Everything You Need To Know About Priority Pass

In the past, airport and airline lounges were considered luxuries meant only for business travelers and frequent flyers. But in recent years, the societal and economic landscape of lounges has changed dramatically. More flyers across different cabin classes have access to these coveted spaces after being armed with credit cards, which reward travelers after months to years of accumulated spending.

With this changed environment and the rising demand for lounge space, exclusive memberships have also begun to expand their marketing to include various passenger types, alongside expanded benefits to make themselves more attractive. One such membership is Priority Pass, a popular program today that offers excellent worldwide lounge access with different membership levels to suit different travelers.

What is Priority Pass?

Founded in 1992, Priority Pass was a membership program created primarily for frequent and business travelers to enjoy the peacefulness and refueling facilities of airport lounges worldwide, giving them access away from the noisy and crowded chaos of any airport’s departure hall. In a way, the club’s goal was to ensure these travelers were always treated like royalty instead of part of the herd.

Photo: Priority Pass

For three decades, the program invested adequately in countless lounges, ensuring proper resources led to efficient processes, modern technology, and fruitful partnerships. These investments have paid off; Priority Pass currently offers more lounge access in more cities than any other membership program, covering over 145 countries with over 1,500 airport lounges in its network.

These are well spread around the world, including at least:

• 150 locations in North America and Canada
• 150 locations in Latin America
• 370 locations in Europe
• 440 locations in Asia-Pacific
• 90 locations in Africa
• 70 locations in the Middle East

What is being offered?

While lounge access is the tip of the iceberg for what Priority Pass offers, the program also gives a variety of benefits to members, such as complimentary membership with premium fitness applications, the ability to pre-book lounge access to minimize disappointment, an immersive range of complimentary food and drinks, well-being packages, and more.

The program also offers unrivaled entertainment spaces that include a field of gaming stations and allows members to conveniently order and pay for takeout on the go across numerous cafes and restaurants in different airports. A similar concept is available for duty-free retail, and members can also pre-book airport transfers to minimize waiting times.

Photo: JJava Designs | Shutterstock

If these benefits weren’t enough, members also have discounted rates for car rentals globally. There are also “meet-and-assist” services, which can be arranged for every flight’s arrival, departure, connection, or transfer. For those who require private spaces for work or on-the-go meetings, Priority Pass also allows members to explore and book thousands of work desks, meeting rooms, or even private office spaces in more than 80 countries for enhanced convenience.

What are the different membership tiers?

Although the club was once reserved for business and high flyers, memberships are now available for all types of travelers for a fee.

Priority Pass offers a number of membership options. Prices given here are in USD for US members.

• Standard. This membership is directed towards occasional travelers, with no visits included. For an annual fee of $99, you can make visits to any lounge for $35 per visit (and $35 per guest).
• Standard Plus. This costs $329 per year and includes ten lounge visits. Further visits and guest visits are priced again at $35.
• Prestige. This is for the more frequent traveler. An annual membership of $469 includes unlimited lounge visits, but guest visits are still charged.

Photo : Priority Pass

A physical or digital membership?

For those worried about how joining Priority Pass would only add to their growing number of physical cards, fret not, as the program additionally offers a Digital Membership Card available through a dedicated mobile application and can also be downloaded into Apple Wallet.

For those without smart devices, a printout copy of the Digital Membership Card also suffices if they ever lose their physical membership card. According to the website, members need not go through the hassle of activating their membership card, as simply activating the online account will do just the trick.

So, for interested travelers, choosing whichever tier suits their financial and traveling needs and becoming a Priority Pass member is as easy and seamless as their future travels once they access the world’s widest variety of lounges.

Priority Pass with credit cards

A number of credit cards offer Priority Pass membership as a benefit. The cards below all offer Priority Pass membership with unlimited visits and guest visits. However, some of these memberships have different lounge inclusions, particularly with regard to restaurant or café credit options.

• The Platinum Card from American Express. With an annual fee of $695.
• The Business Platinum Card from American Express. With an annual fee of $695.
• Chase Sapphire Reserve. With an annual fee of $550.
• Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card. With an annual fee of $395.

Alternatives to Priority Pass

Priority Pass is not the only lounge membership option these days. It is the largest program, but other options include:

• Dragon Pass. This is a slightly cheaper option, with unlimited access costing $429 annually. It offers over 1300 lounges, but it is a bit weaker in North America and Europe.
• Lounge Pass is a UK-based company offering a smaller lounge program. It has access to over 600 lounges in 100 countries.
• Lounge Key is another program, with access to over 1000 lounges. It is only offered as a credit card benefit from MasterCard.