baroqen

Think of it this way. Since this is flyer talk, let's think of lounges as operating something similar to airplanes.

Lounge access due to premium cabin boarding pass on affiliated airline - Self explanatory, you're the top dogs and you board first.

Lounge access obtained from official lounge annual membership (Directly through the lounge) - These can be compared to "full fare air tickets" with high airline status

Lounge access from day passes - These would be something like heavily discounted economy tickets with little to no airline status and purchased through one of those desperation channels such as "Name your price" on Priceline. They're going to try and bump you first if they're overbooked.

Lounge access from third party membership like Priority Pass/Airport Angel, et al. - Sorry to break it to you, but you're basically flying standby on your dad's airline employee family pass... and the gate agent knows and hates your dad.

Fortunately, in most of the airports I frequent there has been plenty of capacity. But that sadly isn't the case for all airports, especially domestic ones. I would hope that this would improve, but it doesn't seem to have gotten much better in the past two decades. I'm not holding my breath.

JudyS

Excellent answer! I have a further question, though. Where is American Express Platinum Business in this hierarchy of access methods? Is it no better than having Priority pass from, say, CSR? Or, should I show them my Amex Platinum card if I get turned away, and maybe they will let me in? I haven't faced this problem so far, so I haven't really thought about this. Do the lounges know which credit card got you the Priority Pass, and are some credit cards "more equal than others"?

Also, if turned away on Priority Pass, I assume there is usually still the option to pay for one-day access?

mia

No. Lounge attendants know nothing about your Priority Pass membership, and there are many variations: paid, sponsored; unlimited visits, limited visits, pay for every visit; free guests, paid guests etc. All the lounge does is scan the card and record the number of guests (if any).

However, Priority Pass has also added restaurants, and memberships sponsored by American Express are not valid at those locations. The restaurant knows this, and may ask who sponsors yours. In this regard, a membership sponsored by American Express is inferior to those offered by other banks.

dhuey

mia

If I understand correctly that the restaurant is paid a flat fee per person, the same as a lounge, the transaction amount wouldn't need to be passed to Priority Pass. I hope that the Priority Pass system would reject the card in real time.

JudyS

Thanks for the great reply! Yeah, I've heard about the downgrade where restaurants are no longer paid for by Amex. Luckily, I have both Amex Plat and CSR.

So, is there some way to offer to pay for lounge access if one has a Priority Pass membership that lets one in for free? I do have another membership (through a Marriott-owned timeshare program) that includes pay-per-day Priority Pass membership. However, I have never bothered to get a paid Priority Pass membership, and I doubt I have time to get a card for the paid program before my trip.

And, if I take it correctly, my Amex Plat card doesn't help in any way with getting into a Priority Pass lounge?

worldwidedreamer

Well you can order a Priority Pass with your Amex Plat which will grant you access to non-restaurant lounges. Most restaurants, of course, are happy to let you settle the tab on your amex.

baroqen

I wouldn't bother with a paid PP. If the location is restricting PP, then it will probably be restricting ALL PP entries, not just certain types. As for Amex Plat entry, it never hurts to ask if you get rejected for the regular PP for those certain lounges that have a specific contract with Amex directly. If this still fails, you can always ask about day passes, but not all lounges offer these. Your last option might be something like Lounge Buddy. Download the app, and check for lounges offering day passes. I've never used it, but I'd have to assume that if you've already purchased a day pass via the app, they shouldn't be able to reject it.

dhuey

LegalTender

It's still unclear to me how the restaurant interacts with PP. Places are pulling out altogether, while others just deny Amex-issued cards. A few are lunch only, not breakfast. Hard to believe PP codes in the expiration date of participation on all those instances in real time across all avenues of membership. As the British say, it's a total pig's breakfast.

mia

The lounge or restaurant would have to enforce its own time-of-day or category-of-merchandise restrictions. Priority Pass's system should enforce the sponsor exclusions.

dhuey

For reasons I do not understand, this whole thing fascinates me. I think I've used this benefit two times. It's not at all important to me, personally.

Still, it's this really interesting psychology/microeconomics/business experiment. You have this card that gives you $x in free food/drinks at an airport bar/restaurant. The credit does not include tips for the wait staff or bartenders. Some FTers have reported charging $0.01 on their credit card and putting in a decent tip. I'm guessing that there are airport workers who have really gone to town on this benefit, and in a way that they could not comfortably do with the airport lounges.

And now we have the Amex vs. Chase aspect. So far, at least, it looks like Chase is willing to put up with the abusers so as to offer a Priority Pass benefit that is better than what Amex offers.

lost_perspicacity

How would this be possible? Don't you need to scan a boarding pass along with the membership card?

dhuey

In my limited experience and many others' who have posted, the restaurant/bar swipes the PP card and doesn't ask for a boarding pass. Maybe they're supposed to ask for it, but it doesn't seem to be scanned like it usually is at PP-accepting lounges.

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