Airport food is expensive, but is buying a lounge pass actually a better deal?
Once, several years ago in Seattle, I was in line at the airport McDonald’s (this was before they went to self-service ordering screens). The woman in front of me had ordered several items from memory, but when they gave her the total, her jaw dropped. But, she sputtered, those were all items from the dollar menu. The workers explained the airport locations are priced differently, and the dollar menu didn’t exist.
Dejected, she turned on her heel and wandered off, saying a McDonald’s meal wasn’t worth the price they were asking, and I thought to myself she was about to be disappointed by the pricing everywhere else in the terminal.
As long as there have been airports, there have been restaurants in (or immediately next door to) them. In aviation’s earliest days, they were a necessity, offering refreshment to passengers and crews when aircraft cabins were tiny, stops were frequent, and meals rarely served aloft. Even after meals became standard onboard, airport restaurants were often the catering source for the airlines, and for arriving or departing passengers who preferred to dine on terra firma.
At airports nowadays, the price of in-terminal eateries can be eye-popping, particularly if the airport doesn’t enforce a pricing covenant that keeps the cost of terminal comestibles somewhat in line with pricing outside the airport. Aside from taking up valuable carry-on space toting your own snacks from home, what are the best ways to save on dining in the airport? Specifically, does it make more sense to dine in the terminal, or is it more cost-effective to purchase a day pass to one of the airline lounges and hit up the buffet?
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What to Know About Lounge Passes
When comparing the value of a lounge pass to dining in the terminal, it’s helpful to know the cost. For the Alaska Lounge, they’re $65; for the American Airlines Admirals Club, they’re $79; United Club passes cost $59. Delta does not sell passes to their famously crowded SkyClub lounges; American Express lounges are similarly for cardholders only. Capital One sells day passes to the general public, usually for around $90, while some Capital One cardholders whose cards do not include lounge access receive a discounted rate of $45.
Lounge passes can be difficult to use, and it’s our recommendation not to buy them in advance. Some airlines sell the passes in their apps, but the lounges are often so full that they do not accept the day passes.
There may be other lounges available at various airports that are affiliated with neither airlines nor credit cards, such as The Club, which may offer day passes at varying rates, and these can be booked in advance to ensure availability.
It’s also important to explain what “the buffet” constitutes in a lounge. While the marketing copy for these lounges often tends to make out that they’re backed by a celebrity chef and offer some semblance of luxury, they really ought to be regarded as institutional food service. The food quality varies, but is rarely much better than what one might find in a three-star hotel.
They’re also opaque. Lounges rarely post menus in advance, so it’s hard to value admission until you’ve already paid the fee (they generally don’t let you go browse the buffet before you decide to buy the day pass). Lounge passes also largely limit visitors to three hours or less, so there’s not unlimited time to take advantage of the buffet or the bar.
Terminal Dining Options
Airport dining options can be inflated, but it tends to vary widely, depending on the airport and the type of outlet.
Some airports also have contract provisions that give priority to local vendors over large national chains like McDonald’s and Starbucks, and some airports also have street pricing programs, which direct terminal food vendors to tap the brakes. At San Francisco International Airport (SFO), vendors can’t charge more than 11% higher than they would in the city. Here you can get a bánh mì from beloved local vendor Bun Mee for around $14, or a bowl of chicken pho will set you back $18.50. A sandwich, side of egg rolls, and a Vietnamese coffee come to $33.55 with tax—far less than the cost of entry into any of the lounges.
The lounges aren’t the greatest value for drinkers, either. Many of them include well drinks, basic beers, and wines at the bar, but the premium items come at a cost similar to what you might expect to pay in the terminal. At SFO, you’d have to order a fourth ($17) mai tai at Bourbon Pub to put yourself past the $59 day pass fee at the United Club.
Lounge dining also puts you at the mercy of the available choices. Even frequent travelers who patronize the lounges several times per month (with an annual membership that gets cheaper on a per-visit basis each time they use it) know it can be a bit of a roulette for whether say, the United Club at Denver International Airport will have the habit-forming green chile macaroni and cheese out on their buffet, or if they should hit up Elway’s for a $67 New York Strip steak, knowing it’s only $2 more than what they charge at their location in Vail. (Denver International, by the way, caps vendor markups to 15% higher than “city” locations.)
To be clear, the lounge is almost never a better value than dining in the terminal—especially considering the substantial increase in choice outside the lounge vs. that within.
Thinking Outside the Terminal
Some airports happen to have nice restaurants within walking distance from the terminals. Whenever I have more than three hours at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, I walk across the street to 13 Coins Restaurant. At LAX, you can step outside the terminals and walk 20 minutes to the In-N-Out on Sepulveda or take the airport shuttles to the Hyatt Regency or Westin LAX, both of which have serviceable restaurants. At Chicago O’Hare, try the funky Gaslight Club at the Hilton.
If you’re planning on dining before boarding a flight, you needn’t necessarily dine in the airport. It can be as advantageous to find a favorite spot near the airport, and dine or pick up take-out before arriving at the terminal (the way the other half of a 13 Coins club sandwich hits when you’re halfway across the Pacific is *chefs kiss*).
The Takeaway on Airport Dining
Honestly, my own strategy when it comes to airport dining is one of impulse, rather than one of thrift. I think one of the best forms of self-care when traveling is to eat exactly what you want when you decide you want it—and that isn’t always something I find in an airport lounge. Now, there are notable exceptions, like the poke bar at Hawaiian Airlines Plumeria Lounge in Honolulu, or the macaroni-potato salad at that same airport’s United Club.
When I talk with friends about airport dining, few of them ever talk about the cravings for lounge food—even when they have lounge access. A friend of mine recently told me about a mad dash to Concourse A in Atlanta to pick up a sandwich from Boar’s Head, rather than being limited to the food in the lounge they already had access to. Myself, I’ll still hit up Starbucks for that familiar cheese Danish—even at a markup—if that’s the form I want to take my comfort in on that particular day.
I think there’s a lot of value in following your nose when you travel, sating yourself with whatever gets your attention in the moment—and if it costs more than what you’re accustomed to paying, well, just consider it a sacrifice to the Travel Gods.