Go First Class At The Airport
(Even Flying Economy)

Go First Class At The Airport <br>(Even Flying Economy)

When we traveled as backpackers in our early 20’s Spot Cool Stuff was happy to slog through airports. Back then we took some perverse pride in coping with uncomfortable travel conditions. These days, wiser and more monied, we would not take an airplane trip without our Priority Pass card.

One magical membership in the Priority Pass program grants you entrance to exclusive airline lounges throughout the world regardless of what airline or class you are flying.

lightgrey Go First Class At The Airport <br>(Even Flying Economy)


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lightgrey Go First Class At The Airport <br>(Even Flying Economy)
white Go First Class At The Airport <br>(Even Flying Economy)

If you’ve been in one of these lounges before you know what a haven they are from the maddening throngs of the public airport terminal. If you haven’t been in one of these lounges, well, you don’t know what you are missing. With lounge access there’s no more standing in line inside the airport to buy comically overpriced cups of coffee, no more attempting to nap in uncomfortable seats, no more searching aimlessly for a place to recharge your mobile phone.

lounge2 Go First Class At The Airport <br>(Even Flying Economy) follow me on pinterest button Go First Class At The Airport <br>(Even Flying Economy) Instead, these airline lounges offer free drinks, free snacks and comfortable lounging chairs in a quiet, relaxing atmosphere. Some lounges offer free hot meals, darkened rooms for napping and airline representatives who will expedite your flight check-in or itinerary changes. (Once, at a business lounge in Bangkok, we wanted to change our seats. The lounge’s airline representative told us to go relax while she took care of it. Ten minutes later she came and found us enjoying a drink in a quiet corner of the lounge and handed us new boarding passes with our upgraded seat assignments).

Many airport lounges offer free shower facilities, free magazines and newspapers, free wireless internet (or complimentary use of their computers), a free workspace with a private desk, ergonomic chair and plenty of power outlets, and a free business center with fax and photocopy machines. It isn’t all rainbows and kittens and bliss in an airport lounge—but its pretty close to that relative to the public areas of many airports.

lounge1 Go First Class At The Airport <br>(Even Flying Economy) follow me on pinterest button Go First Class At The Airport <br>(Even Flying Economy) A Priority Pass card gets you into any of nearly 600 airport lounges in almost 100 countries. There are three levels of membership starting from $99 per year (that’s U.S. dollars, though the program is international and open to all nationalities). The Standard Plus level includes 10 free lounge visits with the option to purchase additional visits. There’s also a budget plan and a membership level that allows unlimited lounge visits. If you are traveling with guests or family members they can come into the lounge with you.

Everyone who flies more than once per year should be a Priority Pass member. The only reason we can figure why more people haven’t joined is because they don’t know about the program. Of course, they would know about it if they read Spot Cool Stuff. And that’s something we think everyone should do too.

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white Go First Class At The Airport <br>(Even Flying Economy)

All of these lounges are part of the Priority Pass program:

priority pass 1 Go First Class At The Airport <br>(Even Flying Economy) follow me on pinterest button Go First Class At The Airport <br>(Even Flying Economy)

priority pass 2 Go First Class At The Airport <br>(Even Flying Economy) follow me on pinterest button Go First Class At The Airport <br>(Even Flying Economy)

priority pass 3 Go First Class At The Airport <br>(Even Flying Economy) follow me on pinterest button Go First Class At The Airport <br>(Even Flying Economy)

lightgrey Go First Class At The Airport <br>(Even Flying Economy)


white Go First Class At The Airport <br>(Even Flying Economy)
lightgrey Go First Class At The Airport <br>(Even Flying Economy)
white Go First Class At The Airport <br>(Even Flying Economy)

pp3 575x431 Go First Class At The Airport <br>(Even Flying Economy) follow me on pinterest button Go First Class At The Airport <br>(Even Flying Economy)

pp5 575x431 Go First Class At The Airport <br>(Even Flying Economy) follow me on pinterest button Go First Class At The Airport <br>(Even Flying Economy)

pp6 575x323 Go First Class At The Airport <br>(Even Flying Economy) follow me on pinterest button Go First Class At The Airport <br>(Even Flying Economy)

white Go First Class At The Airport <br>(Even Flying Economy)
white Go First Class At The Airport <br>(Even Flying Economy)

