Remember a long time ago I wrote about the Air France lounge in Paris.
In that post, I talked about the brief I got from Richard Branson for his Virgin Atlantic lounge at Heathrow.
Well recently I was in LA and went into the United lounge and this is what I saw.
Now I appreciate this may come across as a massive ‘first world problem’ and it is … but it’s also a massive brand problem for United, because if this is how they treat their business class passengers, god knows how you must feel if you’re in coach.
Seriously, how hard is it to put a bit of effort into your lounge.
Now they will claim they’re in a temporary location because they’re building something new and special … but that’s not really an excuse. Surely they could have sorted out a viable alternative while work was going on.
Is it so hard to arrange the room to look like it has had some care put into it. Offer some food that looks like you actually give a damn about the passengers who are going to eat it.
But here’s the bigger thing.
If your normal standards are going to be inhibited due to building work, then I’d imagine the sensible thing to do would be to over-deliver in terms of food and service so that your customers still feel valued, despite being in a smaller room with less natural facilities.
But not United … oh no … for them, they see this as a cost saving exercise, which is why they’re about as friendly as sitting next to Donald Trump on Air Force One.