Which credit cards allow you to access Priority Pass lounges directly?

Back in 2022, Collinson Group (the company behind Priority Pass and Lounge Key) began trialling a new feature that allowed cardholders to use their physical credit cards to access Priority Pass lounges.

The obvious benefit was convenience, since it eliminated the need to carry around a physical Priority Pass card, or remember yet another login for the Priority Pass app. It also made it much easier to keep track of multiple Priority Pass memberships, because the card was your membership. 

Three years later, this feature — known as Access on Payment Card, or AoPC — hasn’t been as widely adopted as I would have hoped, and I’m still drowning in Priority Pass membership cards and logins (a first world problem if there ever was one!).

That said, AoPC is available on several cards in Singapore, so let’s look at how it works, and which cards offer it.

What is Priority Pass AoPC?

Traditionally, travelers needed to carry a physical Priority Pass card or log into the mobile app to generate a digital membership card— both of which could be cumbersome, especially for those with multiple Priority Pass memberships tied to different credit cards.

However, there’s a third way of accessing lounges (or redeeming an airport experience like a restaurant meal, spa treatment etc.) which involves presenting the physical credit card through which you have a Priority Pass membership.

This is known as AoPC, and as the name suggests, you simply present your physical card at the lounge reception for verification. 

With AoPC, the process is simplified as the credit card itself becomes your lounge pass. When you present your card at a participating lounge, the system automatically verifies your membership and grants access, charging guest fees (if applicable) directly to that card.

This feature is particularly useful for cardholders with multiple Priority Pass benefits across various bank-issued cards. Since each card can be used independently for lounge access, there’s no need to track which membership is linked to which account. It also minimises issues with expired or missing physical cards, ensuring that eligible travelers can enjoy their benefits without extra hassle.

Which cards offer Priority Pass AoPC?

Collinson says that AoPC costs issuers nothing extra, but for whatever reason, it remains the exception rather than the rule in Singapore. 

💳 Singapore Credit Cards with Priority Pass
Credit Card	Free Visits (Per Year)
	Main	Supp.
Citi PremierMiles Card	2 Share	N/A
DBS Altitude Visa	2 Share	N/A
SC Journey Card	2 Share	N/A
Maybank Visa Infinite	4	N/A
UOB PRVI Miles Card AoPC*	4	N/A
StanChart Visa Infinite	6 Share	N/A
DBS Vantage Card	10 Share	N/A
SC Priority Banking Visa Infinite	12^ Share	N/A
Citi Prestige Card	12 Share	N/A
AMEX Platinum Charge	∞ +1 guest	8 Max 1x supp. card
HSBC Premier Mastercard AoPC	∞	∞ Max 3x supp. cards
SC Beyond Card AoPC	∞	∞ Max 4x supp. cards
Citi ULTIMA Card	∞	∞ Max 2x supp. cards
UOB Reserve Card	∞ +1 guest	∞
HSBC Prive Card AoPC	∞	∞ Max 3x supp. cards
^With min. AUM S$200K. 2x visits if AUM <S$200K *AoPC for UOB PRVI Miles Visa and Mastercard only

As the table above shows, AoPC is only offered by the following cards:

• HSBC Premier Mastercard
• HSBC Prive Card
• StanChart Beyond Card
• UOB PRVI Miles Mastercard
• UOB PRVI Miles Visa

Do note that AoPC is not offered by the UOB PRVI Miles AMEX. If you have that particular version of the card, you’ll still need to do things the old-fashioned way.

So if your card supports AoPC, can you just show up at the lounge? 

It depends. With the UOB PRVI Miles Cards, you’ll still need to register for a Priority Pass account using your credit card details, and wait for 12 hours before accessing a lounge with your physical card. However, once that’s done you won’t need to bother with a physical Priority Pass card and/or the app.

On the other hand, the SC Beyond Card seems to be “show and go”, and it’s the same with the HSBC Premier Mastercard and HSBC Prive Card.

In general, if your credit card supports AoPC and grants unlimited Priority Pass visits, then there’s little need to bother with the Priority Pass app. However, if you have the UOB PRVI Miles Card, which caps visits at 4x per calendar year, then you might want to keep it handy if only to check how many visits you have left. 

Conclusion

Priority Pass’ Access on Payment Card feature allows cardholders to simply use their physical credit card to enter Priority Pass lounges or redeem airport experiences. It saves you from having to fit yet another card into your travel wallet, or having to remember another login for the Priority Pass app.

Unfortunately, this feature is still relatively rare in Singapore, with only a handful of cards supporting it. But with any luck, we’ll see it adopted more widely in the future, because anything that makes the airport experience a little smoother is always welcome in my book.

Any other Singapore cards support AoPC?