I receive compensation for content and many links on this blog. Citibank is an advertising partner of this site, as is American Express, Chase, Barclays and Capital One. Any opinions expressed in this post are my own, and have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by my advertising partners. I do not write about all credit cards that are available -- instead focusing on miles, points, and cash back (and currencies that can be converted into the same). Terms apply to the offers and benefits listed on this page.
Priority Pass is a card that gets you into lounges around the world. You don’t have to belong to an individual lounge program, this program works to have lounges in most of the places you go.
There are over 1000 airport lounges that a Priority Pass will gain you access to, most of those are spread throughout airports around the world. A year ago there were 41 lounges in the U.S.. Priority Pass aggressively builds out its network and now they’re up to 59 as of this writing.
That’s meant getting creative.
- For instance they added the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse at LAX in the mornings and then in the afternoons it’s for Virgin’s flights. Some lounges have limited hours, or limited hours where they are available to Priority Pass guests. The Turkish lounge at Washington Dulles may place limits based on capacity at peak times. Before Alaska opened new lounges in Seattle it was common for them to limit Priority Pass access fortunately that’s been liberalized greatly.
- They’ve added restaurants in some airports instead of lounges, your Priority Pass card gets you a $28 food and beverage credit (plus $28 per guest, where applicable).
If you bought a Priority Pass membership directly, the normal price of unlimited lounge visits (but no free guests) is $399.
However Priority Pass comes bundled with several premium credit cards, and often not just with unlimited visits but even unlimited guests (subject to capacity of the lounge). Over the summer I wrote about Erica Virvo who brought 19 guests into one airport lounge for free.
Here’s the current list of U.S. lounges accessible with Priority Pass:
- Anchorage – Alaska Club – Gate C1
- Atlanta – Minute Suites – Concourse B Gate B16
- Atlanta – The Club – Concourse F next to Chapel
- Baltimore – The Club – Gate D10
- Boston – Air France – Terminal E, Gate 4
- Boston – The Club – Terminal E, Just Past Security
- Boston – The Lounge – Terminal C, Gate C19
- Chicago O’Hare – Air France – KLM Lounge – Terminal 5 Gate M8
- Chicago O’Hare – Swissport Lounge – Terminal 5 Gate M8
- Cincinnati – The Club – Between Gates A8 and A10
- Colorado Springs – Mortgage Solutions Financial Premier Lounge – Gate 6
- Dallas Fort-Worth – Minute Suites – Gate A38
- Dallas Fort-Worth – Minute Suites – Gate D23
- Dallas Fort-Worth – The Club – Gate D22
- Denver – Timberline Steaks (restaurant) – Concourse C center
- Honolulu – IASS Hawaii Lounge – Overseas Terminal Gates 14-23
- Honolulu – The Plumeria Lounge – Interisland terminal by Wiki Wiki shuttle
- Houston Intercontinental – Air France Lounge – Gate D12
- Houston Intercontinental – KLM Lounge – Gate D8
- Las Vegas – The Club – Terminal 1, Concourse D
- Las Vegas – The Club – Terminal 3, Gate E2
- Lexington, Kentucky – Kentucky Ale Taproom (restaurant) – after security next to Concourse B entrance
- Los Angeles – Alaska Lounge – Terminal 6, Gate 64
- Los Angeles – Korean Air Lounge -Tom Bradley Terminal before Duty Free
- Los Angeles – Virgin Clubhouse – Terminal 2
- McAllen, Texas – Salon Aeromar – Landside behind Aeromar check-in counter
- Miami – Avianca VIP Lounge – South Terminal Concourse J
- Miami – Club America – Concourse F after security
- Miami – Corona Beach House (restaurant) – Concourse D between Gates D23 and D24
- Miami – VIP Lounge Miami – Concourse J Gate J5
- Minneapolis St. Paul – PGA MSP Lounge – Terminal 1 North side of airport mall
- New York JFK – Air France lounge – Terminal 1 Gate 1
- New York JFK – Korean Air business lounge – Terminal 1 Gate 3
- New York JFK – Wingtips Lounge – After security
- New York LaGuardia – Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge – Landside before Concourse A security
- Newark – Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge – Terminal A
- Newark – Art & Lounge – Terminal B Landside between B2 & B3 or Gates 50 & 60
- Orlando International – The Club – Terminal A Concourse 1
- Orlando International – The Club – Terminal B Concourse 4
- Orlando Sanford – Royal Palm Lounge – Terminal A
- Philadephia – Minute Suites – between Concourses A and B in the AB Connector
- Phoenix – The Club – Terminal 4 end of N4 Concourse (Gates B15 – B28)
- Pittsburgh – The Club – Gate C52
- Portland – Alaska Lounge – Gate C5
- Portland – Capers Cafe Le Bar (restaurant) – Concourse C after security
- Portland – Capers Market (restaurant) Concourse D after security
- Portland – House Spirits Distillery (restaurant) – Gate C6
- San Francisco – Air France KLM Lounge – International Terminal
- San Jose – The Club – Gate 15
- Seattle – Alaska Lounge – End of C Concourse
- Seattle – Alaska Lounge – Gate D1
- Seattle – Alaska Lounge – Gate N1
- Seattle – The Club – Gate A11
- Seattle – The Club – Gate S9
- St. Louis – The Pasta House (restaurant) – Terminal 1 Landside by Baggage Claim
- St. Louis – The Pasta House (restaurant) – Terminal 2 Opposite Gate E6
- Washington Dulles – Air France KLM Lounge – Gate A22
- Washington Dulles – British Airways Galleries Lounge – B concourse entrance
- Washington Dulles – Turkish Airlines Lounge – Gate B43
I’m going to guess by the way that the brand new Wingtips in St. Louis that opened today becomes number 60.
