2024 Edition: Best Credit Cards for Airport Lounge Access

Complimentary lounge access is an increasingly common perk of many miles cards in Singapore (and even some cashback ones), allowing cardholders to visit an airport lounge regardless of airline or cabin, in Singapore and overseas.

Allowances range from just a couple of visits to unlimited access plus guests. As always, you get what you pay for- expect basic benefits for entry level cards, and more generous allowances for premium ones. 

In this article, I’ll do a full rundown of the best credit cards for airport lounge access.

Summary: Credit cards with airport lounge access

Here’s an overall summary of which credit cards grant airport lounge access, the network they use, and how many free visits you’re entitled to. 

Card	Lounge Network	Free Visits (Per Year)
		Principal	Supp.
Income Requirement S$30K
Maybank Horizon Visa Signature	Selected lounges in SIN, KUL, HKG	Spend S$1K in single trxn. within 3 months prior to travel for 1x visit
Diners Club Cards	Diners Network	1*	N/A
Citi PremierMiles	Priority Pass	2*	N/A
DBS Altitude Visa	Priority Pass	2	N/A
AMEX HighFlyer Card	Priority Pass	2	N/A
SCB Journey Card	Priority Pass	2	N/A
HSBC TravelOne Card	DragonPass	4*	N/A
AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend	Plaza Premium	4	N/A
Income Requirement ≥S$120K
CIMB Visa Infinite	DragonPass	3	N/A
BOC Visa Infinite	Plaza Premium	4#	N/A
Maybank Visa Infinite	Priority Pass	4	N/A
SCB Visa Infinite	Priority Pass	6	N/A
UOB Lady’s Solitaire Metal Card	Dragon Pass	6*	6*
DBS Vantage	Priority Pass	10	N/A
OCBC VOYAGE	Dragon Pass	∞	N/A
HSBC Visa Infinite	LoungeKey	∞
UOB VI Metal Card	DragonPass	∞ + 1 guest	N/A
Citi Prestige	Priority Pass	∞ + 1 guest	N/A
AMEX Platinum Charge	Priority Pass, Plaza Premium, AMEX & Centurion Lounges, and others	∞ + 1-2 guests
Income Requirement ≥S$500K
DBS Insignia	Priority Pass	∞	N/A
Citi ULTIMA	Priority Pass	∞	∞
UOB Reserve	Priority Pass	∞ + 1 guest	∞
AMEX Centurion	Priority Pass, Plaza Premium, AMEX & Centurion Lounges, and others	∞ + 1-2 guests
Priority Banking Customers
OCBC Premier Visa Infinite	Plaza Premium	2	N/A
SCB Priority Banking VI	Priority Pass	12^	N/A
*Allowance follows calendar year instead of membership year #BOC Visa Infinite allowance runs from 1 November to 31 October the following year ^With min. AUM S$200K. If AUM falls under S$200K, then two visits

When comparing lounge benefits across cards, consider the following factors.

Which lounge network is used?

The main lounge networks used by credit cards are Priority Pass, LoungeKey, Dragon Pass and Plaza Premium.

Network	Airports	Lounges
Priority Pass	730	1,500+
Lounge Key	730	1,500+
DragonPass	740	1,300+
Plaza Premium Lounges	~100	200+

I’m of the opinion that you should be fairly indifferent between Priority Pass, Lounge Key and DragonPass, because there’s significant overlap in their coverage. Plaza Premium, however, is a much smaller group, and you should take note if your card partners with this network.

Priority Pass & LoungeKey

Priority Pass and LoungeKey are owned by the same company, and offer the largest lounge network globally.

While there was a two-year period where they lost access to Plaza Premium lounges, that was resolved in June 2023, and most Plaza Premium Lounges have rejoined Priority Pass and LoungeKey.

To bolster their value proposition in airports where they have no lounge agreements, Priority Pass has added alternative amenities like F&B credits, or access to sleep pods in Dubai or nap rooms in selected US airports.

DragonPass

DragonPass is a China-based lounge programme with more than 1,300 lounges, including some at railway stations in China. Members can redeem free meals at certain airport restaurants, or even things like complimentary massages. 

