Is A Priority Pass Airport Lounge Membership Worth It?

Is A Priority Pass Airport Lounge Membership Worth It?

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In this post I wanted to share my take on the current value proposition of a Priority Pass membership, including discussing the basics of what this airport lounge network is, how you can get a membership, and whether Priority Pass is worth it.

What is Priority Pass?

Priority Pass is the world’s largest independent network of airport lounges, with over 1,300 lounges around the world.

Think of Priority Pass as almost being like a lounge access broker. Priority Pass doesn’t operate lounges itself, but rather the business model is to sell lounge memberships to travelers (either directly or through credit cards), and then in turn pay lounges for admitting members.

It goes without saying that not all airport lounges participate in Priority Pass. For example, in the United States, no American Admirals Clubs, Delta Sky Clubs, or United Clubs, participate in Priority Pass. That’s because they’d view joining Priority Pass as cannibalizing their own business of selling lounge memberships. Furthermore, most Plaza Premium lounges also don’t participate in Priority Pass.

For the lounges that do participate in Priority Pass, the individual lounges are being paid by Priority Pass every time a member visits one of their partner lounges. The business model is similar for Priority Pass restaurants, where members are given a certain dollar amount credit to use toward food & drinks at participating locations.

Eventyr Lounge Copenhagen, a Priority Pass location

How do you get a Priority Pass membership?

You can either purchase a Priority Pass membership directly, or get one through a premium credit card (with the latter being a much better value). Let’s take a look at the details of those two options.

Buy a Priority Pass membership directly

Priority Pass has three types of memberships you can purchase. Which membership makes most sense for you depends on how often you plan on visiting lounges. The Priority Pass membership options include the following:

  • A Standard membership costs $99 per year; this doesn’t include any lounge visits, but rather you have to pay $35 per visit
  • A Standard Plus membership costs $329 per year; this includes 10 lounge visits per year, and then you have to pay $35 per subsequent visit
  • A Prestige membership costs $469 per year; this includes unlimited lounge visits

In all cases, taking a guest into a lounge will cost an extra $35 per person per visit.

Priority Pass membership cost

As you can see, you’ll be paying around $470 per year for a membership that gets you unlimited lounge visits. This is a bit cheaper than the lounge memberships that most of the major US airlines sell directly, for example. However, airline lounge memberships don’t get you access to Priority Pass lounges, and a Priority Pass membership doesn’t get you access to most airline membership lounges.

Get Priority Pass with a credit card

The much more economical way to get a Priority Pass membership is to pick up a premium credit card that offers this as a perk. There are plenty of popular cards that offer Priority Pass memberships, ranging from the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card (review) (Rates & Fees), to the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card (review), to The Platinum Card® from American Express (review) (Enrollment required).

All of these memberships allow unlimited visits, and best of all, you can even bring up to two guests with you for free (while buying a membership directly still comes with a $35 guest fee). It’s kind of astonishing how much more lucrative the credit card route is.

As an example of why this is a better value (if you’re eligible for such a card), let’s take a look at the Capital One Venture X. The card has a $395 annual fee (less than the Prestige Priority Pass membership cost) and offers:

Personally I value the $300 travel credit and 10,000 anniversary bonus miles at more than the $395 annual fee, and view it as Capital One just throwing in five Priority Pass memberships for free. 😉

One important restriction to be aware of is that Priority Pass memberships through American Express and Capital One cards don’t get you credits at Priority Pass restaurants, while Priority Pass memberships through Chase and Citi cards do get you credits at Priority Pass restaurants.

Oman Air Lounge Salalah, a Priority Pass location

How much is a Priority Pass membership worth?

There’s no good way to develop an objective valuation of a Priority Pass membership, given that it’s entirely dependent on how often you use it. To state the obvious, a Priority Pass membership is worth how many times you use participating lounges, multiplied by how much you value each visit.

