Hoi poli ruining everything
December 3, 2022 10:05 AM Subscribe
Airport lounges being spoiled by the unwashed masses This is satire? Right? If you read it as White Lotus level parody it's brilliant.
Behind a paywall. But…I’m a new member of a travel hacking community and definitely part of the hoi poloi. It’s so true! People are absolutely gaga for hacking their way into business class and airport lounges and credit card incentivized special events. Clearly the landed gentry weren’t actually providing enough benefit to the capitalist gatekeepers. They realized they could widen the gates and lure in more suckers with promises of unearned delights previously hoarded by the wealthy who also didn’t earn them.
posted by amanda at 10:33 AM on December 3, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by amanda at 10:33 AM on December 3, 2022 [2 favorites]
Liberate the middle class travelers!
posted by chavenet at 10:39 AM on December 3, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by chavenet at 10:39 AM on December 3, 2022 [6 favorites]
Has to be behind a paywall, of course. Can't let the hoi-polloi in to the web page to read our "EXCLUSIVE" article for the genuine "real" flyers.
I'm sure the comments were fun.
posted by pthomas745 at 10:45 AM on December 3, 2022 [5 favorites]
I'm sure the comments were fun.
posted by pthomas745 at 10:45 AM on December 3, 2022 [5 favorites]
A sidebar link is to an article titled "The monarchy runs on loyalty, and Lady Susan Hussey's has been repaid poorly." If I didn't know anything else about it, I would assume that this is an Onion-style mockup. As it is, it appears to be just another issue of Worst People Weekly.
posted by Countess Elena at 10:54 AM on December 3, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Countess Elena at 10:54 AM on December 3, 2022 [2 favorites]
Card holder access could be considered part of the hoi polloi. An email I received this week:
As a valued Delta SkyMiles® Platinum or Platinum Business American Express Card Member we appreciate your business and loyalty to Delta. We work hard to create a best-in-class experience in our lounges and ensure a premium experience for our Club visitors.
If you’ve visited a Club recently, you may have seen lines at the door and guests waiting for seats once inside. This is not the experience we want for our customers, nor the one our team members wish to deliver.
To address this, we have made significant investments in our Club experience, including expanding Club capacity at several major airports. In addition to these efforts, we have made the difficult decision to implement new policies that we believe will preserve the experience our guests deserve.
Important Policy Updates
Effective February 2, 2023: Delta SkyMiles® Platinum or Platinum Business Basic and Additional Card Members will have access to the Delta Sky Club® at a per-visit rate of $50 per person (previously $39) when traveling on a same-day Delta or Delta partner airline flight. Card Members may also bring up to two guests or immediate family (spouse/domestic partner and children under 21) at a per-visit rate of $50 per person (previously $39), per location.*
Our goal is to create the best Delta Sky Club experience possible, while ensuring the level of service and exclusive atmosphere you expect in our Clubs remains available. Continued investments in the overall Club footprint will result in bigger, better Clubs as a solution for long-term growth. In the meantime, we appreciate your patience as we strive for an elevated Club experience for our guests. As always, we thank you for your loyalty.
posted by 3.2.3 at 11:16 AM on December 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
As a valued Delta SkyMiles® Platinum or Platinum Business American Express Card Member we appreciate your business and loyalty to Delta. We work hard to create a best-in-class experience in our lounges and ensure a premium experience for our Club visitors.
If you’ve visited a Club recently, you may have seen lines at the door and guests waiting for seats once inside. This is not the experience we want for our customers, nor the one our team members wish to deliver.
To address this, we have made significant investments in our Club experience, including expanding Club capacity at several major airports. In addition to these efforts, we have made the difficult decision to implement new policies that we believe will preserve the experience our guests deserve.
