A lounge is easy to treat as a place for free food, but its real value is a calm, connected space to work between flights. For a frequent traveler, that quiet hour can be the most productive part of the day.
Use it for what the gate cannot offer: reliable wifi, power at every seat, and room to spread out. During a delay, a lounge with a rebooking desk can also solve your problem faster than the crowd at the gate. The productivity, not the buffet, is the point.
Match your access to your patterns. A lounge membership or a card that includes access pays off only if your routes and layovers actually put you in eligible lounges often enough to use it.