Not sure if this is the right forum, but I'll ask anyway: anyone a member of Priority Pass and have any feedback about the services offered. Diners in Canada just revamped their card in a partnership deal with Mastercard and one of the perks they through in to enourage current cardholders to stay was to offer free membership in Priority Pass as long as your account was in good standing, normally a USD $100 annual fee, IIRC. Once a Priority Pass member, you are supposed to be permitted into airport lounges around the world, a big bonus for this lowly non-airline elite FF. All you pay is a per visit fee of around USD$20 which gets autmatically charged back to your DC.

So, just curious as to any feedback. I'm curiously awaiting my package to arrive any day...

This really doesn't have anything to do with miles or points, so I'm going to move it over to travelbuzz.

Regards,

Flipside

I have the unlimited plan and love it. Probably the best investment that I've ever made in travel accessories...

Just be sure that their lounges are in useful locations for you. PM me if you need a copy of the list.

I'll offer a different view. I purchased the US$99 (plus US$25 per lounge visit) membership package early in 2004 when I didn't make AC*G for the 2004 calendar year. Knowing I had a lengthy trip from NZ to the UK and back again, I decided that I needed lounge access to maintain sanity. Left NZ and stopped in Canada, so was able to use a few MLL lounge passes, so didn't need to worry about the PP access (and didn't even bother figuring out where I could actually use PP in Canada). I first used it at LHR before boarding a SQ flight to SIN for my return trip back to NZ. The lounge at LHR ('Servisair' in T2) was small, not many food items to choose from, and was quite crowded. I think there was a tour group in there that obviously had lounge access included in their package. I found a bit of solitude in the smoke room, which is well ventilated. Right, so not the greatest lounge, but better than the mayhem in the main terminal.

Arriving at SIN, I found that anyone can access the Plaza Premium lounge (the designated PP lounge in T2) for US$20, so flashing my PP card and paying another US$5 didn't seem that logical. In the end I didn't even bother as the lounge looked pretty packed. Instead, I paid for a shower across the way at the hotel. I'll be doing that again when I push through SIN in a few weeks. Forget the lounge.

Also, no PP designated lounge in AKL, which is my launching point for most overseas trips, so not terribly happy about that.

Will I keep the membership? Yep. Just in case, but I wasn't blown away. And keep in mind, lounges have the right to boot you out after, I think, three hours. I stayed in the LHR one for 6, but only because I was out-of-sight in the smoking area.

A friend of mine just bought into this and is not all that happy with it. The lounges she accessed (some in the US, some in Asia) were either 1) accessible to anyone for about $20-25 (e.g. from what I know SIN, KL, HKG), or 2) not worth entering.

We've been very happy with it. I agree that you should make sure it has decent lounges in the places you use most. Last I looked, there were no lounges available at CVG, which would be pretty bad if you flew DL a lot.

I've used them in Zurich, Prague, LHR, Cleveland, ORD and probably some places I've forgotten. There was supposed to be one in DEL but it didn't look like I could get there once I got through the onerous Immigration and security lines (everyone was patted down). If ever I needed an airport lounge, it was DEL. The US lounges were typical since they were the major airlines' lounges- USAir, DL, CO, AA (not all clubs in all cities). UK/European lounges varied in quality and food selection, but no really bad or overcrowded ones.

I bought the $250 plan- it gave me 10 visits and I think I used all or most of them. (They charge after that, and also charge for guests.) Will definitely use them again next year.

Just so everyone knows, Air Canada has pulled all MLL particpation from PP as at January 1, 2005 - thus making it much less attractive for those of us going to/from Canada.

One thing I did not like about PP was that even with their best package you still have to pay for guests. I frequently travel with friends/family so this would obviously be an issue.

This is why I chose the AmEx Plat card - gives you lounge access (to CO, DL, NW lounges) and 2 guests allowed without a charge. Along with a few other perks this card has worked nicely for me.

Just my $0.02

I just checked this out- $395 annual membership, plus another $175 if I wanted my husband to have a card (so we could accumulate miles/points on a single account). Wow. Another drawback- while it gives you access to all DL, CO, NW and AA clubs, the only international clubs accessible are those actually belonging to those airlines (not partners). This might be a good deal for a single person who does mostly domestic travel (or travels a lot to FRA, LGW, MUC and other places where you can use the lounge), but I'll stick with PriorityPAss.

Your enthusiasm sounds great for this product. My AMex Cent card just gave us the Priority Pass unlimited feature free in 2005 so am in process of joining. Best of both worlds since i can use the nwa/co/dl as stated above or the priority pass ones. This looks to be a good new addition to the Amex Cent program in 05.

To add to the thread, most of the PP lounges in the UK are third party owned (with the odd exception) and are accessible by paying a fee. The major operator of third party lounges is Servisair/Globeground and you can buy access online at their website, before your visit. Typically it costs around �17 for three hours but you can stay longer if it's busy i.e. they don't spot you!

I'm fairly well covered with Amex Plat. and its complimentary PP membership and bmi silver card for access to BD's lounges. The only snag I ever have is on the odd BA flight - no lounge priviledge in T3 at MAN for example.