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Airplane tickets are getting cheaper, but it surely’s getting costlier to bring your loved ones to an airport lounge.
Capital One is the most recent company to limit access to booming airport lounges to combat overcrowding.
Starting Feb. 1, Enterprise X and Enterprise X Business cardholders will now not give you the chance to robotically take a guest into lounges or bring authorized second card users.
They’ll as a substitute must pay $125 annually for every additional cardholder to maintain their lounge access, $45 per adult guest per visit and $25 per guest 17 or younger. The $125 fee also includes second cardholder access to a network of Priority Pass lounges.
“As airport lounges proceed to grow in popularity across the industry, we have seen our customers increasingly encounter wait times to enter them,” Capital One said in an announcement. “It is vital to us that we maintain an awesome airport lounge experience for our Enterprise X and Enterprise X Business customers, while continuing to deliver best-in-class premium travel cards at an accessible price point.”
Primary cardholders could have to spend no less than $75,000 per calendar 12 months to bring as much as two complimentary free guests to Capital One lounges and one guest to Capital One Landings, smaller lounges built for travelers who are inclined to spend less time on the airport, like those heading to short flights.
The $75,000 spending requirement for complimentary guests matches what American Express announced two years ago, also a measure to reduce crowding and keeping the clubs feeling exclusive.
Bank card corporations have ramped up their airport lounge networks lately, opening recent locations to handle demand. And airport lounge access has been a central perk attached to rewards cards, which generally include an annual fee.
The Enterprise X card, which launched in 2021, is $395 a 12 months, lower than the $695 a 12 months American Express charges for its Platinum card or the $550 JPMorgan Chase charges for the Chase Sapphire Reserve, each of which include airport lounges.
“In terms of lounges, Capital One is a challenger brand; they’re an underdog,” said Henry Harteveldt, founding father of Atmosphere Research Group.
Capital One has lounges at Denver International Airport, Dallas-Fort Price International Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport and Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas. It plans to open one this 12 months at Recent York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and one among its Landings at LaGuardia Airport.
But the brand new restrictions show Capital One is not resistant to its popularity resulting in big crowds.
“Like Amex, like Chase, these lounges have develop into victims of their very own success,” Harteveldt said. “No lounge operator wants them to be as overrun as the general public areas of the airport.”
Airlines have also raised prices to access airport lounges and built larger ones to accommodate the influx.
Delta Air Lines, for instance, has made sweeping changes to its lounge access policies, like eliminating unlimited visits in favor of annual caps.
And last summer, Delta unveiled its first Delta One lounge, dedicated for purchasers in its highest class of cabin. It plans to open a brand new one in Seattle later this month.
American Airlines and United Airlines have also expanded their airport lounges and opened recent top-tier ones for purchasers traveling in premium classes on long-haul flights.
