Credit cards with free lounge access

  Airfare Booking Strategies, Credit Card Reference

Airport lounge access is usually reserved for elite-level frequent flyers, business or first-class passengers, and people who've purchased lounge memberships. However, you can also get free airport lounge access just by having a premium credit card.

Most people are going to want at least one high-end credit card that includes free airport lounge access, along with other benefits. While the annual fees for these cards may seem high, each card provides travel credits that offset part of the fees, making your out-of-pocket cost significantly lower.

By taking advantage of free lounge access, you can spend your time waiting for your flight in comfortable chairs—enjoying free food and drinks, high-speed Wi-Fi, and abundant power outlets.

However, airport lounge access, particularly access to the lounges that you can access by having the right credit card, is going down in value. Lounges are getting more crowded and chaotic (partly because of the rise in credit cards that provide lounge access), while the airports themselves are upgrading their normal seating, power outlets, and Wi-Fi options.

For most people, signing up for credit cards, just to receive travel benefits, good reward earning rates, or lucrative signup bonuses, isn't an irresponsible thing to do. It won't kill your credit rating—it just might improve it. But, if you have a problem with credit, or you aren't organized enough to avoid unwanted credit card fees, you'll need to stick to our other strategies for discounted travel. For more information, see our Credit Cards 101 guide.

Jump to

• Priority Pass Select
• Additional lounge access with the Amex Platinum card
• Premium cards that include a Priority Pass Membership
• Apps to help find available lounges
• Authorized user cards
• High-end airline cards
• Additional credit cards

Priority Pass Select: The major airport lounge program

All the premium reward cards provide free access to airport lounges through an airport lounge program called “Priority Pass Select”.  Once you enroll in the program, you’ll receive a membership card, which you can use for free access at over 1,000 airport lounges around the world.

• Unlike most traditional paths to lounge access, you don't need to be flying a specific airline to gain lounge access—as a result, lounges are less likely to be in located close to your departure gate.. But you can use any participating lounge at the airport, regardless of which airline you are flying that day.
• The membership you get from your credit card doesn’t just work for you—it entitles you to bring in some number of travel companions at no extra charge. However, the guest policy is different for different cards, and is detailed below. If there are multiple adults in your household, make sure to read the discussion about authorized users and lounge access at the end of this guide.
• In general, you’ll find great availability at international airports, and a bit less availability in the United States. The lounges that belong to the Priority Pass Select program usually aren’t quite as nice as many of the nicer business and first-class lounges that you can find in international airports, but they are in the same class as most of the domestic airport lounges run by American, Delta, and United. View all the Priority Pass lounges.

• The program is most valuable if your home airport has one or more participating lounges, as you will have an opportunity to use a lounge every time you leave town.  If your home airport doesn’t have a lounge, you’ll get less value from the pass, as you'll typically only be able to use at your destination and/or connecting airport.  A few larger airports don’t have participating Priority Pass lounges, including LaGuardia, Ft. Lauderdale, Salt Lake City, and San Diego.
• Priority Pass has started adding airport restaurants to the program. At a few dozen airports, you can visit a participating restaurant and receive a $28 credit (usually) per person to spend on food and drink. Generally, you'll eat and drink better at one of these restaurants than you would at an airport lounge. At most restaurants, you need to sit at a table, but at some restaurants you can take food to go. If an airport has multiple participating restaurants, you can check into multiple locations during the same trip. For longer stays, you can sometimes check-in and receive a separate dining credit, every two hours (sometimes you are limited to once per day).
• You can usually visit a lounge after you arrive and not just before you leave. Sometimes its nice to pick up a quick drink or snack after you land. However, particularly when you need to go through immigration, it is not always possible to get to the lounge area at the arrival airport. And some lounges or restaurants limit visits to those with "departing" tickets.

Access to additional lounges with the Amex Platinum card

The American Express Platinum card provides access to several additional lounge programs, and not just Priority Pass.

