Miscellany: Presidents Club Lounge

Air travel is rarely comfortable these days, but there is a rather relaxing place you can access with the appropriate membership - the Continental Presidents Club Lounges. Located in major Continental hubs across the nation, these lounges offer free drinks, free snacks, free internet, free telephones, free cable TV. I'm not actually a member, but Dad is, and we wait in the lounge instead of out in the terminal whenever we get the chance.

The bar service is pretty good. You can order the saltiest Bloody Mary in the George Bush Intercontinental Airport, you can grab some decent table wine, or you can just drink orange juice till you burst. Food is a bit more limited - they're obviously just handing out the small snacks they serve on the planes, so if you want a proper meal, you're going to have to buy it outside.

The biggest benefit, for me, is seclusion. Airports are almost built to be unfriendly these days, so having wood paneling on the walls and a decent chair to read a book in before a flight is worth a lot. Not having to deal with screaming children, blaring PA systems, or even just the endless scurrying of rolling luggage - priceless.