The list of lounges is misleading. At SEA-TAC the Alaska lounges are almost always closed to Priority Pass members. Only rarely, during very quiet times will they admit members. Their “closed to Priority Pass” are almost permanent fixtures.
As for the Club Lounge, the only one available from the main terminal, is at gate A11, which is a VERY long walk to most Delta and Alaska gates, making it impractical most of the time.
Most of the time Priority Pass is useless at SEA-TAC.
The Bradley KAL lounge is not very good. It doubles as a Skyteam Lounge and it is overcrowded and deficient in most categories. I spent 10 minutes there just to get a feel for the place before I bolted to the Star Alliance Lounge and a vastly superior experience.
On the other hand…I am thankful for my Priority Pass card because it’s going to get me into The Club at San Jose next week prior to my 7:30 am departure to Maui. Even a generic lounge can be better than no lounge…especially at 6am.
Caveat that many of the Alaska Lounges are capacity controlled.
And I would just take the Honolulu – IASS Hawaii Lounge off this list. Worst lounge in US.
If one has priority pass from multiple cards is there any reason to use anything other than the CSR priority pass card?
The Club at BWI is hot grabage as the kids would say. Even though it’s a year old the funiture is gross and stained and the “food” food selection is terrible.
I believe there is a lounge in Savannah, too. Can’t recall the name.
The Alaska lounges are closed to priority pass far less frequently than they used to be since the airline opened two new lounges at the airport.
The last two times I attempted to access Alaska Lounges in SEA in recent months I was turned away. Even with the added lounges, capacity issues continue and they regularly deny PP.
Not in my frequent experience. Even the new Alaska lounges are closed more often than not. (I’m a frequent SEA-TAC traveler).
Priority Pass won’t do much good at O’hare… the lounges are in Terminal 5 which is the international terminal, separate from Terminals 1-3 and only accessible if you’re flying an international carrier out of that terminal or flying through on a layover.
I’m pretty sure the Hilton Honors Amex card will also comes with this benefit when their annual fee goes up in February.
“Priority Pass Select Membership with 10 Free Visits
Wherever your travels take you, enjoy access to 1000+ airport lounges with complimentary Priority Pass™ Select membership. In addition, you now receive 10 free lounge visits each year, after which you pay $27 per person per visit. You will not need to take any action to receive this benefit, and, can start enjoying the 10 complimentary visits beginning January 18, 2018 by using your existing Priority Pass™ membership card.
You can begin enjoying your new Hilton Honors Ascend Card benefits on January 18, 2018. Your Hilton Honors American Express Ascend Card will have a new annual fee of $95 and your annual fee will not change until your annual renewal date on or after February 2, 2018.”
Customer service sucks with Priority Pass, too. I was in Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix, and I wanted to get into The Club, but I saw it closed at 2:30 for PP members. I ran to the entrance, and I saw a glaring worker that saw me coming, and he didn’t say anything, he just looked up at the clock on the wall, and waited for the clock to change from 2:29 to 2:30, and said “We can’t let you in anymore. My computer won’t let me admit you in.” I called Priority Pass, and the lady didn’t even care, she told me “Well they do have a point. The rules say it closes at 2:30.” She said she could reluctantly file a complaint against the company, but it wouldn’t do any good. Nobody cares about customer service anymore, it’s pathetic.
I have been denied access to Alaska Club lounges in Anchorage, SEA, and LAX. It seems to be the norm, rather than the exception. When time allows, I use the Centurion Lounges in SEA. It is vastly superior to the Alaska lounges.
Any chance that someone could put together which ones are available from other terminals? Quite a few times, I’ve been at an airport with one or more lounges, but I could not actually get to them.
This is actually a recommendation for AMEX Platinum if you use DFW. Priority Club’s ‘The Club’ is a squalid dump with inedible food. The AMEX Centurion Lounge is very good. Odd, in that this is Priority Club’s US headquarters.
