You won’t find me testing “airport theory” on any upcoming flights — given how long security lines are, I get to the airport on “dad time” instead. That leaves me plenty of time to try out new lounges. Free food and drinks, places to plug in and send a few final work emails … the airport lounge is my happy place.
Among the ones I’m most excited about are outposts from two airlines whose salt-of-the-earth ethos would have made it unthinkable, even just a couple of years ago, that they’d open their own hoity-toity lounges. And yet here we are.
Earlier this month, Southwest confirmed it would be opening its first-ever airport lounges in Austin, Baltimore, Honolulu and Nashville late next year. It’s all part of the airline’s identity-changing reboot.
For its part, erstwhile airline-of-the-people JetBlue is taking another step toward becoming a premium carrier with the debut of not one, but two, airport lounges of its own, dubbed BlueHouse. The first opened at New York John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in December 2025, and the second at Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) began welcoming guests in August. Both have eye-catching decor reminiscent of the airline’s colorful tailfins and fun hallmarks like locally inspired cocktails.
There’s also a new Iberia lounge in Madrid and newly renovated Korean Air lounges in Seoul (not to mention the new KAL one at LAX). So … I guess I’ll be spending more time at airports in the near future!
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Photo Credit: DAVID SLOTNICK/THE POINTS GUY.
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