Our family is due to fly MAN to JFK around Easter; we have 2 unused LoungeClub passes from the Amex gold card, so would like to try and use them, even though we will have to pay for the kids. I thought I would seek opinions on which lounges people have preferred. We have MAN terminal 2, with Aspire or Escape on the outbound leg, or JFK terminal 4 on the inbound leg, which shows the Wingtips Lounge. Loungeclub also list the Air India lounge but being inexperienced in all this, I don't know if that only applies to people with an Air India ticket. Thanks in advance.
If it's listed on Lounge Club it should be fine, as long as there isn't any small print about the lounge only being accessible at certain times of day. I don't know about the JFK lounges, but Aspire and Escape are both 'fine'. Nothing special, but if you just fancy a snack and a few drinks they do the job. Assuming the cost for the kids is similar, I think I'd probably decide based on the time of day you're flying. Personally, I'm not usually bothered about breakfast so wouldn't really get much 'value' from going to a lounge in the morning. Whereas having a drink and snack in the evening without paying airport prices can be a decent saving. On the other hand, if it's a bit of a treat, I suppose it might be nice to start the holiday with the lounge?
When you put it like that it's an easy decision, given that I have made the rookie mistake of an evening flight back from JFK.
Argh, yeah 'challenging' flights those ones. There's no good way to do them really, because even in Biz or First they are simply too short to get more than 2-3 hours sleep. My best advice is just to enjoy the flight as best you can (eat, drink, watch a film) and accept you'll be knackered and functioning on pretty much no sleep when you land. A lot of frequent flyers recommend the exact opposite (and if you had to go straight to work they might be right), but the difference between a 1 hour nap and a 3 hour 'sleep' doesn't seem to do much for me. Either way, I'm going to be pretty useless the next day anyway.
