A week and a half ago I noted that Capital One credit cards lose Plaza Premium lounge access after February, except for those Plaza Premium lounges that are members of Priority Pass (in which case you access them with your Priority Pass card, rather than your credit card).
Plaza Premium Lounge DFW Is Priority Pass-Accessible
Now we learn that Capital One will be limiting Priority Pass guests to two (complimentary, more can be paid for), which is fairly standard. Until now they’ve had unlimited guests, like the Chase Ritz-Carlton card and like Sapphire Reserve used to offer.
Venture X and Venture X Business cardholders can bring two guests to Priority Pass lounges.
This appears to be new language. The card has covered unlimited guests in the past. I’ve reached out to Capital One for clarification about whether this is a hard limit that’s already gone into effect, or just a change in marketing language.
I’ve written about someone who brought 19 guests into a Priority Pass lounge and a reader who used Priority Pass to bring 35 people into the Pearl lounge in Kigali, Rwanda.
[W]e were a group of ~35 people on a wedding trip flying [Bujumbura, Burundi to Kigali, Rwanda to Dar Es Salaam to Saadani National Park in Tanzania] and had to wait around 6 hours in Kigali (nice airport by the way)….The lounge wasn’t that full but we did fill a around half of it. Lounge is great also, good food etc.
Both of these changes to Capital One lounge access are modest, and won’t affect more cardmembers. Still, it’s sad to see. I’ll still continue to access Plaza Premium lounges via Amex Platinum, and my wife and I each have Priority Pass cards (from several issuers).
The unique value add of Capital One from a lounge perspective is their own-branded airport spaces. I find that Capital One manages crowding better in their lounges than others, even when there’s a wait (virtual queue, decent estimates of how long it will take to get inside, and once you’re in they don’t feel as crowded as others). I think their food is generally better, too. And that’s not even counting their fantastic new tapas restaurant at Washington National airport.
Capital One’s Venture X still represents amazing value, in my opinion. The card’s $395 annual fee gets offset by a $300 travel credit and with 10,000 bonus points at renewal (worth $100 in travel, or transferable to airline miles and hotel points). Then you get lounge access and other benefits, as well as double points on all spend. It’s priced better than competitor premium cards.
Many of us already hold multiple Priority Pass memberships from the various premium credit cards that we hold, so a limit of 2 guests (3 persons total) is not unreasonable. Capital One was the outlier already; them closing this loophole is not a major loss, unless you were gaming the system well-beyond the norm, like bringing in +10 people, off the street, just for fun.
Does anyone have a list of Plaza Premium lounges that don’t participate in Priority Pass?
I typically have access to airline-operated lounges and have needed to use PP (perhaps) once in the past three years. In the US, if an airport even has a PP, it is often in an inconvenient concourse. With multiple cards offering PP, I’d keep one PP membership but would be happier with a no-PP option on the other cards with a lower annual fee. And, as my wife and I each have PP, we could have four guests. For most, I don’t see this limit being a problem. And, on the Venture X, add your kids as a no-fee additional users — give them the PP card but you keep their additional user credit card. Capito?
Honestly though it feels like most of the food at the cap one lounges is cheap, prepackaged stuff and other cheap food single serve plates like Mac and cheese, sloppy joes, chicken masala that is barely real chicken, premade salads, etc whereas Amex goes above and beyond with the quality in their buffets serving up chicken thighs, soups, filet mignon at times and other great foods customizable to your own liking. I rarely feel satisfied at the capital one lounges from a food perspective when I can go to both and have a bonanza buffet at amex. I haven’t tried the tapas place though.
Lee – one note – you need to be 18 for a Priorty Pass Membership. I tried for my son when he was 17 and was told we had to wait. Not sure if that has changed.
Well, there will be the assholes that ruins it for everyone else. That’s what happens.
Gary: just ate at dc’s cap one jose andres “lounge”. Fabulous. .. will prioritize this over aa admiral’s lounge at e gates. Not as comfy, of course.
Jim, almost included “adult kids” in my comment. Ha.
Plaza Premium access being nerfed is painful. There is a very large slate of lounges no longer accessible, and these are some of the highest quality ones accessible with a credit card.
What a joke. 35 people on a pass. Ruining it for everyone else
The best Plaza Premiums are mostly over seas and part of Priority Pass. The real loss to me is in the domestic terminal in Cancun where the Plaza isn’t the greatest but still better than the crowded VIP priority pass next door that last time had a line down the hall. AmEx Plat still gets us in but I would never keep that long term just for Plaza. Plaza also has its own rules for Priority Pass like Escape Lounges where you are limited on guests regardless of what Priority Pass allowance you have/had.
I’ve seen a decline in both, service and quality of food offered at ASPIRE lounge at Ontario International Airport in Ontario, California. Once I was told by a staff member that ASPIRE lunch was reserved solely for China Airlines passengers and was denied access to it.
Called to PP and they said it was wrong, I should have been welcomed to the lounge.
The $300 Venture X portal credit is too restrictive for many people. Most of my relatives and friends have changed to Venture or left altogether. I have used the travel credit for Spirit, JetBlue, and mid-priced hotels where the prices are not inflated.