Maybe, but not in this case. See the red highlighted text below to see why.

Well, I decided to burn another hour of my life to figure it out by calling a few more times to my "local Diners Club Provider", which is BMO/Harris. Here is where we stand:

Six representatives (three in my initial attempt plus three today, including a manager in the card benefits department) from BMO/Harris have told me that my card, and Diners Club US (DC-US) Professional card members, have the full lounge benefit as listed on the DC-US website. Note this language which appears on the dinersclubUS.com website under the benefits tab:

Airport Lounge Access

Cardmembers can access an extensive network of airport lounges in countries around the world featuring English-speaking staff, complimentary beverage service, flight information, newspapers, television, and business centers.

That link to airport lounges sends you directly to the Diners Club International (DC-I) website, with the new full list of 1,000+ lounges and restaurants. Not just the legacy lounges, which still have only Diners Club in the fine print, but the new addition of 1,000 restaurants that are referred to as "Diners Club lounges" and have DC and Priority Pass in the fine print. This new benefit is where I am extremely skeptical.

Priority Pass, who manages the DC-I lounge program, looked up my CC number and catagorically denied that my card is eligible for the benefit. MasterCard, who at one point I was transferred to, also looked up my CC number and says my DC-US card does not have this benefit. The MC rep also said, non-jokingly, that I should get the Priority Pass rep and DC-US rep on a conference call to sort it out.

On a call back to BMO/Harris that was escalated to a manager, "Meeta" assured me that I just show up, present the DC-US card, and get the full $28 benefit. However, like mia above, I was repeatedly told "don't refer to the DC-I app and website for your benefits, you need to use the DC-US website". BUT THE LOUNGE BENEFIT ON THE DC-US WEBSITE DIRECTLY LINKS BACK TO THE DC-I WEBSITE. ***THERE IS NO DC-US LIST OF LOUNGES AND SPECIFIC BENEFITS.***

She was unable to explain why a $95 cardholder is now getting an additional $429/yr benefit for free. She also said that if it is denied, I should bring it back to BMO/Harris where they will adjust the price "because the benefit is on the website". If I have another hour or two to waste when I get embarrassed in an airport restaurant, I will do just that.

It is becoming more and more obvious that there needs to be better disclosure on the extremely sloppy DC-US and DC-I websites that separate out the two classes of benefits: the legacy DC lounges and the new Priority Pass restaurant/lounges. The lazy folks at BMO/Harris have no idea what they are doing, just collecting their fees until every DC-US cardholder cancels or dies.