Priority Pass was always a useful tool though it used to be much more under the radar. Now it comes with myriad premium credit cards, and with complimentary access not just the cardmember but for guests in many cases as well.
One of the interesting options included with Priority Pass is access to the ‘Minute Suites’ facilities — in Atlanta, Philadelphia, and both locations (terminals A and D) at Dallas Fort-Worth.
I had some time to kill in the Philadelphia airport recently and walked over to the Minute Suites there. It’s located in the connector between terminals A and B, which is accessible to other terminals as well (I landed in C).
Priority Pass gets you one hour of use of a room.
Here’s the normal price list:
When you check in they take not just your Priority Pass card but also a credit card and ID. They’ll authorize your credit card but not charge it. If you stay more than an hour, each additional hour will cost you $28. And there are plenty of add-ons you can pay for while you’re there.
I was shown to my suite at the end of the hall.
Now, a Minute Suites room is just a small room. It has a desk and a couch-ish area. There’s no restroom in the Minute Suites and that’s one of the things I usually value most in a club lounge. You have to go out into the terminal to use a public restroom.
Note the items on the side table next to the couch. There’s a clock (great for keeping track of your flight — and knowing when your hour will run out!). There’s a box of tissues (I don’t want to think about a private room in an airport and a box of tissues). And there’s bottled water and music for sale.
At the desk is a television and also the code for complimentary wifi which worked fine, but was slow uploading photos.
Notable there’s individual temperature control for the suite.
I wouldn’t want to sleep on the couch here. You get pillows, no blanket. (Apparently there’s sheets and a blanket for longer stays.) It’s not super soft, but it’s functional.
Personally I prefer a private room to work in than an open lounge. I wish more than one hour was available, 90 minutes or two hours would be great. I found myself looking at my watch too much not wanting to go over 60 minutes. Maybe just a grace period…
I did find the staff very friendly checking me in and saying goodbye.
I just used the MS in Atlanta (it’s on B concourse). Very similar reaction to you. I’d be kinda skeeved to take a nap on that couch without having a clean (boiled in hot water) sheet or pillowcase. Also the desk was weird about using PriorityPass, they wanted me to have an advance reservation. They gave me a reservation starting 35-40 minutes after I arrived but if I was willing to pay $48, I could have gone right in. So they don’t seem to give PP customers the same access as cash customers, just FYI (at least in ATL). That part was a little shady.
FYI, there is a blanket. It’s rolled up and tucked in a cubby hole underneath where the tissues/alarm clock are. They didn’t show it on my ‘orientation’ of the room but I noticed it when leaving.
I’ve used it a couple of times just because I had the time on a layover and it was included in PP. A use I hadn’t thought of earlier was getting a quiet spot for a phone call. PHL doesn’t have many quiet spots in the terminal outside of the lounges. There’s a white noise knob on the wall to drown you out for the neighbors.
Thanks for the review. I’ve known about their participation, but never really knew what I’d do with a free hour in a private room. It seems like the right amount of time for an airport tryst (if you’re into that), but not enough time to sleep or get settled in to do much work. If there were free drinks and snacks, it might be worth the effort, but without that, it doesn’t seem worth the trouble. Given how generous Priority Pass is with other airport vendors (especially those new restaurants), it’s surprising to me that their deal with Minute Suites only includes an hour.
They’re spending as much for a Minute Suites hour as they are for a lounge admittance or restaurant credit…
Can you use different priority pass cards to get 3-4 hours?
Nope. One Card per guest. Unless you get an agent who’s willing to break the rules.
Do cell phones work from there?
@ Gary Leff — If they’re spending the same, Priority Pass needs to renegotiate. Why would a small room with no free consumables be so expensive? Compare that to giving a whole family a free steak dinner at one of the new restaurants.
Lounge access usually becomes important when I made a booking mistake.
I am landing at Dfw about midnight with all of the lounges closed and virtually every restaurant and bar are closed. I found this minute suites deal on PP and trying to decide if I want to stretch the benefit until the first AA lounge opens at 4 am. The minute suites has two shower rooms which allow you 30 minutes for $20-$30 so you could conceivably spend most of your time waiting for a shower. With one free hour (and the difficulty of making a reservation with PP), and then paying $28 per hour for three more plus the shower charge, and the bathroom out in the terminal, it looks like whatever the Hyatt is charging will be a better deal. Now if only the DFW hotel would try to compete with this place and let me stay 4 hours for $100!
Rod,
Whatever the Hyatt is charging won’t be a better deal because:
1. you have to run the TSA security gauntlet in the morning to get back to the airside, and it’s always a hassle at that time of day, no matter which entrance you use.
2. if you go for Hyatt Place for less $, you’ll have to either wait for their shuttle to pick you up and take you back to the airport, or take the rental car shuttle bus to that facility and walk over to the hotel. Lost sleep time + it’s cold in November at midnight.
3. if you stay at the Regency for more $$, you’ll have to either wait for their shuttle, or walk through the parking lot, which is pretty creepy at that hour (not recommended if you are a single female). Lost sleep time + nightmares about being mugged.
4. if you stay at the Grand these time and safety and convenience issues pretty much melt away, because you’ll pay $400 for one night (week night rate).
Buy the hours you’ll need at Minute Suites, take your shower at the Admiral’s Club the next morning (or the Centurion Lounge). Save your time and $ for Hyatt when you have enough of both to enjoy the properties.
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Can someone elaborate on this perk please?
…giving a whole family a free steak dinner at one of the new restaurants…
Can someone elaborate on this perk please?