This photograph is from September 4th, 2025 and was captured somewhere over the United States during a flight from Seattle to Newark. It’s a photograph of stratocumulus clouds, captured at a cruising altitude of around 35,000 feet and lit by a setting sun.

What was supposed to be a routine, morning flight from SEA turned into a marathon of delays that ended with baggage chaos at EWR around midnight.

An airport lounge can make a difference on a day like that. Here are a couple notes on how they might work:

• It's worth knowing the difference between airline-specific lounges and the credit-card ones. An interesting pro for the airline-specific lounges is that you can often use them on arrival (if they’re still open.) The independent ones are usually for departures and connections only.

• Typically, lounges have a rule restricting entry until within three hours of your originally scheduled departure time. That can seem tight, but it’s a helpful option when you have a late flight and you need to check out of a hotel in the morning.

Eventually, the flight departed (departure from EWR was smoother than arrival to EWR in this case,) and it was a welcome sight to see some complimentary colors on the clouds before the sun set. This postcard comes from a quiet space in the middle of a chaotic day.