If you’ve visited an airport lounge lately, you may have noticed it’s more crowded than ever before. That’s thanks in a big way to credit cards, which have opened the doors to passengers regardless of cabin.  Whether that’s a good or bad thing depends on which side of the fence you sit, but love it or loathe it, democratised access to airport lounges is here to stay. 

For those of you relying on credit cards for access, here’s a look at the best options out there.

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$30-50K (annual fees waivable)
UnionPay Cards	Plaza Premium Lounges	Spend S$140 to unlock 1-time visit (promo till 14 Oct 23)
Maybank Horizon Visa Signature	Selected lounges in SIN, KUL, HKG	Spend S$1K in single trxn. within 3 months prior to travel
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 (annual fees generally not waivable)
CIMB Visa Infinite	DragonPass	3	N/A
Maybank Visa Infinite	Priority Pass	4	N/A
BOC Visa Infinite	Plaza Premium	4#	N/A
SCB Visa Infinite	Priority Pass	6	N/A
UOB Lady’s Solitaire Metal Card	LoungeKey	6*	6*
DBS Vantage	Priority Pass	10	N/A
OCBC VOYAGE	Plaza Premium	∞	∞
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	∞ + 1-2 guests
Priority Banking Customers
OCBC Premier Visa Infinite	Plaza Premium	2	2
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

Lounge networks

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

Network	Size	Notes
	1,300 lounges	F&B dining credits at selected airport restaurants Sleep pods and nap rooms
	1,300 lounges	Lounge access at 60 railway stations in China Discounts or free set meals at selected airport restaurants
	1,250 lounges	Dining offers at selected airport restaurants
	150+ lounges	Sole lounge operator in several ASEAN airports

Priority Pass

Priority Pass is by far the most common provider, and also offers the largest lounge network globally. However, it suffered a big blow in 2021 when Plaza Premium announced it would sever its relationship with Priority Pass (and LoungeKey) to cosy up with DragonPass instead. 

Because of this, Priority Pass now has network gaps in airports where Plaza Premium is the sole lounge operator.

• Brisbane (restaurant amenity available)
• Cebu
• Hong Kong Terminal 2 (restaurant amenity available)
• Hyderabad
• Kuching
• Langkawi
• London Heathrow Terminal 2 (where SIA operates out of; restaurant amenity available)
• Penang
• Phnom Penh (restaurant amenity available)
• Siem Reap

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.

LoungeKey

LoungeKey has 1,150 lounges worldwide, and partners with Mastercard to offer eligible cardholders lounge access during flight delays. Members also have access to special dining offers at selected airport restaurants. 

There isn’t a whole lot to differentiate LoungeKey and Priority Pass, since they are owned by the same company. Just note you’ll face the same issues accessing Plaza Premium Lounges, as mentioned previously. 

DragonPass

DragonPass is a China-based lounge programme with more than 1,200 lounges, including some at railway stations in China. Members can redeem free meals at certain airport restaurants, or even things like complimentary massages. 

More crucially, DragonPass has retained access to Plaza Premium Lounges, which makes it arguably more useful than Priority Pass or LoungeKey, depending on where you fly. 

Plaza Premium

Plaza Premium has a much smaller network of 180+ 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 has announced a strategic tie-up with DragonPass, which means that cardholders with Plaza Premium lounge entitlements will be able to access the DragonPass global network “in the near future”. 

Plaza Premium also has a chain of Plaza Premium First lounges, which offer an experience that could rival that of some First Class airline lounges. These require an upcharge, but you might find the experience very much worth it. 

Free visits

Free visit entitlements are usually refreshed based on membership year (i.e. the date when you got your lounge membership). For example, if your Priority Pass was approved on 1 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
• HSBC TravelOne Card
• UOB Lady’s Solitaire Metal Card

If you hold a BOC Visa Infinite, do note your free visit entitlement runs from 1 November to 31 October. Don’t ask me why, it’s BOC. 

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

Guest allowance

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, higher end cards like the Citi Prestige or AMEX Platinum Charge allow you to bring a guest for free. 

Card	Guest Allowance
Citi Prestige	1
AMEX Platinum Charge	1-2, depending on lounge

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. 

Supplementary cardholders

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
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)
OCBC VOYAGE	Unlimited visits
UOB Lady’s Solitaire Metal Card	6 visits
OCBC Premier Visa Infinite	2 visits

Odds and ends

Here’s a few other pointers that didn’t fit into any other section:

• If your annual fee is waived, you will still receive lounge visit entitlements as normal
• If you earn a decent income and want a “free” lounge pass, sign up for a Maybank Visa Infinite. The first year’s S$600 fee is waived, and you’ll get an unlimited visit Priority Pass
• It’s very easy to confuse all your different Priority Pass cards. I highly recommend labelling the physical cards, or registering them online so you can track your free visit entitlements

Conclusion

The quality of airport lounges can be extremely variable, especially in the post-COVID era where amenities may be scaled back significantly. 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 2023!