Important Policy Updates
Effective February 2, 2023: Delta SkyMiles® Platinum or Platinum Business Basic and Additional Card Members will have access to the Delta Sky Club® at a per-visit rate of $50 per person (previously $39) when traveling on a same-day Delta or Delta partner airline flight. Card Members may also bring up to two guests or immediate family (spouse/domestic partner and children under 21) at a per-visit rate of $50 per person (previously $39), per location.*
Our goal is to create the best Delta Sky Club experience possible, while ensuring the level of service and exclusive atmosphere you expect in our Clubs remains available. Continued investments in the overall Club footprint will result in bigger, better Clubs as a solution for long-term growth. In the meantime, we appreciate your patience as we strive for an elevated Club experience for our guests. As always, we thank you for your loyalty.
posted by 3.2.3 at 11:16 AM on December 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
What's funny is that the article really focuses on the stand-alone third-party lounges like Premium Plaza and Escape, which were actually introduced to be cheaper alternatives for people who didn't meet the requirements for airline lounges. They were for a slightly higher grade of hoi polloi to begin with!
posted by praemunire at 11:24 AM on December 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by praemunire at 11:24 AM on December 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
Card holder access could be considered part of the hoi polloi.
It pains me to know this (Cathay Pacific dropped their lovely nonstop between NYC and my #1 favorite vacation destination, and now I have a lengthy layover in Seattle to look forward to most times), but the Amex Platinum-type cards aren't the credit cards that give you free access to Delta lounges. That's the Centurion or Reserve.
posted by praemunire at 11:27 AM on December 3, 2022
It pains me to know this (Cathay Pacific dropped their lovely nonstop between NYC and my #1 favorite vacation destination, and now I have a lengthy layover in Seattle to look forward to most times), but the Amex Platinum-type cards aren't the credit cards that give you free access to Delta lounges. That's the Centurion or Reserve.
posted by praemunire at 11:27 AM on December 3, 2022
"You're not traffic, you're *in* traffic."
posted by credulous at 12:06 PM on December 3, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by credulous at 12:06 PM on December 3, 2022 [2 favorites]
This article is silly, but part of the increase in people using the lounges is almost certainly that the cost of food and drinks has gone up so much that spending $100 for 2 people to get into a lounge isn’t much more than you’d spend having dinner on a long layover. I traveled extensively for work for a long time, and the lounges were always mostly filled with business travelers, not The Idle Rich. Annual membership for Delta’s Sky Club is $550, and it pays for itself pretty quickly if you fly a lot.
posted by KGMoney at 2:02 PM on December 3, 2022 [8 favorites]
posted by KGMoney at 2:02 PM on December 3, 2022 [8 favorites]
I use the American Express lounges in airports and it is a life saver and a money saver for the shambling circus that is my family of 5 when we travel. Kids can't get far, it is quiet, the bags feel safe and a small mountain of food and drink for $0. Pays for itself in one big round trip per year.
Also, if you need to take a shit in an airport, well, nothing comes close to the relative serenity of an American Express Centurion Water Closet, my friend.
I suppose this is a level down from the Airline lounges, though? I don't actually know.
posted by Stonestock Relentless at 3:45 PM on December 3, 2022 [5 favorites]
Also, if you need to take a shit in an airport, well, nothing comes close to the relative serenity of an American Express Centurion Water Closet, my friend.
I suppose this is a level down from the Airline lounges, though? I don't actually know.
posted by Stonestock Relentless at 3:45 PM on December 3, 2022 [5 favorites]
This article is silly, but part of the increase in people using the lounges is almost certainly that the cost of food and drinks has gone up so much that spending $100 for 2 people to get into a lounge isn’t much more than you’d spend having dinner on a long layover.
That and the fact that delays and cancellations are stranding more and more people at various airports for longer amounts of time.
posted by oneirodynia at 3:57 PM on December 3, 2022 [5 favorites]
That and the fact that delays and cancellations are stranding more and more people at various airports for longer amounts of time.
posted by oneirodynia at 3:57 PM on December 3, 2022 [5 favorites]
I promised myself no more air travel several years back, and... everything I read about it these days suggests I did myself a massive favor.
posted by humbug at 4:30 PM on December 3, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by humbug at 4:30 PM on December 3, 2022 [4 favorites]
The thing is--when you're in an airport, the hoi polloi are the attraction. The people watching, the collective experience, maybe a chance to chat and commiserate with fellow travellers from everywhere. Why shut yourself up in a lounge when you could be rubbing shoulders with the world?
I haven't been in the lounges often, and out of those only one or two visits have been worthwhile.
