Video: The Rise of Airport Lounges
CNBC has published a video titled “Now Boarding - The Rise of Airport Lounges”. They discuss the current state of airport lounges and how airlines and credit card companies are all trying to gain your business.
The video interviews experts in the field from airlines and credit card companies to better understand the growth of these lounges. The popularity of these lounges also talks about overcrowding and the steps that are being made to help with this issue. According to the video, there are over 3,216 lounges worldwide, with the majority of the lounges located in Asia and Europe.
Lounge Breakdown by Continent or Country
- Asia (1,468)
- Europe (683)
- North America (362)
- Africa (219)
- South America (202)
- Central America (101)
- Australia (83)
- Caribbean (50)
- Oceana (23)
- New Zealand (25)
They also discuss how, over the past couple of years, airlines and credit card companies like American, Delta, United, Chase, and Capital One have been investing millions into expanding their airport lounge networks for their customers. According to Chase, lounge access is often the top-cited reason for its credit card signups.
The video is broken up into the following chapters:
- 0:00: Introduction
- 1:10: Declining exclusivity
- 5:20: The rise of luxury lounges
- 8:03: Increasing premiumization
Footage: American Airlines, American Express, Capital One, Delta Air Lines, Emirates, Finnair, J.P. Morgan Chase, and United Airlines.
Closing Thoughts
I think this video did an excellent job of showcasing the overall lounge landscape. It also did a nice job of showing amenities and reasons why travelers are flocking to these locations. Most of the airline lounges have been busy adding seats, and some lounges are testing the use of reservation systems.