Dilemma: Family Of Four, But You Only Have Lounge Access For Two…

After a short night at the Hyatt Place CDG, we arrived at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport for our flight to Los Angeles. That presented a lounge dilemma for my family of four.

Lounge Dilemma: Split Up Family Or Skip Lounge?

I have SkyTeam Elite Plus status, which entitles me to lounge access for myself and one guest when I fly on a SkyTeam international flight, regardless of the cabin.

We were traveling in economy class to LAX, meaning we would not have lounge access on the basis of our class of service. Furthermore, the Priority Pass lounge situation in Paris is rather dismal, with the overcrowded YOTELAIR Lounge being the only choice.

I suppose we could have all gone to the gate and sat. But I certainly wanted to use the sauna ahead of an 11-hour journey and while I would have gladly let my wife use the lounge in my place, I could not…

So my kids played “rock, paper, scissors, shoot” (as they call it…no idea why they add the shoot) and my son won…it was off to the lounge with him after buying coffee for my wife.

We didn’t have long, but did use the sauna for 20 minutes. Augustine and I are becoming regulars in the sauna here!

Augustine also had a little (more) breakfast before it was time to board the flight.

I have to admit, though, that it feels funny to ditch my wife and daughter to use the lounge…even with her genuine blessing.

But is the alternative even worse? Should all four suffer in a sterile and crowded gate area when two can use the lounge? I’m in the camp that says you should use the lounge. Thankfully, my relationship is not so weak as to stir up anger or resentment for doing so. Even so, I prefer the more family-friendly policy in Copenhagen at the SAS Gold Lounge that allows the entire immediate family in…