Comments on: First Class Airline Lounges and What Your Employer or Potential Employer Wants http://www.aharrisonbarnes.com/first-class-airline-lounges-and-what-your-employer-or-potential-employer-wants/ Wed, 16 May 2012 13:25:21 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Kathryn http://www.aharrisonbarnes.com/first-class-airline-lounges-and-what-your-employer-or-potential-employer-wants/#comment-14941 Kathryn Mon, 29 Nov 2010 23:02:04 +0000 http://www.aharrisonbarnes.com/?p=2711#comment-14941 I agree with one caveat: some employers don't know what they want. For those employers, one has to give them more than what they want. Let experience be your guide. I agree with one caveat: some employers don’t know what they want. For those employers, one has to give them more than what they want. Let experience be your guide.

]]> By: Kathryn http://www.aharrisonbarnes.com/first-class-airline-lounges-and-what-your-employer-or-potential-employer-wants/#comment-14940 Kathryn Mon, 29 Nov 2010 23:01:00 +0000 http://www.aharrisonbarnes.com/?p=2711#comment-14940 I agree with one caveat: some employers don't know what they want. For those employers, you may need to give them more than what they want. Let experience be your guide. As for giving you what YOU want, the picture I would use for a gravatar cannot yet be uploaded. Stay tuned... I agree with one caveat: some employers don’t know what they want. For those employers, you may need to give them more than what they want. Let experience be your guide.

As for giving you what YOU want, the picture I would use for a gravatar cannot yet be uploaded. Stay tuned…

]]> By: Dilip Amin http://www.aharrisonbarnes.com/first-class-airline-lounges-and-what-your-employer-or-potential-employer-wants/#comment-6291 Dilip Amin Sat, 12 Sep 2009 20:47:43 +0000 http://www.aharrisonbarnes.com/?p=2711#comment-6291 Sir:I suspect the reason why Air India's lounges may be as they are may relate more to the nature of its customers. It is business-prudent to not offer customers amenities that they want but are not willing to pay for. In Air India's case (as I understand), many of its first class passengers are locked in - their tickets paid for by their employer- the Government that also owns Air India. On their own, the same folks fly coach and work in offices in conditions not much different than the lounge you describe..(and the people they "serve" live and work in even worse conditions. (just take a trip through India, avoiding anything with "Taj, Raj, Mahal or Palace" in its name). So, perhaps a good comparison for Air India lounges will be the conditions at, say, Teterboro.. not sure whether it even has a restaurant, let alone a massage center. And surely the flyers there could afford to pay (and have saved the time as compared to the commercial flights... isn't that the oft-used justification for their corporate jets. (May be they they get their pedicures and massages at their offices before the get into the jets) I would love to see the economics of the "first class lounges": whether they pay fair rent to the airports, whether the airline internally accounts for true cost/ benefit of providing all those fancy services to the customer segment using it. When one recognises that a sizable chunk of first class passengers are actually bumped up from business class, (and some getting even business class tickets free out of their miles... as I did in mid 90s while puddle jumping every six weeks in Virgin/ BA, even made into the Concorde once) We may then find, that what is truely happening is that these amenities get subsidized by non-users.. the occasional fliers and sometimes even tax payers... (most airports, like sport stadiums are built on and with government funds).. So, go ahead and compare Virgin first class lounge to the "Gymkhana" of the British Raj... just an example: the Wellington Gymkhana (founded in 1873, exclusively for Europeans use until 1943) with an 18 hole golf course (built on land of the natives who were just too happy to relocate to another reservation). Not too different than the life style of a "Partner" in the firm until recently! Sir:I suspect the reason why Air India’s lounges may be as they are may relate more to the nature of its customers. It is business-prudent to not offer customers amenities that they want but are not willing to pay for.

In Air India’s case (as I understand), many of its first class passengers are locked in – their tickets paid for by their employer- the Government that also owns Air India. On their own, the same folks fly coach and work in offices in conditions not much different than the lounge you describe..(and the people they “serve” live and work in even worse conditions.
(just take a trip through India, avoiding anything with “Taj, Raj, Mahal or Palace” in its name).

So, perhaps a good comparison for Air India lounges will be the conditions at, say, Teterboro.. not sure whether it even has a restaurant, let alone a massage center. And surely the flyers there could afford to pay (and have saved the time as compared to the commercial flights… isn’t that the oft-used justification for their corporate jets. (May be they they get their pedicures and massages at their offices before the get into the jets)

I would love to see the economics of the “first class lounges”: whether they pay fair rent to the airports, whether the airline internally accounts for true cost/ benefit of providing all those fancy services to the customer segment using it. When one recognises that a sizable chunk of first class passengers are actually bumped up from business class, (and some getting even business class tickets free out of their miles… as I did in mid 90s while puddle jumping every six weeks in Virgin/ BA, even made into the Concorde once)

We may then find, that what is truely happening is that these amenities get subsidized by non-users.. the occasional fliers and sometimes even tax payers… (most airports, like sport stadiums are built on and with government funds)..

So, go ahead and compare Virgin first class lounge to the “Gymkhana” of the British Raj… just an example:
the Wellington Gymkhana (founded in 1873, exclusively for Europeans use until 1943) with an 18 hole golf course (built on land of the natives who were just too happy to relocate to another reservation).

Not too different than the life style of a “Partner” in the firm until recently!

]]> By: chenxuenian http://www.aharrisonbarnes.com/first-class-airline-lounges-and-what-your-employer-or-potential-employer-wants/#comment-3369 chenxuenian Thu, 09 Apr 2009 15:33:36 +0000 http://www.aharrisonbarnes.com/?p=2711#comment-3369 I do not have this experience, I think this idea is correct. Thank you, this has given me a lot of inspiration. I think it is a philosophy. I do not have this experience, I think this idea is correct. Thank you, this has given me a lot of inspiration. I think it is a philosophy.

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