Short read: India’s new class war is on display in airport lounges

A lifetime of dragging our bags around India’s airports has made us professional experts on using airline lounges. In the last couple of years however we have noticed that the lounges in India’s airports are among the busiest in the world with a long queue to enter the lounge being par for the course. Often the lounges are more crowded than the fast food restaurants at the airport. So what happened? Why did India fall in love with airport lounges? Stela Dey’s fascinating article delves deep into this fascinating topic. She says that airport lounges are now the new battlefield in India’s endless class wars:

“This is where India’s great airport clash of the classes now happens: the consultant with an American Express Platinum card, the young professional using a complimentary quarterly visit from a salary-account credit card, the family trying lounge access for the first time after watching an Instagram Reel promising “free airport food”.

The airport lounge is the newest stage on which status is performed.

Preeti sees that performance unfold every day, one card swipe at a time. Demanding explanations, people ask her why their card was accepted last month but rejected today. They want answers she doesn’t have.”

So why this mad rush to fight our class wars in the airport lounge rather than, say, at the local shopping mall? Part of the answer lies with India’s banks and fintech firms:

“Airport lounges were once the preserve of business-class passengers, frequent flyers and corporate travellers whose jobs kept them permanently in transit. Today, access comes bundled with an expanding universe of credit cards offered by banks, fintech companies and payment networks. A swipe can unlock buffet meals, air-conditioned comfort and a brief reprieve from some of the country’s most expensive food courts…

As India’s consumer economy expanded, banks discovered that few benefits generated as much excitement as airport lounges. A lounge visit costs banks money, but it also makes customers feel they have entered a different category of consumer. Soon, access was being bundled into premium cards, then mid-tier cards, then entry-level cards. What was once a luxury perk became a customer acquisition strategy.”

Another part of the reason is that with air travel now a routine affair for the Indian middle class, the lounge is one of the few places in the airport where influencers say you can sit comfortably at the airport. And woe betide the middle class consumer who disobeys what the influencers say:

“The growth of social media has only accelerated the phenomenon. Airport lounges feature prominently in travel influencers’ videos, “airport hacks” Reels and card-review channels that teach viewers how to maximise benefits. Entire online communities now exist to discuss lounge eligibility, spending thresholds and the best cards for travel rewards.

Luxury, once hidden behind membership desks and invitation lists, now comes with tutorials.

Bhattacharya admits she understands the appeal. The lounges themselves have become part of her travel routine.

They are where she catches her breath between flights, charges her devices, answers emails and occasionally meets strangers.

“Once it was so crowded at Delhi airport that I had to share a table with another woman,” she said. “She wasn’t happy initially when I asked if I could sit there. But then we got talking and spent almost an hour discussing our lives. I even took her number.””

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