Travel-Quinten

I'm a bit confused when it comes to use Priority Pass on arrival at European airports. On the PP website and app, it sometimes mentions 'valid boarding pass required' and sometimes it doesn't. That made me think you may use those lounges upon arrival as well. During the last months, I used lounges in Vienna, Madrid, Palma de Mallorca, Amsterdam and Frankfurt when arriving (and before picking up my bag). Sometime lounge agents asked for a boarding pass (which I then gave), sometimes just asked for a destination and mostly they asked for nothing. Today, I was told in Amsterdam that it's 'not always' allowed to use the Aspire lounge on arrival. It wasn't clear to me whether because the lounge has capacity problems or because it's not allowed by PP.

Does anyone here have the answer?

krazykanuck

As long as it says "valid boarding pass" you should be good to go either on arrival or departure. If it's departing flights only it should say so on the PP website.

thijsseh

In many European airports, arriving pax are separated from departing ones and cannot access lounges (apart from dedicated arrival lounges, which are usually not accessible to anyone other than J or F pax from the operating carrier).

mia

Priority Pass terms are very specific:

In practice some lounges will admit arriving passengers. At some airports arriving passengers are segregated from departing passengers for security purposes, and you would not have access to the lounges.

https://www.prioritypass.com/en/conditions-of-use

Travel-Quinten

Thanks for the responses. I know the airport layout sometimes make a lounge visit on arrival impossible, but that's not the problem I encountered.

When you're physically passing the lounge on arrival and hold a boarding pass for the flight you arrived on, should be able to use it?
- According to the PP terms @mia posted, apparently NO.
- In practice: YES sometimes, even when they scanned my boarding pass from an arriving flight.

That's confusing. I don't want to break the rules of PP, but if lounges admit entrance, it seems the rules allow so?

mia

I think the rule exists to permit lounges to turn away arriving passengers, but I do not think there is any harm asking. If the lounge admits you they generate more revenue, because Priority Pass will pay for your visit.

mickeyjaw

Strange then that there are two PP lounges at LHR which are explicitly arrivals lounges:

https://www.prioritypass.com/en/loun...a-dcc2db3c85d2

https://www.prioritypass.com/en/loun...a-dcc2db3c85d2

NB: I've used the T2 arrivals lounge several times. Sometimes they ask for a boarding pass and sometimes they don't. When I have been asked for a pass they have always made it clear it should be an arriving pass and not a departing pass...

mia

It's not strange that a network of 1,000+ independently owned and operated lounges would have exceptions. The general terms are written to permit departure lounges to decline arriving passengers, just as the few arrival lounges may decline departing passengers.

garykung

Assuming you can physically access to the lounge, simply show up with your arriving BP. If the lounge dragon says no, that's your answer and turn around.

The problem with PP is most of the lounges are not operated by PP. So enforcing PP's condition of use may be more difficult than it seems.