There was a time when walking into an airport lounge felt like the moment your holiday really began.
You escaped the crowds of the departure terminal, found a comfortable chair, enjoyed a decent glass of wine and something to eat, and had an hour or two of relative peace before boarding your flight.
It felt special. It felt exclusive. And, importantly, it felt worth paying for.
But after travelling extensively this year and experiencing a number of airport lounges around the world, I've found myself asking a question I never thought I would:
Are airport lounges actually worth the money anymore?
Perhaps one of the problems is that lounges have become victims of their own success.
Access is no longer restricted to Business and First Class passengers. Lounge memberships, premium bank accounts, credit cards and paid entry have made them accessible to a much wider audience. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it has fundamentally changed the experience.
Overcrowding has become a genuine issue. Priority Pass itself acknowledges that lounges can reach capacity at peak times and members may be unable to enter, while travellers have reported lengthy waits for admission.
And therein lies the problem.
If the purpose of an airport lounge is to provide a peaceful escape from a busy airport, but the lounge itself is crowded, noisy and struggling for seating, what exactly are we paying for?
My experiences this year have varied enormously, but too often the reality has been similar: crowded seating areas, queues at the bar, fairly average buffet food and an environment that doesn't necessarily feel any more relaxing than the terminal outside.
Of course, there are still some exceptional lounges in the world, particularly premium airline lounges for Business and First Class passengers. This isn't about declaring every airport lounge dead.
It's about questioning whether the pay-to-enter airport lounge still represents good value.
At Gatwick, for example, some independent lounges currently start at around £38–£40 per adult, while more premium Clubrooms options start from around £44.
For a couple, that can mean spending £80 or more before you've even boarded the aircraft.
Which raises another question.
Airports themselves have changed dramatically.
The old image of an airport meal being an uninspiring sandwich and an overpriced coffee is increasingly outdated. Major international airports now offer restaurants, bars and premium dining experiences that can make sitting down for a proper meal a genuinely enjoyable part of the journey.
At Heathrow Terminal 5, for example, Gordon Ramsay's Plane Food offers everything from breakfast and artisan coffee to sushi and other restaurant-style dishes.
So imagine you are travelling as a couple.
You could spend £80–£100 entering a busy lounge and helping yourself to a buffet and drinks.
Or you could find a great airport restaurant, order exactly what you actually want to eat, enjoy a glass of Champagne or a good bottle of wine, and start your holiday with a proper dining experience.
Increasingly, I know which I would choose.
There are occasions when I still think an airport lounge can be invaluable.
If you have a long connection, need somewhere comfortable to work, are travelling with children, have several hours before a flight or have complimentary access through your ticket or membership, a good lounge can make the airport experience considerably more comfortable.
And there are some genuinely outstanding lounges where the food, service, space and facilities are an experience in themselves.
But I don't think we should automatically assume that booking an airport lounge equals luxury travel anymore.
Luxury is about the quality of an experience, not simply having access to a room with the word lounge above the door.
As someone who has worked in travel for more than 37 years, I've watched the way we travel change enormously.
Maybe this is another of those changes.
Instead of automatically adding lounge access because that's what we've always done, perhaps we should look at the airport itself.
Where are the best restaurants? Is there a Champagne bar? Is there somewhere with runway views? Is there a quieter part of the terminal? And what could we experience for the same amount of money?
Sometimes the lounge will absolutely be the right answer.
Sometimes it won't.
For me, the airport lounge hasn't completely had its day, but the days when I automatically considered it the best way to start a holiday probably have.
And perhaps the new luxury isn't getting away from the airport at all.
Perhaps it's finding the very best experience within it.
What do you think? Are airport lounges still part of the excitement of starting your holiday, or would you rather spend the money on a great meal and a glass of something special before you fly?