Amex Platinum Card Guide

• Delta Sky Club. Cardholders get access to any Delta lounge, but only if they have a same-day boarding pass for a Delta flight. Only cardholders get free access (not the usual number of travelling companions), but you can bring up to 2 guests for a $29 per person fee, or pay $175 per year to add up to three authorized cardholders, who would then get the benefit themselves.
• Centurion lounges. American Express has been building out a set of “Centurion Lounges” at major airports. These lounges have nicer décor and better food than most of the domestic lounges that participate in the Priority Pass program. However, they are only located in a single terminal in a few airports: Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Miami, Le Guardia, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, and Hong Kong. Additional lounges are planned for Denver, JFK, Los Angeles, Charlotte, and Heathrow. The Platinum card’s lounge benefit is most interesting for people who live in those cities. Centurion Lounges. Lounge access is only available while waiting for a connecting flight or within 3 hours of your original scheduled departure time.
• American Express International lounges. American Express also runs a network of branded lounges outside of the United States.  There are 10 lounges, mostly in Mexico. These generally aren’t as high-end as the domestic Centurion lounges, and guest privileges vary by lounge. International American Express Lounges. 
• Airspace lounges. Cardholders get access to any Airspace lounge, for themselves and their family or up to two companions. As of now, there are only three of these lounges: in Cleveland, San Diego, and JFK. Airspace Lounges.
• Escape lounges in the US Cardholders get access to any US-based Escape lounges, for themselves and up to two companions. As of now, there are only three US based lounges: in Minneapolis, Oakland, and Reno.  Escape Lounges.
• Lufthansa lounges in Munich and Frankfurt. Finally, cardholders get access to Lufthansa lounges in Frankfurt and Munich, but only when travelling on Lufthansa, Swiss, or Austrian airlines. As with Delta lounges, there is no guest privilege. Economy-class passengers get access to the "Business" lounge, and premium-class passengers get access to the "Senator" lounge.

Premium cards that include a Priority Pass Membership

Every high-end credit card provide a Priority Pass Membership. Chances are that you will want to make one or more of these cards part of your core credit card collection. Even if you don’t, you’ll likely decide to temporarily sign up for each of these cards, in order to collect their lucrative signup bonuses, and will wind up temporarily getting lounge access, as a side benefit. It isn't hard to maintain continuous lounge access simply by spreading out your applications for each of the different premium credit cards. Which Premium Reward Card is Right for You?

Amex Platinum Card	2 guests. Also provides access to additional lounges (as listed above).
Chase Sapphire Reserve	2 guests.
Citi Prestige	Entire family, or up to 2 other guests.
Hilton Aspire	2 guests
Marriott Brilliant	2 guests
CNB Crystal Infinite	Unlimited guests. Up to two cardholders get their own memberships.
Ritz Carlton	Unlimited guests. Free authorized users get their own membership. But the card is no longer available for new signups.
US Bank Altitude Reserve	1 guest. Limited to only 4 visits per year.
UBS Infinite	Unlimited guests.

If you wind up with multiple Priority Pass memberships, it is helpful to write the name of the corresponding credit card on each membership card, or keep a list of account numbers, so that you know which membership you'll need to stop using when you cancel a credit card.

Two mobile apps that can help you access lounges on your trips

Two mobile apps make it easier to find available lounges at any airport.

The LoungeBuddy App

If you have an iPhone, the LoungeBuddy app is the best way to check out your options. Apple App Store

It lets you quickly view all the lounges at every airport. It provides ratings (Basic, Solid, Fresh or Luxe), short descriptions, photos, and user reviews, so that it is easy to choose from any available options. And, its detailed access information makes it easy to find your way to the lounge once you get to the airport.

Once you let LoungeBuddy know you have a Priority Pass membership, it will automatically filter the list to make it easy to find the lounges and restaurants you have access to (although you can always look at the complete list). If you have access to additional lounges through an Amex Platinum card, elite frequent flyer status, or some other method, it can include those in the results as well.