Example of a disappointing lounge experience: Delta at JFK. Breakfast "buffet" like a Travelodge in Idaho: bagel slicer, cold cereal in bins, bananas in a bowl. Not as "quiet" as advertised. All the trapped-ness of being in an airport with none of the novelty or diversions. Like, why am I here?
Better lounge experience: premium lounge at Lisbon. All-you-can-drink cheap Portuguese sparkling wine, which I guzzled down shamelessly at 9:30 in the morning. If you want to get me in a lounge, this is how.
posted by gimonca at 4:48 PM on December 3, 2022
I haven't been in the lounges often, and out of those only one or two visits have been worthwhile.
Example of a disappointing lounge experience: Delta at JFK. Breakfast "buffet" like a Travelodge in Idaho: bagel slicer, cold cereal in bins, bananas in a bowl. Not as "quiet" as advertised. All the trapped-ness of being in an airport with none of the novelty or diversions. Like, why am I here?
Better lounge experience: premium lounge at Lisbon. All-you-can-drink cheap Portuguese sparkling wine, which I guzzled down shamelessly at 9:30 in the morning. If you want to get me in a lounge, this is how.
posted by gimonca at 4:48 PM on December 3, 2022
Also, those credit cards with lounge access are themselves pretty pricey sometimes, with annual fees running into several hundred dollars. (There are other spiffs attached to them beyond just the lounges, of course.) For me at least, the costs versus benefits of these have never made sense, I don't foresee myself ever getting $500 or whatever return from the perks after paying that annual amount. Maybe they work for other people, your mileage (ahem) may vary.
posted by gimonca at 4:59 PM on December 3, 2022
posted by gimonca at 4:59 PM on December 3, 2022
Someone I know who travels extensively for work said that the best airport lounge they've ever been to is the Turkish Airlines lounge in Istanbul.
posted by nikoniko at 5:54 PM on December 3, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by nikoniko at 5:54 PM on December 3, 2022 [2 favorites]
Metafilter: Nothing comes close to the relative serenity of an American Express Centurion Water Closet, my friend.
posted by slater at 6:12 PM on December 3, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by slater at 6:12 PM on December 3, 2022 [2 favorites]
The idle rich ain't in the lounges. They don't fly commercial.
posted by praemunire at 7:53 PM on December 3, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by praemunire at 7:53 PM on December 3, 2022 [5 favorites]
Narita's airport lounge (not the airline-associated ones) is really nice, quiet, nobody is ever in it, and it only costs $12.
Sounds like the airport lounges are "maximizing". Set the price low enough so it's full (no money left on the table), but if there's a line to get in, the price isn't high enough (money left on the table).
posted by ctmf at 10:30 PM on December 3, 2022
Sounds like the airport lounges are "maximizing". Set the price low enough so it's full (no money left on the table), but if there's a line to get in, the price isn't high enough (money left on the table).
posted by ctmf at 10:30 PM on December 3, 2022
That's the one inside security near the gates. I had someone see me off once, and the "lounge" in the non-secure area is like the most terrible doctor's office waiting room ever, no windows, hard plastic chairs... maybe more like a bus terminal.
posted by ctmf at 10:33 PM on December 3, 2022
posted by ctmf at 10:33 PM on December 3, 2022
In the expression 'hoi polloi' hoi is the article, so "the hoi polloi" is "the the masses".
Hopefully with this insufferable comment I am now on the Torygraph level.
posted by Pyrogenesis at 11:10 PM on December 3, 2022 [9 favorites]
Hopefully with this insufferable comment I am now on the Torygraph level.
posted by Pyrogenesis at 11:10 PM on December 3, 2022 [9 favorites]
Frequent business flyer here, I've definitely noticed an uptick in crowded lounges here in Europe the past year or so (can't speak to the US). I flew out of ARN a couple of weeks ago and all three of the lounges I had access to were completely overflowing. Ironically the gate area was significantly quieter for a change (better food options too - lounge food usually sucks).
The thing is--when you're in an airport, the hoi polloi are the attraction. The people watching, the collective experience, maybe a chance to chat and commiserate with fellow travellers from everywhere. Why shut yourself up in a lounge when you could be rubbing shoulders with the world?
