Lounges in airports are fantastic. It completely changes the way you look at travel. I think that most people absolutely loathe being in an airport waiting area and it is easy to understand why. Most of the airports in the world seem to be actively trying to make the waiting areas as uncomfortable as possible and I don't know why that is but it does seem to be the case.
People who travel a lot or use a particular credit card frequently have always has lounge access that was provided by an airline, but recently there has become so much competition as far as airport lounges are concerned that many of these lounges have started to allow people who do not qualify via points or a business class ticket, to also access these lounges. At first glance, these seem expensive, but I think it is important for a person to consider how much their time is worth and how much they value comfort.
Just take a look at these seats and them compare them with what I feel you will typically be offered down in what I refer to as "steerage" ever since watching the movie Titanic in the 90's (or was it the 2000s?"
The last photo in steerage is actually one of the better seating arrangements that I have seen. There are certainly much worse especially when you look at poorer countries the worst of which I ever encountered was in Kathmandu, Nepal; where the entire airport looked and smelled like a urinal with about the same amount of comfort also.
Recently it was brought to my attention that almost all major airports, and even some not-so-major airports have seen a rise in popularity of "pay-per-use" lounges and I took a chance and tried one out during a 6 hour layover that was unavoidable on my last international trip. The cost was $60 and it was in Mexico City, Mexico. I thought this was a bit steep for Mexico but then I remembered I was in an airport and all airports have some sort of Disneyland policy on their pricing.
I did the math while I was in this lounge and compared it to how muc hit would have cost me to sit on an uncomfortable plastic chair at Burger King (yes, Mexico has Burger King just like everywhere else) and then follow the cost of my meal with how much it would cost me to have a few beer at one of the pubs in the airport as I wait. Even if I was trying to be stingy, this was going to cost me $40 and I think even that figure is quite low for airports generally speaking.
So why not pay the extra $20 to have a comfortable chair, a buffet, and free-flow coffee, beers, a buffet, and in some places even exotic cocktails? It doesn't make sense to not do it actually.
One of the major things that I enjoy about being in these lounges isn't just the things I put in my mouth, but the ease that it puts on my ears. When you check into these lounges in most airports, they scan your boarding pass and now the staff are going to let you know anything that pops up about your flight. No more do you have to have your ears assaulted in multiple languages about any ol' thing that happens or to hear someone being paged to go to a particular desk with their name being butchered by someone that doesn't know how to pronounce it. This is something that seriously annoys me at airports especially since most people these days simply wear headphones all the time anyway. It doesn't seem to have a point to fill the airwaves with constant noise when no one can hear it anyway.
When you are in lounges, they enforce quiet. Anyone that is playing music, has kids screaming, or even so much as has a phone call on speaker, will be told to stop doing that and I absolutely LOVE this.
Airports are such a stressful environment and since the lounge normally only costs about 1/3 more than not using it (if you eat and drink in an airport) I really don't see any reason to not use them.
Also, if the airport you are at doesn't have a pay-per-visit lounge, most of the brand-specific lounges will sell one-time access if they have available space.
It has really changed how I view airport travel, which I used to loathe. Now I have to say that I actually look forward to certain airports that I have a layover in because the lounges are seriously good. I feel like it is definitely worth the extra money to the point where I feel that if you can afford to fly at all, you can probably afford to pay for the lounge as well... and you should.