The Priority Pass App

Priority Pass has its own app, which can also be useful. It quickly shows all the lounges and restaurants where you can use your Priority Pass membership and works on Android as well as iPhone. But, the information it provides about each lounge isn't as helpful as Lounge Buddy's, and isn't extensible to include lounges that aren't part of the Priority Pass program. Apple App Store Google Play

At many locations, you can use the membership information in the Priority Pass app to check in to the lounge, without needing your normal membership card.

Lounge access with authorized user cards

Authorized card holders usually get their own lounge access benefits. There are two reasons why this advantageous. It provides access to the authorized cardholder, even when they are travelling without the primary cardholder. And. it increases the number of guests that can be brought into the lounge.

There are a few cases where it is particularly beneficial to be able to bring in additional guests. With the Amex Platinum card, only cardholders can freely access Delta lounges (with Delta flights), so adding someone as an authorized cardholder, gets you both in for free. At other lounges, the Amex card only allows a total of two guests, so adding an authorized cardholder is useful for families with more than one child.

But, adding authorized cardholders (on the premium cards which offer lounge access) usually costs $50-75 per year. The Amex Platinum card has a $175 fee, but covers up to three additional cardholders.

There are exceptions, where you can add an authorized cardholder for free. The Morgan Stanley version of the Platinum card, lets you add your first authorized cardholder at no additional charge.  The Ritz Carlton card lets you add unlimited numbers of authorized cardholders at no charge, but is no longer available for new signups. The CNB Infinite card also has free authorized cardholders, but only gives a Priority Pass membership to a total of two cardholders.

Note that Amex Platinum authorized card holders also get Hilton and Marriott Gold status and the global entry free reimbursement, in addition to lounge access.

Lounge access with high-end airline cards

Each of the US legacy airlines offers a premium card, that provides lounge access to their own network of lounges. Unless you get a big discount on membership fees from having high-end status, access via the airline’s premium credit card is cheaper than purchasing a membership outright, and you’ll get other benefits as well.

American Airlines Executive Card Guide	The Admiral Executive card comes with an Admiral’s club membership for each authorized user, with two guests per cardholder. It works at Admiral Club lounges, as well as Qantas lounges when you fly Qantas. You also get free checked bags and other benefits, including the ability to earn up to 10,000 elite qualifying miles per year. The annual fee is $450/year, and there is no cost to add authorized cardholders.
Delta Credit Card Guide	The Delta Reserve card comes with Delta Sky Club access for yourself, and discounted access for up to two guests. You’ll also get free checked bags and other benefits, including the ability to earn up to 15,000 MQMs per year.The annual fee is $450.
United Credit Card Guide	The United Club card comes with a United Club membership, which includes access to United Clubs and some Star Alliance lounges, for you and your family, or up to two other travelling companions.  You’ll also get free checked bags, and other benefits. The card earns 1.5x United miles per dollar, which makes this an interesting general purpose reward card, for people who can justify the fee, and who can’t get the Chase Chase Unlimited combo.

Additional credit cards with some type of lounge access

Several other credit cards provide some level of lounge access. None of these benefits are as valuable as a normal Priority Pass Select membership. However, they might be a good option for anyone who doesn't have lounge access with another card.

Hilton Credit Card Guide

The Hilton Aspire and Hilton Business cards provide 10 free Priority Pass lounges visits per year, and charge $27 for additional visits.  $95 annual fee.

Diner's Club Card Guide

All the Diners Club credit card cards provide access to a network of over 700 airport lounges. Diners Club lounges.  Diners Club cards are now part of the Mastercard network, and can be used at any Mastercard merchant. The least expensive card has an $95 annual fee, and charges $35 for additional card holders. Diners club points can be transferred to airline programs. and the card offers primary rental car coverage. All-in-all this makes a compelling combination. However, Diners Club haven’t accepted new applications since the end of 2014.

In addition, there are a few cards that offer one or two single-use club passes each year that you have the card, most notably the United Explorer Credit Card and Miles & More Credit Card. 

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