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L ounges can be a welcome haven for the traveller at a busy airport. They provide an array of facilities depending on their quality - from comfortable seats to bedroom cabins; drinks and light snacks to full service a-la-carte dining; newspapers / magazines, internet, showers and sometimes spa facilities.

Some of the best lounges are Qantas First in Sydney and Melbourne; Lufthansa's First Class Lounge at Frankfurt; Etihad's First Class lounge at Abu Dhabi; British Airways Lounges and Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse at London Heathrow; and Cathay Pacific's The Wing at Hong Kong. At the lower end of the scale, third party contract lounges tend to be more basic and their quality is variable.

In this article we will look at various lounge access options and tips...

Fly premium - by flying first or business class you should get complimentary one-time access to the airline's lounge or that of an alliance partner. Arrive early to make full use of the lounge facilities.

Know your lounge(s) - when arriving at a lounge you should walk around to discover the facilities on offer. At some larger airports your elite alliance status could give you a choice of multiple lounges to visit. Know which lounges suit your needs - for example one could have better food on offer whilst another could have a nicer ambience or faster Internet

Note, if on occasion you find the lounge to be either (1) dark or windowless, (2) has a poor range of snacks, (3) has a bad coffee machine or (4) is very busy, you may want to leave and use the normal airport facilities!

Arrival lounges - find out if your airline offers arrival lounge access where you can freshen up and take a shower - particularly welcome after a long-haul flight.

Paying for Lounge Access

There are various ways of buying your way into an airport lounge even if you are not flying business or first class. A single visit pass to a third party contract lounge will generally set you back from around £20 or $35. Examples include the reasonable No.1 Traveller lounges at London Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted; the Lounge JFK in New York; Plaza Premium lounges in Asia; many Servisair lounges in UK/Europe.

Some airlines (such as Aer Lingus) are now selling airline lounge access as an optional extra, even to economy passengers.

Airline Clubs are lounge programs run by various airlines, particularly in the US where even elite members need to buy access.

Qantas Club - Offers annual membership which will give you access to Qantas Club lounges in Australia for both domestic and international flights - when flying Qantas, Jetstar or British Airways. You can also access American Airlines Admirals Club lounges (when travelling on AA or QF) and British Airways Terraces lounges (if travel is on BA or QF). Note that access to BA Galleries at London Heathrow T5 has recently been removed for Qantas Club members flying BA.

Qantas Club members can freely invite 1 guest travelling on the same flight into the lounge. Check-in is available at dedicated counters or business class desks. Effectively, benefits are similar to mid-tier elite status.

The standard price to join Qantas Club is a quite hefty AU$710 for 1 year, AU$1,000 for 2 years or AU$1,585 for 4 years - this includes a AU$340 joining fee. Australians have to pay GST on top of this but it is possible to find slightly lower rates by joining through a corporate program.

American Airlines Admirals Club - AA sells day-passes for $50. Memberships costs $99 (30 days), $300-$450 plus a $50 join fee (annual). Members can bring up to 2 guests. Access also granted to Qantas Club lounges, 3 Alaska Airlines Board Room lounges in north-west US, Finnair lounge in Helsinki, Malev lounge in Budapest, Kingfisher lounge in Delhi, JAL Sakura lounge in Frankfurt and Cathay lounges in Shanghai and Beijing.

United Club - Merger of United Airlines Red Carpet Club and Continental Presidents Club programs. One-time pass costs $50 at the door. Annual membership ranges from $375-$475, with spouse $550-$700. 3 year membership ranges from $925-$1,175 or $1,550-$1,950 with spouse. Note a $50 initiation fee. Access is also granted to various international Star Alliance partner lounges.

Delta Sky Club - One-time pass costs $50, annual membership $300-$450 plus a $50 join fee. Access is also granted to Virgin Australia's The Lounge, KLM Crown lounges and various lounges from Air France and Alaska Airlines when flying the respective carriers. Delta Sky Club also has a 30 day membership option for $90. This is actually the only way to buy access to KLM's Crown Lounge in Amsterdam.

