Lounge access used to be something reserved only for premium cabin flyers or long suffering elites stuck in coach. But frequent-flyer targeting credit cards are changing that equation now by offering lounge memberships.
The vast majority of card issuers partner with Priority Pass to provide lounge access to their cardholders. However, not all tie-ups are equal, as the table below shows
[table id=7 /]
Surprisingly, the UOB PRVI Miles card does not seem to offer lounge access, which is pretty shocking for something marketed as a frequent flyer card. Instead, they offer 20% and 10% off Singapore/Malaysia and Global Plaza Premium Lounges. That’s just weak.
EDIT: KT has pointed out that the Altitude AMEX does not have a Priority Pass. I can’t explain why, but it appears from the site that that is indeed the case.
Citibank Prestige clearly has the best lounge policy- unlimited free visits for the cardholder + one guest. That’s almost unheard of as most of the other banks will charge you for guest visits. HSBC Visa Infinite and ANZ Travel Card also offer unlimited visits, but for the cardholder only.
The other thing you should note about your credit card lounge access is whether your bank tracks it by calendar year or membership year.
If your bank says that you get 3 free visits per calendar year, it means you get 3 free visits from 1 Jan -31 Dec each year. But your bank may say you get 3 free visits per membership year. In this case, if your Priority Pass membership starts 1 May, then you have 1 May to 30 April in the subsequent year to use the 3 visits. Don’t get caught out by this!
Are the lounges actually worth it?
The vast majority of Priority Pass lounges will be run by 3rd party contractors like Plaza Premium or the airport authority (although some airlines will also sell access to Priority Pass). Therefore the quality is highly variable.
For example, some of the refurbished Plaza Premium loungesย are really nice. Here’s Hong Kong, for example-
Or the Star Alliance lounge in Sao Paulo, also open to Priority Pass cardholders
And on the other extreme you will have some very, very miserable lounges. Lounges so miserable I can’t be bothered to add photos of them (I can think of a couple I’ve visited in China and India though…)
So some will be great (eg. Star Alliance Lounge Sao Paulo) with champagne, showers and will be a great place to spend a few hours, while others will be purely a touch and go experience.
The best precaution against wasting your limited lounge visits on a crappy lounge is to simply ask at the front desk whether you can have a quick look inside before you decide. I’ve never had anyone say no to this before.
Another thing to note are that some lounges may impose time limits in theory, thoughย I’ve never seen these actively enforced (since it’s simply logistically too difficult to track who came in when).
Conclusion
Do you really need lounge access? Some airports are destinations in themselves and it would be a pity to lock yourself away in a corner the whole time and not explore.
But if you’re rushing some work, or if you’re in a dumpy airport, or if you’re empty inside and feel nice sitting in a slightly more exclusive place (guilty) then you should definitely see which of these cards you can make work for yourself.
Priority pass is only for dbs altitude Visa card and not the Amex version.
Love ur site Aaron
holy moley you’re right. I just assumed both cards had it but upon closer inspection it appears the altitude amex doesnt have a PP. I can’t figure out why though, doesn’t DBS earn more transaction fees on the AMEX? Weird.
Allow me to refer you to the first post on http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/credit-cards-line-credit-facilities-243/complimentary-lounge-access-cards-inc-priority-pass-4845642.html – some non-PP cards (though much more limited) you might want to add for completeness (as well as the AmEx Platinum Card). =D
awesome awesome resource louis, thank you. did you start that thread on hwz? i added a few i was missing to my table and left a link to your thread.
Nice summary. One more I remember is AMEX Krisflyer Ascend which comes with 4 Plaza Premium lounge vouchers.
https://www.americanexpress.com/sg/content/singapore-airlines-krisflyer-ascend-credit-card/
added!
How does one benefit from owning multiple cards if each card has a tie up with priority pass? Eg. If i own an Altitude card visa, does it mean that I get another 2 free entry if I also have citibank premiermiles?
yup! you can stack your visits.
UOB JCB card has unlimited lounge access in Asia (eg. Plaza Premium Lounge in HK!). Only thing is you can’t use the lounge in the card issued country (i.e. SG in our case). Still a good one if you frequently travel around Asia I suppose?
added, good find.
