There are several ways to get into airport lounges. You could pay for a membership from one of the big three airlines, but even then you’d need to be flying with them to use the lounge. Priority Pass sells a membership if you want to go that route. However, many people get Priority Pass Select membership from their credit card.
Lounges also sell day passes. I’ve seen this business model more often outside the US, but the Star Alliance lounge at LAX sells 3-hour passes for $75.
As I mentioned above, most US travelers with lounge access get it from having a credit card. All of the top-tier travel cards provide lounge access to cardholders. The lounges available to members can vary from having a Priority Pass Select membership to a large number of different lounges available to American Express Platinum members.
I recently checked out the new Plaza Premium lounge at Orlando Airport. They had this sign outside the lounge entrance.
I knew AMEX Platinum, and Capital One Venture X cardholders had access to Plaza Premium Lounges around the world. What surprised me was Venture and Spark Miles Business cardholders do too.
I looked it up., Capital One Venture and Spark Miles Business cardholders can access Plaza Premium and/or the Capital One lounge(s) but only two passes per year. You can use the passes separately or you can bring a guest on your visit.
Both cards have a $95 annual fee, so you can’t compare this benefit to cards that charge $400-$800 annually. The only card with less expensive lounge access is the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass Card which provides a Priority Pass membership with 10 free visits per year.
The one downside of the lounge access from Capital One is the limited number of lounges in the US. Ben from One Mile At A Time sums it up nicely.
For those in the United States, unfortunately Plaza Premium’s network is quite limited. The brand only has two of its own proprietary lounges, in Dallas (DFW) and Orlando (MCO), plus the four Virgin Atlantic Clubhouses.
Right now, Capital One has opened one branded lounge in Dallas (DFW), bringing the number of US options to seven.
With such a small footprint, it’s no surprise that Capital One doesn’t widely advertise this as a benefit of the Venture or Spark Miles cards. It’s nice that they provide the lounge access but with so few locations and only 2 passes per year, it’s not something I’d put much value on.
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