Plaza Premium

Plaza Premium has a much smaller network of 200+ own-branded and third-party managed lounges worldwide. While its footprint is small, Plaza Premium lounges tend to be much higher quality than the average contract lounge, and in some airports (e.g. Penang and Langkawi), Plaza Premium is the only lounge operator. 

Plaza Premium also has a chain of Plaza Premium First Lounges which offer an experience that, in theory, is supposed to rival that of some First Class airline lounges. I visited the lounge in Hong Kong prior to COVID and found it to be great, though more recent reports suggest the standards have come down. 

Plaza Premium First Lounges require an upcharge, so take note if you intend to visit.

How are free visits tracked?

Free visit entitlements are usually tracked based on membership year, i.e. the date when you got your lounge membership. For example, if your Priority Pass was approved in April, your free visits will be tracked from 1 April to 31 March of the following year. 

However, there are a handful of cards which track entitlements by the calendar year (i.e. 1 January to 31 December):

• Diners Club
• Citi PremierMiles Card
• HSBC TravelOne Card
• UOB Lady’s Solitaire Metal Card

And if you hold a BOC Visa Infinite, do note your free visit entitlement runs from 1 November to 31 October.

In case you were wondering, free visit entitlements can be stacked across cards. For example, if you have both the DBS Altitude Visa (two free Priority Pass visits) and the Citi PremierMiles Card (two free Priority Pass visits), you’ll have a total of four visits to use. You will need to register and keep track of separate Priority Pass cards, though. 

How I keep track of multiple Priority Pass cards

How many guests are allowed?

With most cards, bringing a guest means you’ll have to use one of your free visit entitlements. For example, bringing a guest with you on your DBS Altitude Visa’s Priority Pass would exhaust your two visit allowance.

However, some higher-end cards like allow you to bring a guest for free. 

Card	Guest Allowance
AMEX Platinum Charge	1-2, depending on lounge
Citi Prestige	1
UOB VI Metal Card	1
UOB Reserve Card	1

The policy on children is more nebulous and varies by lounge. In general, infants under the age of 2 will be admitted for free, while some lounges may permit free entry for kids up to 12 years old. 

Do supplementary cardholders get access?

As a rule of thumb, lounge privileges are only accorded to the principal cardholder. That said, there are a few exceptions. 

Card	Supp. Cardholder Entitlement
UOB Reserve Card	Unlimited visits
Citi ULTIMA	Unlimited visits (available for up to two supplementary cardholders)
AMEX Platinum Charge	Unlimited visits (only the first supplementary cardholder gets a Priority Pass)*
HSBC Visa Infinite	Unlimited visits (available for up to five supplementary cardholders)
UOB Lady’s Solitaire Metal Card	6 visits
*Certain lounges such as the Plaza Premium Lounge Group can be visited simply by showing the AMEX Platinum Charge card, so your 2nd and subsequent supplementary cardholder will still get access to these

Annual fee waivers

Lounge entitlements are not linked to your payment of the annual fee. For example, if you get an annual fee waiver for the DBS Altitude Visa, you’ll still enjoy two lounge visits per membership year.

However, there are some credit cards which do not offer fee waivers, like the Citi Prestige. In this case, not paying the annual fee means cancelling the card, which means no lounge visits (obviously).

Conclusion

The quality of airport lounges can be extremely variable. The best precaution against wasting your free visit on a crappy lounge is to simply ask whether you can have a quick look inside before deciding.

Here’s some things to look out for when surveying a lounge:

• How plentiful are power outlets and USB charging ports?
• What’s the quality of the F&B selection (especially alcohol!) like?
• Are there shower rooms, and do they look clean?
• Does the lounge have productivity pods or workstations?
• Is there a napping area, or better yet, nap rooms?

In theory, some lounges do impose time limits on visits, but I’ve never seen this actively enforced because of the difficulty tracking who came in when. If lounges do enforce time limits, they usually base it on time of departure (e.g. if your flight departs at 9 p.m and the restriction is three hours per visit, they won’t let you in before 6 p.m).

Here’s to happy lounge hopping in 2024!