I Got Stuck at an Airport, and Buying a Lounge Pass Was Totally Worth It. Here's Why

Picture this: You're ready to go home from an amazing vacation, and you need to be at the airport by 5:30 a.m. to check your bags, get through security, and wait for what you think is a morning flight. Only, when you pull up the airline's mobile app to access your reservation, you see that your flights have been changed -- and you now have 10 hours to kill in the airport.

This happened to me a few weeks ago, and since I work here at The Ascent, I knew what to do -- ask the check-in clerk if there was an airport lounge handy. There was, so my travel companion and I headed there to buy day passes. Here's how it went -- and why the money I spent was worth it.

Ah, that's better

Once I got over the shock and vague dismay of learning that I was missing out on sleeping in and one last beach walk, I was glad to pay for day passes and settle into the lounge. My travel companion and I found comfortable seating, robust wifi, electrical outlets aplenty, and nicer restrooms than out in the main airport terminal.

And the food was really a big draw -- our day passes got us access to everything available, including generous buffet offerings for breakfast and lunch, as well as various snacks available all day. Coffee, water, tea, juice, and other beverages were on tap. Plus, the lounge had a full bar, and simpler drinks were included -- a gin and tonic tastes even better when it's one you didn't have to pay for separately.

Was it worth the price of admission?

I paid $59 each for my travel companion and I to get access to the lounge, and since we turned up at 6 a.m. when it opened and remained until a little after 3 p.m., I can absolutely say that the price I paid was worth it. Breaking that down, it cost about $6.55 per person per hour. And I more than earned back the cost by getting in a full work day -- plus I was able to catch up on email and Slack, netting me opportunities for future work. That's a personal finance win, no matter how you slice it.

I certainly could have done some work in the main terminal area of the airport, but I doubt I would have been as productive. Electrical outlets are not guaranteed in airport terminals, and while some have workspaces with tables, competition for these spots is fierce (and if I had monopolized one with my laptop for the entirety of a day, I'm sure I would have caught some dirty looks).

Plus, airport terminals are loud -- people are gathered by their gates having conversations, and kids do their best to amuse themselves while waiting. Announcements over loudspeakers are constant, and some airports even play music at top volume over everything (JetBlue terminal at JFK Airport, I'm looking at you).

And regular airport food isn't bad, but it is expensive. I paid $4.50 for a blueberry yogurt in an airport shop on my first flight out when I left for my vacation -- that same yogurt costs about $1.50 at my local grocery store. I certainly wouldn't have been willing to pay for the quantity and variety of food available to us (not to mention alcoholic drinks) in the lounge had we spent the day in the regular terminal. So yes, in my estimation, the price of admission for the United Club was worth it.

Is lounge access worth paying for more than once?

This was a special circumstance -- I've run into flight mishaps before, but I've never spontaneously found myself with 10 hours to kill in an airport. If I were a frequent flyer, I think my experience with this lounge would guide me to explore my options for airline credit cards.

Many of them come with lounge access, and since a lot of these cards also charge an annual fee, it's a good idea to use as many of the benefits as you can. In my case, I used my favorite travel credit card to pay for admission, so at least I earned a higher points rate on my spending that way.

Lounge access can be a great way to make lemonade out of airport lemons (and you know those lemons cost a lot more than grocery store ones). I'm happy I sprung for it, and I probably wouldn't hesitate to do so again, were I to find myself with multiple hours before my flight.