What Is a Priority Pass And What Are the Benefits? Full Guide

Priority Pass members access to 1,500+ airport lounges worldwide as well as dining credits at restaurants within the network. You can enjoy complimentary WiFi, food, and drinks while relaxing before your next flight.

Lounges provide travelers with a clean, quiet space to get work done or relax, along with reading material, television entertainment, and other amenities. Some lounges also offer facilities like showers, full bars, well-maintained bathrooms, conference rooms, separate smoking areas, sleeping suites, and spa services. 

Priority Pass does not operate these lounges or restaurants; they are run by airlines (like the KLM-Air France lounge at Chicago O’Hare) or independent companies. Priority Pass partners with these lounges and restaurants to give its members access and benefits. 

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Interested travelers can either purchase a Priority Pass membership directly from the company or open a credit card that includes free Priority Pass membership.

If you hold certain credit cards, you can get Priority Pass for "free" as a benefit of your card membership. You will need to enroll in Priority Pass through your card issuer's site.

You can also purchase a Priority Pass membership directly. As of 2024, current tiers and prices are:

Standard membership

• $99 annual fee
• $35 member visit fee each time you check into a lounge
• $35 per guest visit.

Standard Plus membership

• $329 annual fee
• 10 free lounge visits before the $35 member visit fee kicks in
• $35 per guest visit

Prestige membership

• $469 annual fee
• members have free unlimited lounge visits
• $35 per guest visit

Several travel credit cards offer Priority Pass™ Select as cardholder perk.

You must enroll your eligible card in the Priority Pass™ Select Program to access the benefit. You'll likely need to call the number on the back of your card, but check with your card issuer for the exact process for you.

Credit cards with Priority Pass membership include: The number of guests, and the fee for additional guests, can vary by card. Additionally, not all cards include the $28 dining credit as a benefit.

Check with each card to compare individual benefits. Here are

• Bank of America® Premium Rewards® Elite Credit Card
• Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
• Capital One Venture X Business
• Chase Sapphire Reserve® 
• Citi Prestige Card (not open to new applicants)
• The Platinum Card from American Express 
• The Business Platinum Card from American Express 
• Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card 
• Mastercard Black Card 
• U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Visa Infinite Card

The Hilton Honors Business Card offers 10 complimentary visits to Priority Pass lounges each year. Enrollment required.

While 40+ US airports have Priority Pass lounges, the program has a much more robust presence overseas, making membership particularly beneficial for frequent international travelers. Note that there are also Priority Pass lounges in some smaller airports around the globe that might not otherwise have an airline-related lounge. 

For a full list of lounges, check out this interactive map.

US airports with participating lounges:

• Baltimore-Washington International, Maryland (BWI)
• Boston Logan International, Massachusetts (BOS)
• Buffalo Niagara International Airport, New York (BUF)
• Charleston International Airport, South Carolina (CHS)
• Charlotte Douglas International, North Carolina (CLT)
• Chicago O’Hare International, Illinois (ORD)
• Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International, Ohio (CVG)
• Cleveland Hopkins International, Ohio (CLE)
• Colorado Springs Airport, Colorado (COS)
• Dallas-Fort Worth International, Texas (DFW)
• Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, Michigan (DTW)
• Fayetteville/Springd. National Airport, Arkansas (XNA)
• Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International, Florida (FLL)
• George Bush Houston Intercontinental, Texas (IAH)
• Houston William P. Hobby Airport, Texas (HOU)
• Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, Georgia (ATL)
• Honolulu International, Hawaii (HNL)
• Indianapolis International, Indiana (IND)
• Jacksonville International, Florida (JAX)
• John F. Kennedy International, New York (JFK)
• New York LaGuardia Airport, New York (LGA)
• Las Vegas McCarran International Airport, Nevada (LAS)
• Lexington Blue Grass Airport, Kentucky (LEX)
• Little Rock AR B. & H. Clinton National Airport, Arkansas (LIT)
• Los Angeles International, California (LAX)
• Miami International, Florida (MIA)
• Minneapolis−Saint Paul International, Minnesota (MSP)
• Newark Liberty International, New Jersey (EWR)
• New Orleans International Airport, Louisiana (MSY)
• Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International, California (SJC)
• Orlando International, Florida (MCO)
• Orlando-Sanford International, Florida (SFB)
• Philadelphia International, Pennsylvania (PHL)
• Pittsburgh International, Pennsylvania (PIT)
• Portland International, Oregon (PDX)
• Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina (RDU)
• Ronald Reagan Washington National, Washington DC (DCA)
• San Francisco International, California (SFO)
• San Jose Mineta Internatinal, California (SJC)
• San Juan International, Puerto Rico (SJU)
• Seattle-Tacoma International, Washington (SEA)
• St. Louis Lambert International, Missouri (STL)
• Syracuse Hancock International, New York (SYR)
• Tampa International, Florida (TPA)
• Tucson International, Arizona (TUS)
• Washington Dulles International, Washington DC (IAD)
• Washington National, Washington DC (DCA)