Well I hope people do better in the US than they do in the UK with Priority Pass which is now a busted flush. You used to get what you had paid for with Priority Pass ie access to lounges at airports. Now lounges such as Aspire and Escape seem to think they make more money by selling tickets to get in so the whole atmosphere has gone don the drain. Instead of being like a business lounge they now tend to be full of drunken hen party candidates and lovely lads dressed in sleeveless vests sitting around 8 beer tins at 7.30 in the morning and people who want to drink the place dry. If you have Priority Pass forget it, you probably wont get in except in low season in the middle of winter when they don’t have any other customers then all of a sudden we are welcome! The worst offenders in my experience are at Manchester, London, Gatwick, Bristol, that is every lounge I ever try to use. So its time to forget Priority Pass. In my experience its an expensive scam.
The Club DFW D Terminal was only OK. It was filthy with limited seating. But what made it OK was that they had bottled water available (nothing like that at the AMEX lounge) and a handicap restroom that was MUCH cleaner and less used than AMEX as well. Not sure the effort to get there was worth the bottle of water, since I could have expensed one…
Do the restaurants show up in the app when looking for lounges? Would be helpful.
@i. e., Restaurants and minute suites show in the app. Timberline Steaks & Grille is a wonderful deal. $28 credit for cardholder and another $28 for guest. MSP PGA is only $15 when I visited.
The best PP Lounges I’ve visited in the US are the Turkish Airlines at IAD and VIP lounge at MIA.
The Korean Air lounges at LAX and JFK were disappointing. Korean Air is excellence in flight. On the ground, not so much,
Interesting about St. Louis. St. Louis joined PP in November I believe, with a pre-security Italian restaurant. I was there in late November and ate lunch with my boss — the total with drinks was $5 buck after the benefit. Then I went and hung out in the Admirals Club until my flight. Worked out quite well.
What does “cost for additional visits” mean?
Does it mean say at IAD your go to BA Lounge, then also head over to Turkish Air lounge – does that mean that you will get charged for going to the second lounge in the same day?
If you have multiple PP cards from different CC’s, which each have different PP membership numbers, then I assume you can use a different one to visit multiple lounges?
Re Alaska Lounge at Seatac closed to PP card holders most of the time, not my experience. I have been able to use it every single time after the new lounge was opened last year. Granted I can use the AMEX Centurion lounge with the AMEX Plat card, I always use the Alaska Lounge next to Gate C16 instead as it is bigger and tends to be more quiet. Plus it is closer to my AS flights most of the time.
The best thing about PP is the cost –none. Most of the domestic lounges are not convenient, and I can’t be bothered anymore to make the long hike only to play entry roulette.
If you take out all the restaurant locations and The Clubs (most of which are horrible) there’s really not much left. So AMEX, please accelerate your lounge openings to more than 1-2 per year, and stick a fork in the domestic PP program.
Priority Pass has been useless for me in the US.
My fave policy is that the Chase issued account doesn’t come with “digital card” feature in the app, so you have to literally carry the card around for the honor of being treated like second tier trash at third tier lounges.
It did save me 20 EUR once in Stockholm.
The Lounge in Cabo great drinks martinis included and food!
@Mark Prior: my wife and I were able to set up the digital card access on our iPhones using our PP (from CSR) just fine, and we used them multiple times within the past 3 weeks of holiday travel in Asia.
Gary,
Following up on Dianne’s comments re. the changes to the Hilton Honors Surpass/Ascend card, do you know if the 10 free visits count as well to say a spouse who has a (2nd) card in her own name with a different number-is that considered an authorized user-or just ME, the person who opened the account? I’m trying to see if when they swipe her card it will be recorded as another free visit of the allotted 10, or as a guest with a $27 fee.
@john and others: When I pull up the PP app, and i type in Denver, nothing comes up. Does it for you?
Thanks!
I have question. I know that I should know better. But our household has 5 PP cards. No one labeled any of them. Is there a way to tell which PP card came from what credit card? I know, I feel dumb. I usually know about this stuff and how to prevent the problems….
With PDX as my home airport, I’ve frequently visited both Capers lounges both outbound and returning. (I take Lyft to and from the airport, so no chance of a DUI inbound.)
The Alaskan lounge at the entrance to concourse D at SeaTac had their “sorry” sign for priority pass members. It was noon on April 26th. The place was 60 % empty… on both levels. I didn’t count but took pictures. The 60% is probably too low.
I travel through SEA-TAC frequently, and find that Alaska lounges rarely allow Priority Pass members access. This is while they freely allow members of other programs. Priority Pass has shown zero interest in correcting this, and their own lounges are in remote areas that are prohibitive unless one has a long layover.
@ Gary Leff — can you investigate this and see if you can either improve the situation, or push for truth in advertising? If Priority Pass can’t provide access that is on par with other programs they need to clearly state in advertising that access to Alaska lounges is rarely available.
Priority Pass just informed me that they are no longer offering access to restaurants. That’s 8 locations gone including the only location in Denver International Airport, my hometown airport and the fifth largest in the USA. Cancelled my AMEX Platinum Card as a result.
I love having lounge access with priority pass. Especially with access via a credit card. It is hard to find lounges that are accessible when flying southwest though.