It’s been a little over two years since I first stepped into the Capital One Lounge at DFW and fell in love. Yes, I fell in love with the lounge experience. The comfortable chairs, the food, the uncrowded space in a crowded airport…all of it. You can see my original review here.
Since that first visit, my family has utilized the Capital One Lounge at DFW before almost every flight. We’ve saved a ton of money on meals and drinks before flights. We have unlimited access to the lounge because three of us have the Capital One Venture X card (although Capital One Venture Rewards and Capital One Spark Miles card holders get two passes per year).
Unfortunately, over the last two years, the lounge has become very popular. I fear I will never see the lounge looking this empty again:
During recent visits, the lounge has been so crowded that we’ve had a difficult time finding any open seats. We’ve had to separate into different groups to get a seat.
Last year, Capital One implemented a waiting list to get into the lounge. Fortunately, we had only waited 5-10 minutes for entry in the past. But, this most recent visit was different.
Our Last Visit to the Capital One Lounge DFW
My daughter and I flew from DFW to Chicago a few days before spring break to position ourselves for a nonstop flight from Chicago to Lisbon. As per usual, we left a bit early to enjoy a leisurely dinner in the Capital One Lounge.
When we arrived, there was a waiting list. We got on the list, but the reps told us the wait could be 45 minutes. Wowsa! I decided to wait, since the last time we got on the waiting list the wait was much shorter than they predicted.
This time, I was wrong. We waited almost an hour to get into the lounge. Crazy, right? Why did we even stick around? I’m honestly not sure.
The waiting room downstairs was crowded. The reps kept calling names of folks who never showed up. Finally, when I received the text that we could go up, we expected the lounge to be crazy crowded. But, it was surprisingly uncrowded. I mentioned to the rep at the check-in counter that I thought it would be busier since our wait was so long and there were so many other people waiting. She brushed it off.
So the good news was that we had plenty of seats to choose from. The bad news was that we wasted an hour and we didn’t have much time in the lounge before we had to head to our flight.
Unfortunately, all of the non-alcoholic drink dispensers were out of order. So our choices were limited to the coffee/tea at the front of the lounge (and the bar, of course). The food options were also more limited than our past experiences. We were hungry for dinner, but each section of the counter had one choice instead of two choices. I also missed the deviled eggs I was accustomed to always seeing at the food bar.
Yeah, I know. Boohoo. Things change, menus change. I get it. But, I’m more mad at myself for waiting an hour for a lackluster lounge experience. We should have just grabbed a bite to eat at one of the restaurants in Terminal D.
Final Thoughts
I guess the cat is out of the bag, and more people have discovered the Capital One Lounge at DFW. I’m partly to blame, since I’ve written about it multiple times.
I’m not going to write off the Capital One Lounge at DFW based on one mediocre experience. But, next time my family visits, I will set a maximum time we will wait on the list before we explore other food options.
What has been your experience at Capital One lounges lately?
Author: Nancy
Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney.
@Nancy, I didn’t even think to check the app! I believe when capacity hits “very busy” is when the waitlist icon appears. My flight is not for a few weeks but now I can use the app to gauge. Thanks
Any experience / insight about capacity around 1 pm on a Friday? I read it clears out in late morning after the Asia departures but am not aware what time capacity starts to peak again.
@Don My app currently says “Busy: 15-20 minute wait”. It’s 1:10 p.m. on Friday. Remember, you can join the waitlist through the app.
This is exactly what happened with the Delta Air Lines Sky Club lounges when they were allowing almost everyone with an Amex card to gain access. About 3+ years ago they put a stop to the madness and now they are nowhere nearly as crowded.
CapOne has this issue right now but should be mitigated after end of this year when card members below Venture X will no longer receive complimentary access and Venture X card members will need to pay for guests. In the meantime, I agree with 2808 Heavy. I have never flown Business Class on an airline and not been able to access the lounge. However, when I fly TK, this is the only decent option vs. “The Club” or “United lounge”. I will go to a high end restaurant and pay instead of fighting the cattle, (e.g., Cru wine bar and restaurant or Wolfgang Puck, etc.).
We flew through DFW this past week, and the wait for the Capital One lounge was 20-25 minutes, so we went to the Centurion Lounge. There was no wait there, and plenty of seats. My mom was even able to have a manicure, so it wasn’t that busy. Since airports are so crowded, I just want a table to eat my food, and I refuse to hold food in my lap. The lounges provide at least that.
@ArkansasTraveler Wait, that lounge does manicures??? 😁
I already save on flights and hotels by way of points and miles, I refuse to pinch the penny even further just to get (at best) mediocre food from a lounge, not to mention waiting for it.
I understand the alure of lounges and for lots of folks, it makes sense. But when my flights are costing me just taxes and fees and I’m paying very little, or nothing (Globalist with Hyatt) for hotels, I don’t mind spending a little if I’m hungry when my wife and I arrive at the airport or at a connecting.
I don’t draw many lines, but I do when it comes to waiting for lounge access, even 10 minutes is more than I’m willing to put up with.
@2808 Heavy That’s a refreshing perspective to have. My tolerance for waiting on a lounge has definitely decreased.
If the access to a lounge is too easy, then getting too crowded would just be a matter of time unfortunately.
Capital One Venture X is simply too easy to justify. Additionally, it gives you 2 additional guests access. We’ve already seen how crowded Amex Centurion lounge with a much higher annual fee (I am not even going to count on those hard to use coupon books that offset annual fee). And you cannot even bring guest without spending 75K annually. Capital One has to either restrict access that given out freely to Venture X or raise Venture X’s annual fee to force the number of cardholders.
@Will You make good points. I really loved the lounge in the first year that it was open.
Fingers crossed when the Chase Sapphire lounge opens in Terminal D, that Cap1 & AMEX lounges become only “reasonably” crowded.
I mean the AMEX Centurion lounge isn’t much better. The Capital One Lounge takes pressure of the AMEX centurion nearby. I will gladly walk in for the. grab and go and leave if nothing is available to sit.
@Ben K I haven’t been to the Amex Centurion lounge in several years. I can’t imagine how crowded it must have been before the Capital One lounge opened.
We had good luck there 9am on a Friday in late February. I’ve seen long lines on Friday nights.
Was most of DFW going on Spring Break the week you were there?
@Peter I’m glad you had a good recent experience. Most of DFW had spring break the same week we did, but we left the Wednesday before spring break. So, I wasn’t expecting big crowds.