Airlines are cracking down on lounge crowding in a way you won't like

Just as with higher classes of flying, the airport lounge was designed to separate travelers and provide a luxurious experience — instead of trying to eke out a seat by the gate and paying $20 for a bad sandwich, travelers with lounge access can spend the time before their flight sitting in a spacious armchair and picking between the offerings in the buffet and open bar.

Several surveys have shown that many specifically seek out credit cards with high annual fees and make purchases on them in order to meet the requirements for lounge access.

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But while certain ultra-exclusive lounges like the Qantas Chairmans Lounge  (QUBSF) - Get Free Report and the Cathay Diamond Plus  (CPCAF) - Get Free Report are still accessible only by private invitation from the airline that is usually given to celebrities and business executives, the use of lounges one can access by paying or through certain credit cards and classes of travel has been on the rise.

Look at the line for the Delta lounge at JFK!! This is actually worse than it was during the summer! pic.twitter.com/SI9NJAN0rt— Clint Henderson (@ClintPHenderson) September 16, 2022

More travelers are looking for the lounge experience. Can airlines meet it?

A recent Airport Experience Research report found that over 57% of those classified as frequent flyers have accessed a lounge at some point during their life — when the survey was conducted in past years, that number hovered around 40%.

As a result, many of the lounges offered by airlines, credit card companies and airports have been seeing heightened demand that they've been struggling to meet while still maintaining their commitment to providing a luxury experience.

Photos of lounges that look just as crowded as the areas by the gates have also been circulating on several social media platforms during the busy travel period of the summer.

To limit the flow of visitors, lounge providers have taken steps that include everything from limiting time spent inside the lounge and turning people with access down if there are already too many inside to upping the requirements for access.

These airlines are limiting lounge access (find out if you're affected)

As first reported by the Points Guy, Delta  (DAL) - Get Free Report has been looking to change what credit cards and traveler classes can get one access to its Sky Club lounges. While the airline has not yet released details on what any potential changes would look like, the travel website's author speculated that those with the SkyMiles Reserve American Express card  (AXP) - Get Free Report or AmEx Platinum "could be restricted to, say, 10 included lounge visits a year." 

The latter has an annual fee of $695.

At the start of 2023, Alaska Airlines  (ALK) - Get Free Report announced that business class travelers who previously always had free lounge access would only be able to enter if their flight distance was more than 2,100 miles (if not, they can still purchase a discounted day pass for $30) while Air Canada  (ACDVF) - Get Free Report also upped the loyalty program level that gives travelers access to its Maple Leaf Lounges.

All this is done to mitigate high numbers of people accessing lounges through different programs and promotions.

"This year, airport lounges got very crowded, and many business-class travelers or those with airport lounge passes were unable to use lounges due to overcrowding," Andrea Miliani writes for travel website TravelOffPath. "More travelers had access to these peaceful rooms, but now, in a move that is sure to please many business class travelers, airlines are taking measures to make this service more exclusive."