United Airlines Review

Last year I took a few trips here and there, kicking off with a flight out to California to visit my cousin in Eagle Rock (a suburb of L.A.).  I hadn't seen Melody in more than 50 years! Because I hadn't traveled in a long time and since this was a special occasion, I decided to kick over the traces and fly first class but what I really splurged on was membership in the Red Carpet Club.  It was expensive but definitely worth the money for someone like me, who isn't afraid to fly but who DOES distrust having to spend hours waiting in a busy, crowded airport.  For each flight -- to California and the one back -- I ended up getting to the airport four hours early and so I really appreciated the Red Carpet Club.

For those of you who may not have heard of this, membership in the Red Carpet Club entitles a tired traveler to wait in a special lounge set aside from the rest of the airport.  You have to show your membership card at the front desk to get in.  This may sound elitist and it is but nobody treated me like a queen -- the Red Carpet Lounge was nice but not glamorous, the snacks were so-so, and we had to pay for whatever drinks we got from the cash bar.  What the Red Carpet Club offers, however, is something even a queen would envy -- a chance to sit in a nice quiet place, unbothered by anyone trying to get something out of my tote bag (or worse yet putting something strange INTO it).  Nobody asked me for money, or tried to convert me and save my soul, or offered to sell me something wierd, or wanted to convince me that I had been his wife in a past life on another planet.  In short, I was able to spend a total of eight hours (four here in Chicago at O'Hare and also four at LAX) in public places but surrounded by total strangers who didn't come up and start doing something totally strange. 

More than 45 years of commuting and traveling have taught me to appreciate a nice normal situation, which is what the Red Carpet Club lounges at various airports provide.  I was able to just sit there reading something or quietly phoning someone on my cell phone, surrounded by mostly business people who were working on laptops.  There were quiet rooms off to the side where whole families were relaxing and watching television. It was nothing fancy, just a quiet place where I felt secure enough to even doze off now and then as I waited for my flight.

United has recently contacted me, asking me if I want to renew my Red Carpet membership for $500 for another year.  Alas, for an infrequent traveler like me, this may be just too expensive.  I understand why it is so expensive to belong to this special club -- because a safe, sheltered oasis in the middle of a busy airport IS an elitist amenity and United Airlines wants to weed out those individuals who might compromise the peace and security of other people using these special lounges.  I understand and accept that those who invest in Red Carpet membership would rather the rest of us had to sit somewhere else.  It may be, though, that United Airlines should rethink this issue.

This is 2008 after all and economic reality is snapping at our asses ... especially for those people who work in the airline industry.  A lot of people are going to have to cut back on travel luxuries and many businesses who reimburse their employees' travel expenses may start to cut back to dire necessities.  It could be that United Airlines will survive but that the Red Carpet Clubs may be hit hard by a possible recession.  I think it would behoove United Airlines to stop limiting Red Club memberships to expensive annual subscriptions and start offering them as an extra amenity that an ordinary person planning a trip could pay for.  Having to pay maybe $25 extra for a chance to wait in the Red Carpet lounge as part of a reservation package would probably weed out those who are potentially problematic without making this prohibitively expensive for the rest of us, in addition to generating more income for United. 

I would be willing to spend a little extra money for something like that if I take another major vacation.  The concept of a Red Carpet lounge IS elitist but I must admit that I felt more secure there.  That's the fact, Jack!