Priority Pass is increasing lounge visit prices from 18 September 2018

Price of lounge visits after free allowance is exhausted to increase from US$27 to US$32.

Many of us will hold at least one Priority Pass membership by virtue of having a credit card such as the Citibank PremierMiles or the HSBC Visa Infinite. These memberships provide complimentary lounge access to cardholders ranging from twice a year in the case of Citi PremierMiles cardholders to unlimited visits for HSBC Visa Infinite cardholders.

These complimentary visitsย generally apply to the main cardholder only and if you were to bring a guest into the lounge or used up your complimentary Priority Pass access quota, you’d have to fork out an additional USD27 at lounges worldwide with your Priority Pass card.

As reported by AusBT, the price for additional visits intoย Priority Pass lounges worldwide will go upย to USD32 from 18 September 2018.ย 

 Main Dining Area Plaza Premium Lounge (Terminal 1 Zone D) - Taipei Taoyuan International Airport
Plaza Premium Taipei | Credits: The Shutterwhale

Lounge and restaurant benefits remain the same

The increase in price to USD32 has definitely been coming given that Priority Pass lounge access prices have not increased for quite some time. Priority Pass can also be used for dining at certain restaurants in select airports around the world where you will receive meal credits to offset the cost of dining. You can have a read of Louis’s experience with that here when he was at Brisbane.

AusBT has reported that most restaurants participating in Priority Pass will still offer the same amount of dining credits after the cost of visits goes up. But of course, I don’t really recommend paying the fee just to eat at Priority Pass restaurants as that doesn’t really make much sense.

Concluding Thoughts

Priority Pass lounge can be hit and miss. Some are clearly worth paying more than USD32, others aren’t even worth USD27. The best lounges have free pour alcohol and high quality buffet food (or even made to order items), the worst are no more than glorified waiting rooms.

If you travel frequently enough you might want to consider signing up for cards which offer unlimited lounge access through Priority Pass such as The Platinum Card from Amex, Citi Prestige as well as the HSBC Visa Infinite.

Matthew Chong
Matthew Chong
Addicted to luxury travel while trying not to go broke, Matthew is always on the prowl for the best deals in the travel industry. When he's not busy studying, he can be found trawling the internet and reading up on credit cards, airlines and hotels. He also wouldn't mind taking you out on a date.

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freedom

Maybe thatโ€™s the reason Citi PremierMiles dropped priority pass?

Btw, United MileagePlus is offering up to 100% bonus mile purchase. Will you write an article about it and any sweet spot to use it?

Thanks.

Ed

My past experiences with several lounges had been pure disappointment. I would rather spend the money hanging out in airport restaurant or other lounges. And donโ€™t get me started on the overcrowding issues with their lounges..