And, here’s a non-comprehensive list of some of the major international hubs with participating lounges: 

• Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, the Netherlands (AMS)
• Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International, Thailand (BKK)
• Beijing Capital International, China (PEK)
• Dubai International Airport, UAE (DXB)
• Frankfurt Airport, Germany (FRA)
• Guangzhou Baiyun International, China (CAN)
• Hong Kong Chek Lap Kok International, Hong Kong (HKG)
• Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International, Turkey (SAW)
• London Heathrow, UK (LHR)
• Madrid-Barajas Adolfo Suarez Airport, Spain (MAD)
• Mexico City Benito Juarez International, Mexico (MEX)
• New Delhi Indira Gandhi International, India (DEL)
• Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, France (CDG)
• Seoul Incheon International, South Korea (ICN)
• Shanghai Pudong International, China (PVG)
• Singapore Changi International, Singapore (SIN)
• Tokyo Narita International, Japan (NRT)
• Toronto Pearson International, Canada (YYZ)

In terms of food and drink, availability and cost varies greatly by lounge. However, a selection of snacks or light meals, soft drinks, coffee, and alcoholic drinks are usually complimentary.

Some lounges offer an a la carte menu for an extra charge while others provide hot meals and multiple buffets on the house; some feature serve-your-self bars with a limited array of spirits, wine, and beer while others have multiple fully stocked bars with bartenders; some lounges offer free cocktails, beer, wine, and spirits while others upcharge for premium alcoholic beverages like top shelf liquor, fine wine, and craft or imported beer. 

These differences generally depend on airport and/or lounge size, local laws, and whether the lounge operates independently or in association with specific airline or airline alliance. If you’re curious as to what a particular lounge offers, you can look it up on the Priority Pass website or digital app.

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Priority Pass usually lets members bring traveling companions with them into the lounge, however the number of guests you’re allowed to invite and the cost of each guest depends on the type of membership you hold as well as specific lounge limitations. 

Credit cards with a Priority Pass Select membership typically allow members to bring up to two guests per visit for free. Guests of regular Priority Pass members cost $35 each.

Select lounges also have their own rules about guest admittance, so make sure to read up on the fine print ahead of time.

At some airports, in addition to (or in place of) lounge access, your Priority Pass membership gets you a dining credit at select restaurants. There are currently more than two dozen of these restaurants in US airports, and another dozen internationally. The Points Guy has a comprehensive list. 

At most restaurants, the credit is $28, while at a few it’s $30. The credit is per person, so if your Priority Pass membership allows for guests, you each get the credit. However, you cannot use multiple credits for yourself. The credit is also per restaurants, so for airports with multiple restaurants in the program, you could visit multiple in one day. 

Typically you’ll need to show a boarding pass for confirmed same day travel; some restaurants require an outbound boarding pass, while others allow you to use the credit upon arrival. If you go over the $28 amount, you’ll simply need to pay the difference. And don’t forget to tip your server as the Priority Pass credit can’t be used for gratuity.

No. Priority Pass never allows members to transfer credentials to another traveler. However, many of the credit cards mentioned above do provide separate Priority Pass Select memberships to authorized card holders on the same account.

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Few Priority Pass holders actually pay outright for membership; most people receive membership through a credit card that offers Priority Pass as a card benefit alongside other great travel-related benefits like hotel, car rental, and airline points or credits; no overseas transaction fees; and reimbursement for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fees.

If you don’t have one of these cards (and don’t have an interest or the ability to get one), Priority Pass membership may still be worth paying for, depending on how much you travel. For example, for casual travelers who mainly fly domestically or take occasional trips overseas, Priority Pass probably isn’t worth the hefty price tag and companion fees. But if you travel several times per year and the airports you travel through most often have a Priority Pass lounge (or a restaurant that offers the dining credit through the program), a membership could pay for itself over time.