What complicates things further is that it’s not just a question of how often you’d use airport lounges, but rather how often you’d specifically use Priority Pass lounges:

Even beyond that, there’s so much variability in terms of the value of a particular lounge visit:

  • If you have a three hour connection and you can spend that time in a Priority Pass lounge, that provides real value; meanwhile if you show up at the airport five minutes before boarding starts, there might not even be a point in visiting a lounge
  • There’s the question of how much value you get from lounge visits for those situations where you actually use Priority Pass locations; there’s huge variance in terms of the quality of airport lounges — some are hardly worth visiting, some are awesome, and most are somewhere in between
  • Especially in the United States, Priority Pass lounge crowding can be a huge issue, with some being frustratingly full to the point that I’d rather sit in the terminal; all the credit cards that give us access to easy Priority Pass memberships are a double-edged sword, I suppose

I will say that for a frequent traveler who doesn’t otherwise have lounge access, even outright paying for a membership with unlimited visits could make sense (assuming you don’t have access to credit cards that offer a membership).

As someone with oneworld Emerald status, Star Alliance Gold status, and an American Admirals Club membership, who typically in flies first & business class, here’s where I see value with Priority Pass:

  • I get a fair bit of value from Priority Pass restaurants, where you get a certain dollar credit with each visit; sometimes I prefer sitting in an airport restaurant rather than an airport lounge (this credit only comes with the Priority Pass membership offered by Chase and Citi cards, though)
  • I like some of the non-traditional lounges beyond the restaurants, like Sleep ‘N Fly Doha, where you can get a nap pod for two to three hours, as it’s a nice alternative to a crowded lounge
  • Priority Pass comes in handy a fair bit in Canada and Mexico when flying a US airline, since US airlines often don’t have lounges at airports there, and don’t otherwise provide contract lounge access to premium passengers
  • Sometimes I just appreciate the alternative lounges that Priority Pass gives me access to; for example, when flying SAS business class from Copenhagen to Miami, I far preferred the Eventyr Lounge (through Priority Pass) compared to the SAS Lounge (which my ticket got me access to)
Sleep ‘N Fly Doha, a Priority Pass location

If I had to put a number to it, I’d say that for my personal usage patterns:

  • I probably value a Priority Pass membership without restaurant credits at around $200 per year
  • I probably value a Priority Pass membership with restaurant credits at around $400 per year

At least that’s what I’d probably pay in cash for a membership. Fortunately I don’t actually have to put much thought into that, since I have multiple Priority Pass memberships through several credit cards, so it costs me nothing extra.

Bottom line

The value of a Priority Pass membership will vary significantly depending on the type of traveler you are. If you do want a Priority Pass membership, however, you’re almost always going to be better off getting one through a credit card. There are some premium cards that are so valuable that you might not even have to account for the cost of the Priority Pass membership with your card annual fee.

Personally I value a Priority Pass membership at somewhere around $200 to $400 per year (depending on whether restaurant credits are included or not), though everyone will no doubt have a different valuation based on their usage patterns.

What’s your take on the value of Priority Pass, and how much would you pay for a membership?

Conversations (19)
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  1. Don Nguyen Guest

    I was recently rejected at 3 different airports on my latest August-September 2023 trip, and most importantly my home base airport which was San Francisco Int'l airport. At both lounges there at SFO, the China Airlines and KLM AirFrance lounges rejected me informing me they are not taking ANY Priority Pass customers but are still taking other airline passengers. I paid for my Priority Pass membership. I am completely disappointed that customer service refused to...

    I was recently rejected at 3 different airports on my latest August-September 2023 trip, and most importantly my home base airport which was San Francisco Int'l airport. At both lounges there at SFO, the China Airlines and KLM AirFrance lounges rejected me informing me they are not taking ANY Priority Pass customers but are still taking other airline passengers. I paid for my Priority Pass membership. I am completely disappointed that customer service refused to assist me and also having some visits left they didn't even consider extending my 1 year membership for the lounge rejections I experienced.

    I was also rejected at Bangkok airport due to crowded and full lounges.

    Of course I will not be renewing my paid membership with Priority Pass and don't recommend it.