A big part of the appeal of lounges for frequent flyers, at least historically, is the peace and quiet. Hob-nobbing with fellow travelers is great if you only fly 1-2 times a year for vacations, it's way less appealing when you're flying multiple times a month and is part of your workday. Doubly so when the airport is your last chance to get online and do some work before a long flight.
posted by photo guy at 12:34 AM on December 4, 2022 [5 favorites]
The thing is--when you're in an airport, the hoi polloi are the attraction. The people watching, the collective experience, maybe a chance to chat and commiserate with fellow travellers from everywhere. Why shut yourself up in a lounge when you could be rubbing shoulders with the world?
A big part of the appeal of lounges for frequent flyers, at least historically, is the peace and quiet. Hob-nobbing with fellow travelers is great if you only fly 1-2 times a year for vacations, it's way less appealing when you're flying multiple times a month and is part of your workday. Doubly so when the airport is your last chance to get online and do some work before a long flight.
posted by photo guy at 12:34 AM on December 4, 2022 [5 favorites]
Lounges are useless until they're not, and then they are (or maybe were, I haven't been in an airport in damn near 15 years at this point) a life saver. At least the airline ones are. There weren't many third party lounges when I was still flying.
When everything is going well, you're not sitting around and waiting anywhere, you show up, get through security, and boarding begins very shortly or has already begun by the time you arrive at the gate. When weather strikes, delays happen, or you have a long connection on the other hand, dedicated agents to get you rebooked early, uncrowded bathrooms, snacks/drinks, and a comfortable chair in a relatively quiet place, preferably overlooking the tarmac really cut down on the stress level.
posted by wierdo at 1:53 AM on December 4, 2022
When everything is going well, you're not sitting around and waiting anywhere, you show up, get through security, and boarding begins very shortly or has already begun by the time you arrive at the gate. When weather strikes, delays happen, or you have a long connection on the other hand, dedicated agents to get you rebooked early, uncrowded bathrooms, snacks/drinks, and a comfortable chair in a relatively quiet place, preferably overlooking the tarmac really cut down on the stress level.
posted by wierdo at 1:53 AM on December 4, 2022
Terminal 8 at JFK now has four tiers of lounge depending on itinerary, carrier, ticket class, FF program, and elite status in such program. Only the lowest of the four has a pay access (membership or day pass) option.
posted by MattD at 5:31 AM on December 4, 2022
posted by MattD at 5:31 AM on December 4, 2022
As a very frequent flyer in Europe my anecdotal experience is that lounges (and fast track security lanes) are way more crowded now than before the pandemic. Where previously the lounges were a place to get some quiet, and possibly a drink or a place to have phone call (or video meeting these days), they’re now often too full for that.
Ironically, at the Lufthansa/Star Alliance lounge at Heathrow, the inner, “Senator” lounge is usually more crowded than the outer business class lounge.
I’m kind of ascribing this whole phenomena to the death throes of the commercial passenger industry, with airlines and other actors just trying to squeeze out whatever they can before the whole thing inevitably comes crashing down.
posted by boogieboy at 6:06 AM on December 4, 2022 [1 favorite]
Ironically, at the Lufthansa/Star Alliance lounge at Heathrow, the inner, “Senator” lounge is usually more crowded than the outer business class lounge.
I’m kind of ascribing this whole phenomena to the death throes of the commercial passenger industry, with airlines and other actors just trying to squeeze out whatever they can before the whole thing inevitably comes crashing down.
posted by boogieboy at 6:06 AM on December 4, 2022 [1 favorite]
When I was a teenager, in the 80's, I once went to the bar on the upper floor at LaGuardia with a friend from school. We got drunk because it was the early 80's and they weren't carding everybody, especially not in NYC. The bar was stuffy, quiet, old, very very coooool. And a great view. It closed for about the next twenty years shortly thereafter.
A friend who had been flying a lot in the last ten years clued me in to the whole 'lounge' thing and how great they are. I've never thought twice about it - we've only rarely had a wait longer than a couple hours so why bother? Then over the summer we were going to make a big honking trip to the US, passing through Heathrow for three hours, and I thought, 'let's do the lounge thing!' and it was an enormous pain in the ass. Yes, grotesque lines, in some cases extra fees and etc. we never actually got into one.