Virgin Australia Lounge - This airline has an excellent range of domestic Australian lounges known as "The Lounge" with a good standard of facilities. The Lounge annual membership is available for AU$420 plus joining fee of AU$330. (AU$300 + no join fee for silver Velocity members). Access is granted on the day of travel with the airline. You can invite 1 guest free of charge and 2 children under 12. Lounge locations are at Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Mackay, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. Access given to Air New Zealand Koru lounges when flying trans-Tasman.

Lifetime membership to Virgin's Lounge program is offered for AU$9,750 or AU$6,750 for 60+. Note that one day passes have been phased out.

Priority Pass Program

If you don't have elite status and normally fly economy class then Priority Pass is probably the best way to go about getting regular lounge access. Priority Pass has a contract agreement with over 600 lounges worldwide in 300 cities to provide access to its members. There are three tiers of Priority Pass membership:

Standard Membership costs $99 annually (or £69 UK or €99 in EU). Each visit costs $27 (£15 or €24) and any guests are charged additionally at the same rate.

Standard Plus Membership will set you back $249 (£159, €249) and this will give you 10 free visits. Any more visits are charged at the normal $27 rate, as are all guest visits.

Prestige Membership costs $399 (£259, €399) and this will give you unlimited 'free' access. Guests are charged at the standard visit rate.

With exchange rates volatile the current EU fee is expensive compared to the UK and US fee. Some 'high-end' credit cards include Prestige membership as standard, such as the American Express Platinum in the UK.

Priority Pass Prestige membership can be excellent value if you fly on a regular basis as there are no restrictions in terms of which airlines you fly or class of ticket you buy. All you need to do is show your membership card and the lounge staff will let you in - if there are any fees due you will be sent the bill at a later date. They also make a good back-up program for those with alliance elite status.

A couple of notes of caution however - the quality of the lounges varies across the network. Most are independent contract lounges, although there are some better airline lounges; You must be departing from the same terminal where the lounge is located (unless it is accessible 'landside'). Some of the larger airports with multiple terminals do not have Priority Pass lounges at every terminal. (for example, T5 at London Heathrow has no lounge for members; there is sparse coverage in Australia.)

You need to decide whether Priority Pass available lounges match up with your travel patterns or whether an airline club membership makes more sense. A similar program is available from Airport Angel.

High-end Credit Cards for Lounge Access

American Express Platinum card in the US provides access to participating American, Delta and US Airways club lounges as long as you are flying on the respective carrier. You may also bring in 2 guests. Annual fee is $450.

American Express Platinum in the UK (annual fee £300) gives a complimentary Priority Pass Prestige membership to the main and supplementary cardholders. You also get free lounge access with Continental, bmi (and Eurostar trains) if travelling any class on each respective carrier.

Qantas American Express Premium Card (Australia) comes with 2 Qantas Club (single-entry) invitations per year after first spend on Qantas products. Annual fee is AU $249.

Natwest (RBS) Black card (UK, £250 annual fee) also comes with complimentary Priority Pass Prestige membership.

Diner's Club International card holders get free access to 130 airport lounges worldwide.

Other Lounge Programs

Join Wexas (UK residents) - Wexas is a London based travel club which has some 40,000 members and costs from £85 per year. Members get free lounge access at UK airports (except LHR T5) when booking a flight+hotel package through the club; they also get a Standard Priority Pass card.

Air France-KLM Flying Blue Petroleum Club - If you work in the oil and gas industry and are flying with Air France-KLM on a designated oil route (quite a number of destinations available) then membership of their Petroleum Club is free. At Amsterdam and Paris CDG this gets you lounge access and depending on stopover length, free meal vouchers and use of a day room at a CDG hotel, subject to availability.

ABN Amro Lounge Amsterdam - Of possible interest to Dutch-based flyers: ABN Amro 'Preferred' Banking customers (minimum income or investment required) have free access to ABN's small lounge at Amsterdam Schiphol - they may bring a guest at no charge. This lounge is located upstairs on Holland Boulevard near the Rijksmuseum exhibition.

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