  2. William Pendergast Guest

    My fellow travelers and I were at CDG Paris Terminal 2E yesterday (July 13, 2023) morning early looking for the YOTELAir Paris lounge that Priority Pass tells us on their website is accessible by taking “the Shuttle train to Gate L. Follow signs for Instant Paris/YOTEL.” Guess what? First of all, L is not a Gate at CDG but a Hall with many Gates. Our Gate was L53. There were no signs for YOTEL anywhere...

    My fellow travelers and I were at CDG Paris Terminal 2E yesterday (July 13, 2023) morning early looking for the YOTELAir Paris lounge that Priority Pass tells us on their website is accessible by taking “the Shuttle train to Gate L. Follow signs for Instant Paris/YOTEL.” Guess what? First of all, L is not a Gate at CDG but a Hall with many Gates. Our Gate was L53. There were no signs for YOTEL anywhere in the Hall. We sat around at our gate for a couple of hours before boarding our flight. This is just the latest of many disappointments with PP, which in principle is a great benefit from the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, but in practice disappoints as often as it rewards. Unfortunately, PP has no contact information on their website that invites member comments, which does not speak well for their interest in customer satisfaction.

  3. Apu Guest

    Is there value to getting multiple PP memberships through the different premium CCs you may have? If yes, then how best to use it?

  4. Euro Gold

    For certain smaller and midsize airports in Europe and the US, on occasion it has been worth having some sort of lounge access.

    For the large airports especially ones that are dominated by a legacy carrier as their hub, there have been too many times where the lounge has been in a completely different building from where I was departing.

    It's nice to have a Priority Pass if it's given to you as a credit...

    For certain smaller and midsize airports in Europe and the US, on occasion it has been worth having some sort of lounge access.

    For the large airports especially ones that are dominated by a legacy carrier as their hub, there have been too many times where the lounge has been in a completely different building from where I was departing.

    It's nice to have a Priority Pass if it's given to you as a credit card benefit but would I ever pay for one? Probably not. Even with my limited "10 passes per year" courtesy of the AMEX Hilton Surpass card, I don't use all of them.

  5. Andy 11235 Guest

    The bottom line is that all lounges in the US have been suffering from overcrowding. Airline lounges are packed, and of course, the contract lounges are also over capacity for much of the day. At the same time, airports have made an effort to increase the number of outlets for charging. All to say that I don't know when I would /ever/ pay for any lounge access, considering how hit-or-miss it is.

    One note...

    The bottom line is that all lounges in the US have been suffering from overcrowding. Airline lounges are packed, and of course, the contract lounges are also over capacity for much of the day. At the same time, airports have made an effort to increase the number of outlets for charging. All to say that I don't know when I would /ever/ pay for any lounge access, considering how hit-or-miss it is.

    One note is that you often will, in fact, have access to lounges in MX/Canada when flying premium cabins on US carriers. While north american flights used to be excluded from the definition of "international" flying, this restriction has been removed. As far as I know, the only issue is the absence of a delta or skyteam lounge in the relatively small (post-clearance) transborder zones of Canadian airports.

  6. John Guest

    Have had the membership about 10 years I've been turned away about 50% of the time when using it, the club citing they are at capacity for PP members (when I could clearly see open seats in their lounge). Mostly useful internationally, but diminishing in usability each year.

  7. Robin Guest

    Recently At JFK we were traveling business on Singapore airlines and we arrived eight hours before our flight from a connection. Singapore Air told us their lounge was Air India. The front desk receptionist did not want to let us in even though we were business class on SingaporeAir and the supervisor came up, and he let us in. it was quite crowded and shabby(dirty and stained furniture), but the Indian food tasted very good....

