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Mad props to my Priority Pass, which comped $56 off our recent meal at the St. Louis airport. 🙌
I previously wrote about how airport lounges are changing due to the influx of “normal” travelers gaining access through premium credit cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card. In short: they’re no longer the fancy and generous havens for high-wheeling business travelers they once were.
However, the Priority Pass has recently expanded its type of offerings to include airport restaurants. This past weekend, Taryn and I had the opportunity to try out one of the Priority Pass partner restaurants when we flew out of St. Louis, and the pass saved us $56 off our meal.
There are only a handful of airports with partner restaurants at the moment: Portland, Denver, Cleveland, Miami, JFK (New York), Lexington (KY), and St. Louis. By sheer coincidence, we happened to be flying out of the St. Louis airport, so I wanted to see what the experience would be like for Priority Pass members. The partner restaurant in St. Louis is the joint Pasta House/Schlafly Brew House in Terminal 2, which services all Southwest Airlines flights (thanks, Companion Pass!).
The Priority Pass website clearly lists what its members can receive when using the pass. The rules stipulate that a “lounge visit” entitles the cardholder to $28 off the final bill. Cardholders can also include a maximum of one “guest,” which doubles the total credit. Since I was traveling with Taryn, we were eligible for $56 in credit towards our bill for all restaurant purchases.
As you can see, you’ll need to show your Priority Pass card as well as a same-day boarding pass. Since Pasta House has another airport location OUTSIDE of security near the baggage claim, I’m guessing the boarding pass requirement prevents locals from heading to the airport each evening for a free dinner.
I was worried the restaurant would be super packed, but there were plenty of seats available. We ordered a Schlafly beer sampler (because we’re stereotypical millennials) and gave the waiter our Priority Pass. He checked our boarding passes and explained the rules: both of us are eligible for $28 in food/beverages, so the Priority Pass would cover the first $56 of our total bill. No complaints there!
We stuffed our faces with St. Louis BBQ the night before, and we wanted to try another St. Louis delicacy: toasted ravioli. We placed an order for the ravioli as well as the Mediterranean salad (so we could tell ourselves we were eating healthy).
This is probably a shock to no one, but the toasted ravioli was delicious. The salad was fine, too. We still had time before our flight, so naturally, we ordered another sampler of Schlafly beer.
Our waiter said he was taking his break, so we decided to close our tab and finish our beers. The total bill ended up being $60.17… but after the credit from the Priority Pass, we only owed $4.17.
Obviously, service wasn’t included, and responsible adults should tip based on the total amount of the bill before any discounts are applied. So what would have normally been a $72 meal only cost us $16. Priority Pass FTW!
I am stoked about Priority Pass expanding its cardholder offerings to include restaurants. In my opinion, the restaurants are much better options for the leisure traveler than airport lounges. Maybe I’m in the minority, but I would much rather order exactly what I want off a menu rather than eating picked-over food under a heat lamp in the United Club lounge.
Now if only they could add a restaurant to Baltimore-Washington International airport…
New to the blog? You might want to start here. You can also sign up to our travel concierge and get unlimited credit card and award booking assistance for one year.
Interested in the Priority Pass? Check out my earlier post about the pass here, or learn about the Chase Sapphire Reserve card (which gives a complimentary Priority Pass).
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