The whole point is to get away from the live-stock transporting feel of air travel and yet, here's yet another line I have to get into? Pfffffft.
posted by From Bklyn at 8:11 AM on December 4, 2022 [2 favorites]
A friend who had been flying a lot in the last ten years clued me in to the whole 'lounge' thing and how great they are. I've never thought twice about it - we've only rarely had a wait longer than a couple hours so why bother? Then over the summer we were going to make a big honking trip to the US, passing through Heathrow for three hours, and I thought, 'let's do the lounge thing!' and it was an enormous pain in the ass. Yes, grotesque lines, in some cases extra fees and etc. we never actually got into one.
The whole point is to get away from the live-stock transporting feel of air travel and yet, here's yet another line I have to get into? Pfffffft.
posted by From Bklyn at 8:11 AM on December 4, 2022 [2 favorites]
huh, l noticed the same, and I was in Addis Ababa (uh, waltzing in with full confidence because I was with my boss & we needed to figure out their next flight issues). otherwise, the only times I accessed them was because of a card I was on for a bit. But tbh, I only miss lounges when I need a shower in transit and unless it's an airport designed to be a hub (Dubai, Schipol, Bangkok, KLIA2), that's rarely available for the plebes. Food-wise... I was gonna say aren't you guys full from the flight, but I just remembered American ones pioneered budget flying before I understood it (cue younger me being agog that I have to pay for food in flight). (ETA: deleted 'domestic' because i just remembered it was inbound into SFO)
posted by cendawanita at 11:17 AM on December 4, 2022
posted by cendawanita at 11:17 AM on December 4, 2022
I don't know what the author is complaining about. The times I most want a lounge (semi-private space and free drinks) are when I'm traveling as my wretched bourgeois self. When somebody else buys me a ticket for international business class -- and I inevitably miss the lounge experience because I can never figure out the arcane entry requirements of various Star Alliance lounges, I have been turned away from so many! -- I know I'm going to spend 7-12 hours being tipsy in a semi-private space anyway. What do I need a lounge for?
posted by grandiloquiet at 2:18 PM on December 4, 2022
posted by grandiloquiet at 2:18 PM on December 4, 2022
All of this sounds like first world problems to me.
posted by drstrangelove at 4:23 AM on December 5, 2022
posted by drstrangelove at 4:23 AM on December 5, 2022
AAIIiiiiaighhhhhhhh!!! *flinches so hard that I almost fall out of my chair.
Hoi Polloi means "the many" or "the rabble" In Greek it's written " οἱ πολλοί " The word oi is an article meaning THE. So when you write "the hoi polloi" you are writing "the the rabble". You don't need to write the word the before hoi polloi!
(I know, I know, I'm an utter pedant, a grammar Nazi, classist, anything you want to call me. I admit it and I admit it's worse to correct how someone else writes or speaks than any error they could make. You should never change the way you speak to accommodate another person's rank prejudice. And because language evolves it probably IS correct to refer to the hoi polloi now and the old form is obsolete. But this is my one, my only one last neurotic prescriptivist language trigger... Forgive me.)
*twitch, twitch
posted by Jane the Brown at 6:59 PM on December 5, 2022 [1 favorite]
Hoi Polloi means "the many" or "the rabble" In Greek it's written " οἱ πολλοί " The word oi is an article meaning THE. So when you write "the hoi polloi" you are writing "the the rabble". You don't need to write the word the before hoi polloi!
(I know, I know, I'm an utter pedant, a grammar Nazi, classist, anything you want to call me. I admit it and I admit it's worse to correct how someone else writes or speaks than any error they could make. You should never change the way you speak to accommodate another person's rank prejudice. And because language evolves it probably IS correct to refer to the hoi polloi now and the old form is obsolete. But this is my one, my only one last neurotic prescriptivist language trigger... Forgive me.)
*twitch, twitch
posted by Jane the Brown at 6:59 PM on December 5, 2022 [1 favorite]
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Telegraph?
Click bait?
Nope
posted by lalochezia at 10:31 AM on December 3, 2022 [6 favorites]