OCBC Voyage has an unlimited complimentary visits to PPL till end Sep 16. Details here: http://www.ocbc.com/assets/pdf/cards/voyage_ppl_tc%202016.pdf
awesome find! thank you, will update the article
Some relevant info for supplementary card holders: Lounge benefits likeย Priority Pass usually only goes to Principal cardholders, but HSBC Visa Infinite does extend Priority Pass (unlimited) to supplementary cardholders.
Am not sure about other cards.
This is stretching it a bit, but DBS Treasures gets you and a guest unlimited access to KrisFlyer Gold lounge
http://www.dbs.com.sg/treasures/travel-privileges-krisflyer.page
If the Gold lounge is a bit common for you (and it is a bit), DBS Treasures Private Client has it’s own lounges at Changi.
http://www.dbs.com.sg/treasures-private-client/privileges/asia-treasures.page
haha DBS asia treasures, yes. i believe you need 2M AUM with them for that…
the DBS lounge is great though, much better than SKL at least in terms of food IMO, although many may not appreciate the lack of showers.
Maybank visa infinite also has lounge access but not sure if it’s unlimited or not.
The citi Prestige has PP that has guesting privileges, but the Ultima that costs 10 times as much doesn’t. its a bit ridiculous, but i guess many of you would consider paying that much for a CC absurd anyway.
they probably go on the assumption that if you hold the Ultima, you are flying nothing less than biz class, and the PPL access (or lack of) becomes a non-issue.
Question: What happens if you cancel the credit card linked to the priority pass? Would you still be able to use it?
great work! but i wish to add SCB has two VI now. One new VI and one old Priority Banking VI which if i am not wrong still has unlimited lounge access – https://www.sc.com/sg/priority/visa-infinite.html
Honestly, I don’t get the attraction of the PP lounges.
The only differences it has over pacing outside with the herds are pre-packed sandwiches, no-other-choice-so-got-to-eat dishes and some drinks. Moreover, PPL access is so ubiquitous that you are often tussling for the last chair and rummaging over dehydrated meat and vegetable scraps.
In all fairness, the same could be said for Krisflyer Gold lounge.
You can also download the app and set up various accounts on it. I have two accounts in the same app and you can switch btw the accounts. Depending on the account, you can also use the digital card on the phone and load it up to your apple wallet.
Just to addon… Prestige also provide Jetquay now which is a major plus on top of the unlimited lounge access!
https://www.citibank.com.sg/prestige/terms-benefits.html
thanks. i’ve not used jetquay before but i read a couple of trip reports and the experience seems to be underwhelming. is the only hot food they have there still instant noodles?
[…] details of every lounge you have access to, including several at Changi. Milelion has a great primer on all the ways to get lounge access via credit cards in […]
[…] the best thing about the lounge is that it accepts Priority Pass so holders of many credit cards can gain access for free when travelling budget or […]
I was wondering – is there any way to pre-determine in advance which boarding the gate the plane is going to be at in the airport other than knowing it only upon arrival at the airport when your boarding pass is printed?
I understand that gate allocation may usually done last minute, but any sort of advance information (even if it is 1 to 2 hours before arriving at the airport) would be useful to plan as to which is the nearest/best lounge to visit and wait prior to boarding.
if you’re departing from SIN, not really. departing from overseas SQ generally uses the same few gates because those are located closer to their lounges.
Just a note, HSBC Vi SUB card gets unlimited pp as well! its as close to unlimited guest i guess?
Hey Aaron
Would you happen to know if ur plane departs from say terminal 2, how do u visit a lounge in terminal 1? Are they connected?
If not, how does it work? You pass the gate, then exit again later and take the Sky train to terminal 2??
Its easy at Changi, there is a skytrain airside so no need to go through immigration or security.
I have flown Malaysian a few time from T2 but happily trekked over to T1 to visit the rather good Qantas lounge. The lounge dragons always give me a bemused smile. ๐
Thanks! So if I wanna check out the lounge in t1, do I pass immigration at t1 then take the airside train to t2? Or do I pass immigration in t2 and take the train to t1?
You have to go through immigration in the terminal from which your flight departs and then take the airside train to go to the other terminals. I’ve also done this numerous times.
Thank u for the valuable info guys!
Hi Aaron
I have several PP membership cards. Do you know can only the named member printed on the card use it or can I also use one of my extra card with my name to admit a guest?
depends on the lounge. FWIW, I tried this with my gf in bali airport a few years back and got told no. the passenger name on the boarding pass must match the name on the PP. but i do know that not every lounge is as strict, so no harm trying