Revealed: Which Plaza Premium lounges are leaving Priority Pass & LoungeKey

The Plaza Premium Group will be finalizing its divorce with the Priority Pass and LoungeKey networks on 1 July 2021, a major blow to two of the largest lounge membership programs on earth. 

Plaza Premium issued the following statement back in April (emphasis mine):

“In view of the rapidly changing travel environment and staying true to our mission in Making Travel Better, we have reassessed our product and service offerings in the hope of creating a comprehensive airport hospitality experience to reach more travellers globally.

As a result, it is with regret that we have decided not to renew our contract with Priority Pass and LoungeKey, effective 1 July 2021 except for a small number of lounges which are still under review.”

You’ll notice the caveat that a handful of Plaza Premium lounges will remain on the Priority Pass/LoungeKey networks from 1 July (both are run by The Collinson Group, so I’ll just refer to them collectively as Priority Pass from now on). 

Further details have come to light, and we now know that almost 60 Plaza Premium lounges will be leaving the Priority Pass network, although 11 in India plus a couple elsewhere will be remaining.

Which Plaza Premium lounges are leaving/staying?

Plaza Premium has published a list of lounges that will be leaving and staying in the Priority Pass network. 

To make the list more complete, I’ve taken the liberty of adding Plaza Premium lounges that were never Priority Pass facilities in the first place (e.g. Plaza Premium Dallas Forth Worth), as well as lounges not mentioned but remaining with Priority Pass nonetheless (e.g Blossom Lounge Changi Terminal 4). 

All lounges with a ❌ are unavailable from 1 July 2021 unless otherwise stated.

Americas

Asia Pacific

China- Mainland, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan

Europe

Middle East

India

As you can see, only the 11 Plaza Premium lounges in India will be remaining in the Priority Pass network, plus a handful of co-managed lounges like the Sapphire-PPL facility in Jakarta. 

In the case of Singapore, the Plaza Premium lounge in Terminal 1 will no longer be available to Priority Pass members, a real shame since it was a very decent facility.

Fortunately, there’s no shortage of alternative facilities here. Priority Pass members can still access the following lounges at Changi:

Note in particular the Blossom Lounge in Terminal 4 (jointly run by SATS & Plaza Premium) will remain on the Priority Pass network. 

What alternative facilities are available?

The Collinson Group has created a webpage listing alternative amenities at affected airports. Quite a few of the alternative facilities are not lounges per se, they’re airport experiences like sleep pods or restaurants.

For example, Priority Pass members in Vancouver can access the Stanley Park Taphouse, while those in Melbourne can access Bar Pulpo. The typical arrangement is that members will get a fixed credit (C$37 in Vancouver, A$36 in Melbourne) off the bill. While some may prefer a cooked-to-order meal over the heat lamp stuff in lounges, others may mourn the loss of privacy (insofar as a lounge is more private than a restaurant). 

Moreover, there are some airports tagged as “pipeline being developed”, which is a fancy way of saying “go fish”. Until further notice, there will be no facilities whatsoever for Priority Pass and LoungeKey members at the following airports:

Which credit cards will retain access?

If you hold one of the following credit cards, you’ll still be able to access Plaza Premium lounges from 1 July as per normal:

Card	Lounge Network	Free Visits (Per Year)
		Principal	Supp.
Income Requirement S$30-50K
ICBC Global Travel Mastercard^	DragonPass	6*	N/A
AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend	Plaza Premium	4	N/A
Income Requirement ≥S$120K
BOC Visa Infinite	Plaza Premium	2	N/A
CIMB Visa Infinite	DragonPass	3	N/A
UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card	DragonPass	4	N/A
OCBC VOYAGE	Plaza Premium	∞	∞
AMEX Platinum Charge	Priority Pass, Plaza Premium, AMEX & Centurion Lounges, Delta SkyClubs	∞ + 1-2 guests	∞ + 1-2 guests
Priority Banking Customers
OCBC PB Visa Infinite	Plaza Premium	2	2
^Also available on ICBC Horoscope Credit Card, ICBC Chinese Zodiac Credit Card and ICBC Unionpay Dual Currency Credit Card *Cap applied by calendar year. All other caps refer to membership year

Plaza Premium’s pivot away from Priority Pass coincides with its cozying up to DragonPass. A new partnership has been signed which will allow DragonPass members to continue accessing Plaza Premium lounges, and more excitingly, those with Plaza Premium access will soon be able to visit the wider DragonPass network too. 

Conclusion

The vast majority of the Plaza Premium network will disappear from Priority Pass & Lounge Key come 1 July, leaving them with major coverage gaps at certain airports. If your credit card comes with a Priority Pass, you’ll definitely want to take note of this when travel resumes- especially if it’s the Hong Kong ATB. 

My guess is that Priority Pass will try and work out restaurant access in these airports as a stopgap solution, though it’s hard to see what they can do in airports where Plaza Premium is the only game in town (like Langkawi).