    Recently At JFK we were traveling business on Singapore airlines and we arrived eight hours before our flight from a connection. Singapore Air told us their lounge was Air India. The front desk receptionist did not want to let us in even though we were business class on SingaporeAir and the supervisor came up, and he let us in. it was quite crowded and shabby(dirty and stained furniture), but the Indian food tasted very good. But first we tried to get into the Virgin Atlantic lounge (Venture X) and they said they were closing in 15 minutes at 2 o’clock and we would not be able to return till 4 PM, that’s what prompted us to go to the air India lounge. After having our fill of the dirty furniture we left and went to the Plaza lounge on the first floor Using Priority Pass. there was a wait list of about 30 to 45 minutes and then we were allowed in there. We returned to the Virgin Atlantic lounge at 5 PM and we were told that they were not letting any more venture X credit card holders in. We complained that we came at 1:45 and we were told to return after 4 PM for entrance and that we were not accepting this decision. After some back-and-forth, they let us in the lounge. This was by far the nicest lounge available to us, and we stay there until it was time to board our flight on SingaporeAir. Every lounge that we used no matter what qualified us to get in told us we had a three hour time limit. No matter what Airlines you were flying or what credit card you were holding everybody had an excuse as to why they did not want to let us in to the lounge. What a joke!

  8. Hiro Diamond

    I live in Japan and the best PP deal is probably here though signing up Rakuten Premium Visa card. It has annual membership fee of JPY 11,000 or USD 78, that comes with the Priority Pass with unlimited access (the highest tier). Not to mention there’s also 5% cash back on all shopping done through their e-commerce site. Awesome value.

  9. Dee Wilson Guest

    I’m in the UK and I gave up Priority Pass when I couldn’t use it for for the fourth consecutive time.
    I was told that booking the lounge was not possible as my membership was via my bank and then I was denied access as I hadn’t booked.
    As a leisure traveller buying membership was not economic.

  10. Dn10 Guest

    I hope Chase keeps the restaurant benefit but I could see them getting rid of it

  11. Craig Guest

    Priority Pass is extremely useful on domestic and short-haul flights in Asia which don't have business cabins. Those of us who usually get lounge access by having a premium cabin ticket simply can't if there isn't one. If the cheapest flight is $100, I'm not going to pay $1000+ just to fly an airline that will give me lounge access with.

    Of course, it's still hit-and-miss. PP lounges vary from very nice (e.g. BKK) to non-existent.

  12. Nomad_dc Guest

    @ben unless something has changed this is an inaccurate statement “ this credit only comes with the Priority Pass membership offered by Chase cards, though”. Citi Prestige holders can also get the restaurant benefit.

    1. TravelinWilly Diamond

      The restaurant benefit is not available w/Citi Prestige anymore.

  13. NedsKid Diamond

    In the US, good luck even getting in to the Priority Pass lounge in the first place. Many are restricting access and going to wait limits. A recent attempted visit to a Club location they advised me a 60 minute wait. Some of the lounges (like Wingtips in STL and Club at CLT) are seeking additional revenue by becoming the host Business Class lounge for airlines like Lufthansa. In STL, the PP lounge won't admit...

    In the US, good luck even getting in to the Priority Pass lounge in the first place. Many are restricting access and going to wait limits. A recent attempted visit to a Club location they advised me a 60 minute wait. Some of the lounges (like Wingtips in STL and Club at CLT) are seeking additional revenue by becoming the host Business Class lounge for airlines like Lufthansa. In STL, the PP lounge won't admit anybody but LH every afternoon for a 3-4 hour time frame. In CLT, during the busiest part of the afternoon, they heavily restrict access to anybody but LH passengers (which the lounge is about as far away as one can get from the LH gate... and I've seen LH customers getting mad at the lounge host since they cannot actually help with anything LH-related "You need to go to their gate."). Don't even bring up the Swissport Lounge at ORD T5... though perhaps they are doing people a favor by not letting them in.

    I realize the Escape Lounge is the Amex-lite lounge, but having booked even a paid reservation at the one in FLL (to bring in guests), they turned away saying it could be a 90 minute wait and "reservations are not guaranteed"!! And won't give money back.

    Outside the US, Priority Pass may be good value in usage but within the US, not as much.

