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Airport lounges used to be an exclusive perk for first and business-class passengers but these days, anyone can enter these lounges regardless of status. After all, who doesn’t want to have lounge access? It comes with free food, high-speed Wifi, shower areas, working spaces, and even sleeping amenities.
In this article, we’ll talk about the Priority Pass lounge service, mainly focusing on its benefits, locations, access policy, and more.
We’ll also take a closer look at the Priority Pass Select membership and how it’s different from the regular Priority Pass membership.
Read More: Where Are Capital One Airport Lounges Located?
What Is Priority Pass?
Priority Pass is a lounge network of more than 1,300 airport lounges located in more than 600 airports worldwide. It’s a membership-based service where customers pay an annual fee to gain access to these lounges and get exclusive perks, and in recent years, they also included mini-suites and airport restaurants in their network.
Aside from paying with cash, customers can also get Priority Pass access through travel credit cards. Some cards come with a complimentary Priority Pass Select membership that gives cardholders access to Priority Pass lounges.
While benefits vary from lounge to lounge, here are some benefits that you can expect:
- Complimentary food and snacks
- Alcoholic beverages
- Newspapers and magazines
- Free Wi-Fi
- Digital entertainment such as TVs and tablets
- Air conditioning
- Flight information
- Work spaces and conference rooms
- Fax machines
- Shower areas
- Sleeping amenities
To enter Priority Pass Lounges, just show your digital or physical membership card and your same-day boarding pass.
What’s The Difference Between Priority Pass Vs Priority Pass Select?
If you’re confused between “Priority Pass” and “Priority Pass Select,” we don’t blame you but here are the key differences between the two.
Priority Pass is the name of the company/service that offers lounge access to its members. You can buy a regular Priority Pass membership on their website, with prices starting at $99 per year. Here are the options that you can choose from:
- Standard (for occasional travelers)
- $99 per year
- $32 member visit fee
- $32 guest visit fee
- Standard Plus (for regular travelers)
- $299 per year
- 10 free visits with subsequent visits of $32 each
- $32 guest visit fee
- Prestige (for frequent travelers)
- $429 per year
- All member visits are FREE
- $32 guest visit fee
Meanwhile, a Priority Pass Select is a membership that’s only given through an eligible travel credit card – it’s basically free as long as your card is active. Additonally, cardholders may even bring guests for free but the number of guests depends on the type of card that you have.
Cards That Offer Priority Pass Select Perks
We’ve rounded up a few of the best travel cards that come with a complimentary Priority Pass Select membership:
- American Express Platinum Card – Priority Pass Select membership + free guest access of up to 2 guests per visit. Additional guests are $32 each.
- American Express Business Platinum Card – Priority Pass Select membership + free guest access of up to 2 guests per visit. Additional guests are $32 each.
- Chase Sapphire Reserve – Priority Pass Select membership + free guest access of up to 2 guests per visit. Additional guests are $27 each.
- Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express – Priority Pass Select membership + free guest access of up to 2 guests per visit. Additional guests are $27 each.
- The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card – Priority Pass Select membership + free guest access of up to 2 guests per visit. Additional guests are $32 each.
- Hilton Honors American Express Surpass Card – Priority Pass Select membership but only includes 10 free visits with no free guests. However, your 10 visits can be used by you or your guests. For example, you can visit lounges alone 10 times or visit once and bring nine guests with you. Subsequent visits are $32 per person for guests and yourself.
Upon getting your card, always remember that you need to activate your Priority Pass Select membership manually. The process is similar regardless of the card you hold.
Just login to your respective membership account, go to card benefits, and then find airport lounge access to activate your membership. You can always call the number on the back of your card if you need more support.
US Priority Pass Locations
Priority Pass does have hundreds of lounges but most of them are located in other countries. If you’re planning to visit a Priority Pass lounge within the U.S., check the list below.
- Atlanta (ATL)
- Baltimore Washington International (BWI)
- Boston (BOS)
- Buffalo (BUF)
- Chicago-O’Hare (ORD)
- Charlotte (CLT)
- Charleston (CHS)
- Cleveland (CLE)
- Dallas-Ft. Worth (DFW)
- Detroit (DET)
- Fort Lauderdale (FLL)
- Honolulu (HNL)
- Houston Intercontinental (IAH)
- Indianapolis (IND)
- Jacksonville (JAX)
- Las Vegas (LAS)
- Lexington (LEX)
- Los Angeles (LAX)
- Miami (MIA))
- Minneapolis (MSP)
- Miami International Airport (MIA)
- New Orleans (MSY)
- New York-JFK
- Newark (EWR)
- Orlando International (MCO)
- Orlando-Sanford (SFB)
- Philadelphia (PHL)
- Pittsburgh (PIT)
- Portland (PDX)
- San Francisco (SFO)
- San Jose (SJC)
- San Juan (SJU)
- Seattle (SEA)
- St. Louis (STL))
- Syracuse (SYR)
- Tampa (TPA)
- Tucson (TUS)
- Washington-Dulles (IAD)
- Washington National (DCA)
Priority Pass Select Vs Priority Pass: Which Is Better?
Choosing a Priority Pass membership all boils down to your travel habits. If you’re just a casual traveler who travels at most 5 times a year, we’d recommend you get the $99 Standard membership. Your annual total would be $259 ($99 annual fee + $160 for the five visits).
However, if you’re a frequent traveler, we suggest you get a card with a Priority Pass Select membership instead because you’d get more value from it.
A Prestige membership costs $429 but it only gives your lounge access. But with a Chase Sapphire Reserve Card, not only will you get a Priority Pass Select membership but you’ll also get a handful of travel perks such as application statement credits for TSA Precheck or Global Entry, 50,000 bonus Chase points, and the ability to earn points and redeem them for award flights or stays.
Its annual fee is only $550 which is just a $120 difference from a Prestige membership!
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