Priority Pass (www.prioritypass.com) works well for the 450 lounges in 80 countries and 245 cities that they grant access to. And they have a bunch. In the US, many (but certainly not all) of the CO, DL, NW, UA lounges are open to the Priority Passholder. In my opinion, PP is even better than the CO, DL, NW, UA's own offering in the exact same lounges when traveling on other airlines or with additional guests. This is because the airlines have peculiar rules about when you can use them (depending on your ticket) and cares about the person traveling with you. With PP, you are freed from almost all of the stupid rules. You just show up, show your card, sign, and go in, since it is all revenue base to the lounge.

Priority Pass also works with many independent lounges, particularly internationally. I signed up for PP expressly because there is an independent lounge in an airport I frequent that otherwise I would NEVER qualify to get into.

So, PP is smooth and easy and works well, as long as you have location, location, location. Often they do, sometimes they don't. If you fly primarily AA, you likely will be VERY DISAPPOINTED with PP, since they never use AA ACs, and often that means the PP lounge(s) are in other terminals or many gates away. For example, it seems like a half-mile walk from ANY AA gate in SJU to the alternate terminal and the CO and DL lounges, which are then quite close to all the non-AA gates.

Also note that PP is essentially useless at JFK. Because of the volume of traffic there, CO, DL, NW & UA don't open their clubs to PP. So the ONLY PP lounge at JFK is in terminal 1, the KAL lounge, and only 3 and a half hours before a KAL flight until the flight departs. Ugh! Since JFK is such an important international gateway, this is a real drawback to international flyers through that airport.

If you want to get into lounges almost ANYWHERE, then I recommend BOTH PP and AA/AC. That would be a most excellent pairing for any AA flyer with status and a few extra bucks.

There is a link floating around for the first year PP for $319, followed by $399/year. There are other discount PP plans and even some Amex-PP plans, but all of those are use-dependent. Some are pay every use, some are pay after a base number of uses. The full membership ($319/$399) appears to be unlimited to a single flyer, and allows guests at $24 each.

The only other possible alternative that I am aware of is the Amex Centurion card (see Amex forum), but at $2500/year to new cardholders (includes status on several US carriers) it probably isn't what most of us will actually buy.


Standard Membership
This low cost plan is designed for the traveler who wants the security of access when needed with a low annual fee - just US$99. After a visit to a participating lounge a fee of just US$24 per person, per visit is charged to the member’s designated payment card. Annual Fee: US$99 Member Visit Fee: US$24 Guest Visit Fee: US$24

Standard Plus Membership
This plan incorporates Standard Membership with 10 member lounge visits included - for an annual fee of just US$249. After the free visits have been used, each visit is charged at US$24 per visit to the member's designated payment card. Annual Fee: US$249 Member Visit Fee: 10 Visits FREE
then US$24 Guest Visit Fee: US$24

Prestige Membership
Designed for the frequent traveler who would prefer to make a one-off payment to gain access to lounges. For as little as US$399 free access to all the participating lounges in the program is available as often as required. Annual Fee: US$399 Member Visit Fee: All visits FREE Guest Visit Fee: US$24