When flying through an unfamiliar airport, it can be surprisingly difficult to know which lounges are available. Even more difficult is figuring out which lounges you can get into due to flying business/first class; or due to the credit cards you hold; or due to your elite status. I used to use an app called LoungeBuddy to help with this, but Amex bought LoungeBuddy and eventually killed it off. Fortunately, the free app LoungeReview does all of the same things — at least, all of the things that matter to me. Despite its name, the app is not yet well populated with lounge reviews, but in my experience it does all of the other things well.
Home Screen
One of my favorite LoungeReview features is that the home screen automatically shows you the closest major airports. This makes it super easy to look up lounge information when at an airport. In contrast, I always found LoungeBuddy a bit cumbersome in that it wanted me to enter my flight details first.
Browsing Lounges
You don’t have to create a LoungeReview account to use it effectively. You can start browsing lounges within an airport immediately after selecting an airport. If you do create an account, though, you can input stuff like which premium cards you have and what elite statuses you have so that LoungeReview can tell you which lounges will give you complimentary access. You can even import flights from TripIt so that LoungeReview can tell you which lounges you qualify for thanks to the airline and class of service you’re flying.
Airport Map
LoungeReview includes airport maps that show where the lounges are. Of course, when viewing a lounge, LoungeReview also tells you exactly where it is. For example, when viewing the AA Flagship Lounge in Chicago, it says this right under the lounge title:
Chicago, IL – O’Hare (ORD)
Terminal 3, between gates H6-K6
Easy.
Lounge Access Rules
When viewing a lounge, simply click “Access” to view the access rules. If you can get in with your elite status or premium credit card, the app will say so.
Conclusion
I find that I actually like using LoungeReview better than LoungeBuddy (which is no longer an option anyway). Over time, hopefully more people will write reviews so that the app’s name will make more sense, but for now it’s a great tool for finding lounges and learning about their entry requirements.
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