Significant changes have been occurring recently at The Club ATL lounge, which is located at Concourse F at the international airport which serves the greater Atlanta metropolitan area — but you should know about one more change that could affect you that will become effective as of Friday, May 1, 2026.
One More Change at The Club ATL Lounge About Which You Should Know…
I noticed a small sign on the counter as I was checking in as a guest of The Club ATL lounge recently, which had the following words printed on it:
WE’RE UPDATING LOUNGE ACCESS FOR PRIORITY PASS & LOUNGE KEY MEMBERS.
Starting May 1, 2026, entry is available up to 2.5 hours before flight departure.
This means that if you have a flight that is scheduled to depart at 3:00 in the afternoon from Concourse T, entry into the lounge will only be available to you at 12:30 in the afternoon at the earliest…
…but airplanes are usually boarded between 30 minutes and 45 minutes before departure — plus after leaving The Club ATL lounge, you need to descend at least two sets of escalators and then take the train from Concourse F to Concourse T. When figuring at least…
- Nine minutes for the ride on the train itself
- Another minute or two to wait for the train
- An additional five minutes to get from The Club ATL lounge to the train
- Plus as much as 45 minutes to board the airplane prior to departure
…the latest you can leave The Club ATL lounge is one hour — and that does not include the walk and escalator to get from the train to the gate at T Concourse.
This means that you can only spend a maximum of 1.5 hours at The Club ATL lounge with regard to the aforementioned scenario.
Perhaps the recent opening of The Club ATL Pantry helped to facilitate this new policy restriction, as it is designed to be more of a “grab-and-go” concept than — well — lounging around in an airport lounge.
Final Boarding Call
I found the recent changes to the lounge to be a pleasant surprise and quite exciting; and more changes are expected to come — including but not limited to…
- The bathrooms will be overhauled — they have been in dire need of being overhauled for a long time
- Showers will be installed in the bathrooms
- A person will be dedicated to serving food at the counter during certain hours
- Additional upgraded choices will be available for the food
…but the policy of shortened hours — which is likely being implemented due to overcrowding in an attempt to be fair to as many people as possible — is somewhat disappointing.
I personally believe that entry to an airport lounge should be available prior to boarding time and not prior to the time of departure of a flight, which would give passengers a clearer perspective on how much time they actually have to enjoy an airport lounge.
The network of 26 airport lounges that operate under The Club — most of the locations are in the United States — are part of the network of Priority Pass lounges.
Atlanta should have a second lounge that is accessible with Priority Pass, in my opinion. Having a flight depart from Concourse T is not very convenient with the only lounge that is accessible with Priority Pass located all the way at the other end of the airport in Concourse F…
All photographs ©2025 and ©2026 by Brian Cohen.
