Complimentary airport lounge access is a perk offered by numerous credit cards in Singapore, allowing cardholders to visit a lounge regardless of airline or cabin, whether in Singapore or overseas airports. 

However, not all cards are made equal. Some cards offer just a handful of visits, others unlimited plus guests. Some limit access to principal cardholders only, others extend the benefit to supplementary cardholders as well. 

In this post, we’ll explore the best credit cards for airport lounge access, and some important things to note. 

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 Apply	Selected lounges in SIN, KUL, HKG	Spend S$500 (Privilege) / S$1K (Regular) in single trxn. within 3 months prior to travel for 1x visit
Diners Club Cards	Diners Network	1*	N/A
AMEX HighFlyer Card Apply	Priority Pass	2	N/A
Citi PremierMiles Card Apply	Priority Pass	2*	N/A
DBS Altitude Visa Apply	Priority Pass	2	N/A
StanChart Journey Card Apply	Priority Pass	2	N/A
HSBC TravelOne Card Apply	DragonPass	4*	N/A
UOB PRVI Miles Apply	Priority Pass	4*	N/A
Income Requirement ≥S$120K
CIMB Visa Infinite Apply	DragonPass	3	N/A
BOC Visa Infinite Apply	Plaza Premium	4#	N/A
Maybank Visa Infinite Apply	Priority Pass	4	N/A
StanChart Visa Infinite Apply	Priority Pass	6	N/A
UOB Lady’s Solitaire Metal Card	DragonPass	6*	6*
DBS Vantage Apply	Priority Pass	10	N/A
OCBC VOYAGE (all versions) Apply	DragonPass	∞	2*
HSBC Visa Infinite Apply	LoungeKey	∞	∞ Max 5x supp. cards
UOB VI Metal Card Apply	DragonPass	∞ + 1 guest	N/A
Citi Prestige Apply	Priority Pass	∞ + 1 guest	N/A
AMEX Platinum Charge Apply	Priority Pass, Plaza Premium, AMEX & Centurion Lounges, and others	∞ + 1-2 guests Priority Pass visits for supp. card capped at 4x + 1 guest
StanChart Beyond Card Apply	Priority Pass	∞	∞ Max 4x supp. cards
		6x guest visits shared bet. principal and supp. cards
Income Requirement ≥S$500K
DCS Imperium	DragonPass	6	N/A
DBS Insignia	Priority Pass	∞	N/A
Citi ULTIMA	Priority Pass	∞	∞ Max 2x supp. cards
UOB Reserve	Priority Pass	∞ + 1 guest	∞
AMEX Centurion	Priority Pass, Plaza Premium, AMEX & Centurion Lounges, and others	∞ + 1-2 guests
Priority Banking Customers
Maybank Premier World Mastercard	Plaza Premium	2*	N/A
OCBC Premier VI	DragonPass	2	N/A
HSBC Premier Mastercard	Priority Pass	4 Premier 6 Premier Elite	N/A
Stanchart Priority Banking VI	Priority Pass	4 AUM < S$200K 12 AUM ≥ S$200K	N/A
*Allowance follows calendar year instead of membership year #BOC Visa Infinite allowance runs from 1 November to 31 October the following year

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, DragonPass 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 (in fact, Priority Pass and Lounge Key have the same owner, and are pretty much identical in every way).

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, but my most recent visit was a letdown. 

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

How are free visits tracked?

There are two main ways of tracking lounge visit entitlements:

• Membership year (based on 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)
• Calendar year (i.e. 1 January to 31 December)

The vast majority of cards track entitlements based on membership year. However, there are a handful of cards which track entitlements by the calendar year instead.

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

The BOC Visa Infinite is the exception, following neither membership year nor calendar year. Instead, entitlements are based on a 12-month period running from 1 November to 31 October.

Can free visits be stacked?

Yes. 

For example, if you have both the DBS Altitude Visa (2x free Priority Pass visits) and the Citi PremierMiles Card (2x 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 accounts, though. 

How I keep track of multiple Priority Pass cards

What about guests?

Some high-end cards allow you to bring a guest for free, each time you visit the lounge.

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

With other 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, the following cards do not allow you to share your lounge visits. 

• OCBC Premier Visa Infinite
• CIMB Visa Infinite
• Maybank Visa Infinite
• Maybank World Mastercard
• UOB PRVI Miles
• UOB Lady’s Solitaire Metal Card

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
SC Beyond Card	Unlimited visits Max 5x supp. cards
Citi ULTIMA	Unlimited visits Max 2x supp. cards
AMEX Platinum Charge	Priority Pass: 8x visits per calendar year Max 1x supp. card Other lounges: Unlimited visits + 1-2 guests
HSBC Visa Infinite	Unlimited visits Max 5x supp. cards
UOB Lady’s Solitaire Metal Card	6 visits per calendar year

Not just airport lounges

Restaurants

One of the nice things about lounge memberships is that you’re not just limited to airport lounges. DragonPass, LoungeKey and Priority Pass members can also redeem lounge visit entitlements for set menus or dining credits at selected restaurants. 

I’ve summarised the options available at Changi Airport below.

https://milelion.com/2024/10/16/full-list-of-priority-pass-dragonpass-restaurants-at-changi-airport/

Spas, transit hotels, gaming lounges

If the lounges are too crowded and you’re not hungry, your visit entitlements can also be used for spa treatments, capsule hotels, sleep pods and even video game lounges, depending on airport.

In Changi Airport, for example, you can visit TranSpa in Terminal 2 and enjoy a 20 minute head and shoulder or foot massage, or Be Relax in Terminal 3 for a 15 minute foot massage.

Do note that Priority Pass memberships issued by American Express have restrictions on non-lounge experiences, so refer to the article below for more details.

Explained: Non-lounge restrictions for AMEX-issued Priority Pass cards

What if I get an annual fee waiver?

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 2025!