Which credit cards allow you to share lounge visits?

If you’re looking for a credit card that offers lounge access, the good news is that there’s plenty of options in Singapore- more than two dozen, at last count. But what if you’re travelling with a companion who can’t get a card, like a retiree or young child? In that case, you might be wondering whether you can share your visits.

Now, it may seem intuitive that if you have ten lounge visit entitlements, it should make no difference whether you go by yourself ten times, or whether you go with a companion five times.

However, that’s not always how it works. Not every bank believes that sharing is caring, and if you’re not careful, you might end up with additional guest charges!

Which credit cards allow you to share lounge visits?

When it comes to sharing lounge visits, there are two possible scenarios:

• You have a card with a limited number of visits
• You have a card with an unlimited number of visits

At the risk of stating the obvious, your guest must be accompanied by you when visiting the lounge, so it’s not possible for to redeem a visit for a guest and only incur a single visit deduction.

For cards with limited visits

Principal cardholders of the following cards enjoy anywhere from 2-12 complimentary lounge visits per year.

Do note that the year can refer to calendar year (c. year in the table below), or membership year (m. year) of your lounge pass. Bank of China is an exception, tracking its allowances based on a year that runs from 1 November to 31 October. 

Card	Lounge Visits	Shareable?
AMEX HighFlyer Card	2 M. Year	Yes
Citi PremierMiles	2 C. Year	Yes
DBS Altitude Visa	2 M. Year	Yes
OCBC Premier Visa Infinite	2 M. Year	No
SCB Journey Card	2 M. Year	Yes
CIMB Visa Infinite	3 M. Year	No
AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend	4# M. Year	Yes
BOC Visa Infinite	4 1 Nov to 31 Oct	Yes
HSBC TravelOne Card	4 C. Year	Yes
Maybank Visa Infinite	4 M. Year	No
UOB PRVI Miles	4 C. Year	No
HSBC Premier Mastercard	6* M. Year	Yes
SCB Visa Infinite	6 M. Year	Yes
UOB Lady’s Solitaire Metal Card	6 C. Year	Yes
DBS Vantage	10 M. Year	Yes
SCB Priority Banking VI	12^ M. Year	Yes
#Benefit discontinued from 1 Nov 24; existing lounge vouchers can be redeemed till 31 Dec 24 (SATS Premier Lounges) or 31 Mar 25 (Plaza Premium Lounges) *4 visits for HSBC Premier, 6 visits for HSBC Premier Elite ^12 visits with min. AUM S$200K, otherwise 2 visits

In this segment, the cards you need to watch out for are the Maybank Visa Infinite, OCBC Premier Visa Infinite, UOB PRVI Miles and CIMB Visa Infinite, all of which don’t allow lounge visits to be shared.

As a reminder, the HSBC TravelOne Card initially did not allow lounge visits to be shared, but reversed the policy from 17 October 2024.

For cards with unlimited visits

Principal cardholders of the following cards enjoy unlimited lounge access, but only some of them allow guests.

Card	Lounge Visits
AMEX Platinum Charge	∞ + 1-2 guests (exact entitlement depends on lounge)
DBS Insignia	∞
Citi ULTIMA	∞
UOB Reserve	∞ + 1 guest
AMEX Centurion	∞ + 1-2 guests (exact entitlement depends on lounge)
UOB VI Metal Card	∞ + 1 guest
Citi Prestige	∞ + 1 guest
HSBC Visa Infinite	∞
OCBC VOYAGE (all versions)	∞

You might be surprised to know that despite their four-digit annual fees, neither the Citi ULTIMA nor DBS Insignia Cards come with guesting privileges. On the other hand, the much-cheaper (relatively speaking) Citi Prestige and UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card each allow one guest to accompany the principal cardholder!

With regards to the AMEX Platinum Charge and AMEX Centurion Cards, one guest is permitted for Priority Pass and Plaza Premium lounges, and two guests are permitted for Centurion Lounges.

What about supplementary cardholders?

So far we’ve only focused on principal cardholders, but some cards extend lounge access to supplementary cardholders as well.

Therefore, even if your principal card doesn’t have guesting privileges, you might consider applying for a supplementary card for your frequent travel companion. This has the added benefit of enabling them to visit the lounge, even when you’re not travelling with them. 

Card	Lounge Visits	Remarks
AMEX Platinum Charge	∞ + 1-2 guests (exact entitlement depends on lounge)	Only the first supp. cardholder receives Priority Pass membership
Citi ULTIMA	∞
UOB Reserve	∞
AMEX Centurion	∞ + 1-2 guests, depending on lounge	Only the first supp. cardholder receives Priority Pass membership
HSBC Visa Infinite	∞	Up to five supp. cardholders get lounge access
OCBC VOYAGE (all versions)	2 visits	Lounge visits cannot be shared

Two important things to note here:

• While principal UOB Reserve Cardholders enjoy unlimited visits with one guest, supplementary cardholders enjoy unlimited visits without the guest allowance
• While principal OCBC VOYAGE Cardholders enjoy unlimited visits, supplementary cardholders only receive two lounge visits (which cannot be shared)

Conclusion

If you often travel with companions who can’t get credit cards for lounge access, it’s good to have a card that lets you share your visits with them.

Fortunately, most cards allow for sharing- but a few are grinchy that way, so be careful!