Airport lounges can be a great way to pass the time before a flight or between flights; and joining Priority Pass as a member is one of many ways to access greater than 1,600 airport lounges worldwide — but what does this Priority Pass airport lounge rule mean?
What Does This Priority Pass Airport Lounge Rule Mean?
The rule in question which applies to most airport lounges in the Priority Pass network is “Maximum 3 hour stay”. I had a recent layover between flights from Glasgow to Chicago that was several hours in length — so I arrived at a participating airport lounge in Dublin after I left the airplane from the first flight, wanting to relax and have a beverage.
I gave the person behind the desk my Priority Pass membership card and boarding pass. “I’m sorry, sir — but we can only accept guests a maximum of three hours prior to the departure of the flight.”
Three hours prior to the departure of the flight would include the process of boarding the airplane, which could easily consume 30 minutes — not including the walk to the gate from the lounge, which in this case would have added another 15 minutes — so does that mean that I only get to enjoy a stay of two hours and 15 minutes in the lounge at the most?
My interpretation of that rule is that I can stay in the lounge for up to three hours. Can it not be the three hours of my choosing? Perhaps I wanted to relax in the lounge for the first three hours of my layover and then spend the rest of the time at the gate prior to departure — or maybe patronize a shop or a restaurant.
Enforcing the three hour rule is easiest when entry is within three hours of the departure time of the flight. It would be more difficult to enforce the rule by attempting to evict someone from the lounge and say “Sorry, sir — your time is up” than if the guest had mandatory motivation to leave the lounge on his or her own.
Final Boarding Call
Perhaps the rule is in place because airport lounges do get overcrowded rather easily these days; and it gives as many people as possible a chance to enjoy the airport lounge and relax…
…but should the verbiage of the rule be modified to reflect that admittance into the lounge is not permitted until a maximum of three hours prior to the time of departure — or should guests be allowed to choose which three hours they would prefer to patronize the lounge?
What are your thoughts?
All photographs ©2024 by Brian Cohen.