    1. RetiredATLATC Diamond

      Agreed. I forgot to mention in my post that The Club at ATL, though they have a 3 hour max time limit, and the lounge was fairly dead when we arrived 3 hours before our flight, only let us in with about 1+30 before our flight.

      Though on a business class ticket, Copa does not have lounge access.

  14. RetiredATLATC Diamond

    The Club at ATL is woefully pathetic as were the two lounges I visited last week; The Salones VIP Pacific Club at SCL (it was about half the size of the ATL Club) and the Copa Lounge at PTY which had only water and coffee and no juices, etc even at breakfast time. Really disappointing and if it didn't come with the Venture X in no way would I pay for a membership.

  15. Lee Guest

    Of course, the answer is dependent on each person's circumstances. For me, there's never a situation in which I don't have airline lounge access. I haven't been in a Priority Pass lounge in years. But, the joke is that I have soooo many potential Priority Pass memberships from my various credit cards. Perhaps five? I actually wish that some cards -- like the CSR -- would have an option to opt-out of Priority Pass coupled with a lower annual fee.

  16. Derek Guest

    I am very surprised you did not mention the AMEX Surpass which has $95 annual fee and has 10 complimentary visits per year included as a benefit (can use any combination of yourself and guests). This is a great option for someone who flies internationlly and has lounge access normally through status, but also flies other airlines. Also for those who travel occasionally but dont want to drop the larger annual fee.

    https://www.americanexpress.com/us/credit-cards/card/hilton-honors-surpass/

    I am very surprised you did not mention the AMEX Surpass which has $95 annual fee and has 10 complimentary visits per year included as a benefit (can use any combination of yourself and guests). This is a great option for someone who flies internationlly and has lounge access normally through status, but also flies other airlines. Also for those who travel occasionally but dont want to drop the larger annual fee.

    https://www.americanexpress.com/us/credit-cards/card/hilton-honors-surpass/

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NedsKid Diamond

In the US, good luck even getting in to the Priority Pass lounge in the first place. Many are restricting access and going to wait limits. A recent attempted visit to a Club location they advised me a 60 minute wait. Some of the lounges (like Wingtips in STL and Club at CLT) are seeking additional revenue by becoming the host Business Class lounge for airlines like Lufthansa. In STL, the PP lounge won't admit anybody but LH every afternoon for a 3-4 hour time frame. In CLT, during the busiest part of the afternoon, they heavily restrict access to anybody but LH passengers (which the lounge is about as far away as one can get from the LH gate... and I've seen LH customers getting mad at the lounge host since they cannot actually help with anything LH-related "You need to go to their gate."). Don't even bring up the Swissport Lounge at ORD T5... though perhaps they are doing people a favor by not letting them in. I realize the Escape Lounge is the Amex-lite lounge, but having booked even a paid reservation at the one in FLL (to bring in guests), they turned away saying it could be a 90 minute wait and "reservations are not guaranteed"!! And won't give money back. Outside the US, Priority Pass may be good value in usage but within the US, not as much.

2
RetiredATLATC Diamond

The Club at ATL is woefully pathetic as were the two lounges I visited last week; The Salones VIP Pacific Club at SCL (it was about half the size of the ATL Club) and the Copa Lounge at PTY which had only water and coffee and no juices, etc even at breakfast time. Really disappointing and if it didn't come with the Venture X in no way would I pay for a membership.

2
Andy 11235 Guest

The bottom line is that all lounges in the US have been suffering from overcrowding. Airline lounges are packed, and of course, the contract lounges are also over capacity for much of the day. At the same time, airports have made an effort to increase the number of outlets for charging. All to say that I don't know when I would /ever/ pay for any lounge access, considering how hit-or-miss it is. One note is that you often will, in fact, have access to lounges in MX/Canada when flying premium cabins on US carriers. While north american flights used to be excluded from the definition of "international" flying, this restriction has been removed. As far as I know, the only issue is the absence of a delta or skyteam lounge in the relatively small (post-clearance) transborder zones of Canadian airports.

1
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