Plasbub

For someone who travels 10 days/month on business is the Admirals club worth the points or $400 over the course of a year?

tom911

If you're traveling that much on AA, you might be entitled to a lower rate based on your elite status. I'd make the decision based on how much time you're actually going to spend in the lounges, and if they actually exist at the airports you fly/connect through.

You might get a better response on the AA board.

richard

since TravelBuzz! is not airline-specific, let's direct this to our fabulous AA forum.

--richard, moderator

Blumie

"Are you worth it" questions are difficult to answer, since we each value money and points differently, but I absolutely think it's worth it for someone who is on the road 10 days a month, assuming most of your travel is on AA. If you travel on DL, NW or CO a lot, you may be better off shelling out the $400/yr for an AMEX Platinum card, which allows you access to their clubs when traveling those airlines.

thagale

The quiet, the comfy chairs and the bar are nice. The ticket agents are AAngels! The few times I've needed them, they've more than recouped the cost of the membership.

ijgordon

I would tend to completely agree. But if you're one of those "runners" who doesn't get to the airport until 30 minutes max before your flight, then of course the AC membership is NOT worth it.

BTW, I just got an offer in the mail (as a "valued traveler" or something) for a free 1 day pass to the AC and $50 off membership if I purchased on the day I used the pass. Tempting, but as most of my historical travel has been on CO, I already shell out the $400 for Amex Platinum, but thanks to a RTW that netted me 80K EQPs, I have a lot of difficult decisions to make...

JDiver

It might also depend on how else you use the AC.

I use it for business sessions on occasion - using the business centers, renting a conference room, etc. and I find it most convenient - even on occasions when I am not flying that day. On leisure travel, I have access on domestic, not merely international, flight days, including some respite from the usual hubbub of the airport, showers, etc.

So, it's certainly worth it to me, but I have no idea if it would be worth it to you. Get a one day $50 pass (availabel at all ACs you can pass through that day, not merely one,) try it out. If it isn't worth it, you've spent $50 to educate yourself - if it is, you can ask for the $50 to be applied to your first year's membership.

jaguar99

Depending on how you value FF miles, exchanging miles for membership is another way to evaluate membership cost.

FirstClsTrvlr

Now that the Agents in the AC's can do ticketing, they can help you in a jam. I think someone said it previously, all it takes is one solved problem for the AC to earn their fee. The ladies in DEN are fantastic. They will know I'm traveling and fix problems even before I know they've arisen.

EdV

While it's been said here before, to each person the value of the AC will vary. I fly 2-3 RTs / month and I do not find it valuable enough to me. I often get into my home airport (BOS) too close to departure time :-: I don't travel with my laptop normally (believe it or not I check it ) so no internet for me :-: - and this is with the reduced PLT level price.

Also, the booze is not free , I have yet to need assistance from a gate agent that I couldn't handle myself (or travel agent) and I have no use for the business center. I have been twice on two separate one day passes I obtained via promotional targetting. One was good for $100 the price that day and it still wasn't worth it to me. I was a DL CRC member and that was worth it to me as there was free booze (about the only useful feature for me)

Hope this helps.

rbAA

You only needed to look at DFW on 7/7 to see the value of the AC. What a mess. Instead of standing room only at the gates, my flight was delayed for 12 hours before they boarded us at midnite then cnacelled when the Captain went illegal at 1AM, I was near the AC and simply came out to check on the progress and went back in when they delayed again. They broke out the cots about that time, as most of the delays were weather, though ours started as weather then moved into a whole different category.

And, don't need a T-Mobile sub as you can usually get on one of the computers. I seldom drink so the free coke/water/snacks beat spending $2 for one at a bar/machine/etc.

I purchased AC membership in March on the $100 off deal, so $200 for EXP, and have gotten my money's worth, even though I could get access on most of my flights this year as they were international J. Still, definitely has come in handy of the few transcons.

Robert Leach

As one with extensive experience with both, I must say that I find the AAdmirals Clubs far superior to the Crown Rooms. The rooms are nicer, they're less crowded, the booze is better (because they're not giving it away), the service more attentive, and the agents actually try and establish a personal relationship with you, particularly from your home base. I actually have the direct line number to the AAdmirals Club manager, as well as the front desk, at the ATL AAdmirals Club, and it has come in very handy on more than once occasion. I never established any relationship like this with Delta.

Another AAdvantage to the Admirals Club is that you are welcome to use it even if you are not flying on AA that day. Delta is not so generous. But, of course, the booze is free.

The bottom line IMHO is that I am afraid that the Crown Room has ceased to be a "club" in either feel or substance.

My advice is to go for the AAdmirals Club membership (but keep the Amex Plat card for use with DL when you need it).

andrzej

Did they let you stay overnight? If that's the case, kudos to the AC folks ^

OldAztec

I'm a seven year AC member and I say yes!
Here is why-
Weather weather weather...
When this go wrong the club is everything!
plus the bar tenders are the best...
The clubs are like Cheers.. everybody knowns my name..
Mac Andrea Sandra in DFW
Emillo and Lamont in ORD
Jane in SJC
Tiffany in LAX
They make my travel way better

nhy

I agonized over whether to spend the $250 (with $100 off, as a PLT) back in February and finally went for it. I had already decided it had paid for itself as a quiet place to make phone calls during connections and a place to relax and read the newspaper. But on 6/30 and 7/1, when I was stuck at DFW after a misconnect Thursday night, it made all the difference in making the delay (I arrived 22 hours later than originally planned) bearable. And that was not due to any particular magic worked by the AC staff (though one agent did manage to get me into F, for which I will be forever grateful) but more because of the human interaction.

(And by the way, I fly about 2 trips a month on AA connecting through DFW or ORD, and have just crossed 50K miles for this year, as a measure of how much I fly AA.)

-nhy