a prepaid plan or use the membership benefits that come with certain credit cards. Layovers may be limited to two hours (in theory, as my example above shows – it may depend on how strict the staff is).

Priority Pass

The initial Lounge Pass program has more than 1,500 lounges available to members, including 440 in Asia Pacific, more than 370 in Europe and more than 150 in North America. The first-year membership fee for a Standard Member is $69. Each lounge visit costs $35, while the first-year membership fee for a Standard Plus Member is $279, which includes 10 free visits.

All members can bring one guest for $35 per visit. Most paid lounges charge around $45-55 per visit. If you use Priority Pass to access the lounge frequently, you can save money, but for less than six visits per year, the value is questionable. As with other similar products, lounge stops are likely to be limited to two hours.

Lounge Pass

It’s a very simple booking system that gives travelers access to 600 airport lounges in more than 100 countries. There’s no annual fee, just pay for what you use. Lounge Pass claims the average cost per visit is £17 ($32.30) per person. Booking with Lounge Pass, I could have spent five hours in the Wonderful First Class Lounge for $96, $7.44 less than the cost of four hours. But if my first flight was late and my connection was tight, and I needed to go straight to the gate for my onward flight, then the booking would have been wasted. Also, if the lounge is full and there’s no quiet place to sit or the opportunity to shower, then the value is questionable. I prefer to just stick my head in the door and see what I get than booking in advance, especially since the price difference is minimal.