 Go First Class At The Airport <br>(Even Flying Economy) Go First Class At The Airport <br>(Even Flying Economy)

white Go First Class At The Airport <br>(Even Flying Economy)


Responses

  1. andkon says:

    Totally a relaxing experience when having this kind of ambiance. The first thing I really check at the airport is the place itself and how it can pamper me on my needs. Which the images you shared was amazingly brilliant place. I love to experience this places.
    andkon recently posted..CarnageMy Profile

    [Reply to this comment]

  2. Wendy says:

    Priority Pass=bad business.
    We were told by the staff in the Los Cabos lounge that there would be no charge for my extra 3 family members. The tiny lounge, if equipped lounge closes at 6:00 so we had only 40 minutes in the lounge before we were kicked out. I then receive a bill for $81 for my three family members.

    This is bad business. Be very cautious when using Priority Pass. When I called to express my dissatisfaction, they claimed there was nothing they could do.

    [Reply to this comment]

  3. Patty M says:

    Hmm…. Just received notice that our bank will no longer provide Priority Pass as a “perk”. Now I see your post that says lounges will no longer accetp PP later this year? Can someone advise?

    thanks!

    [Reply to this comment]

  4. Bill D says:

    Why do all the lounges accepted by Priority Pass say that they will NO LONGER be accepting PP in October of 2011????

    [Reply to this comment]

  5. babu sabu says:

    Things have certainly changed since I first started travelling. No longer do you have to suffer seatless and hot, minding a grotty backpack. You can lounge and surf. Either travellers have become more affluent or particular in their standards. I like the new way.

    [Reply to this comment]

  6. Angelo Embuldeniya says:


    Twitter:
    Hello Ahmed,

    I faced this same scenario and will be getting mine tomorrow – the priority pass card takes between 14-15 days to arrive via regular post, however, if you don’t mind paying around 25 UK Pounds (this is for the card being couriered to countries in the Middle East) for the express service, Priority Pass will DHL your membership card across to you.

    Just send them an email requesting for this DHL service to: courier@ prioritypass.com and they will confirm via email and provide you with the tracking code.

    : -)

    [Reply to this comment]

  7. Ahmed Darwish says:

    Hi,

    I need some advice, i specifically purchased a priority card for my trip on friday however the card is extrememly slow to arrive and I still have not recieved 🙁 is there anyway I can still enter the lounges without the card and my number instead?

    Would really appreciate a reply,

    -A

    [Reply to this comment]

  8. Zubin Master says:

    So I’ve recently started traveling quite a lot for work and though I used to be quite content with strolling around the airport and hopping from restaurant to restaurant before, I’m starting to feel that I have grown out of that and I need to find a better way to pass my time at the airport.

    I’m getting quite a sweet deal with my current credit card where I get a basic annual membership for Priority Pass for like $10 (US) but the $27 charge per visit still stands.

    So I was wondering what exactly I get for this amount of money? I understand that it’s a nice comfy place to sit and relax but in terms of food and drinks, is there anything standard? Can I just choose anything off their menu or is everything I order also charged? They say that you get some free beverages and food but does that mean I get a pack of peanuts and a bottle of water or something more substantial? I’m guessing it varies to a great degree from airport to airport and from lounge to lounge but I’d just like a ballpark estimate and maybe some range of good lounges to bad lounges. I was just wondering what I’m paying that $27 for. Sorry if it’s a newbie question.

    Thanks.

    [Reply to this comment]

  9. Jonathan French says:

    Hello. My name is Jonathan French, and I am a manager at Priority Pass, responding on behalf of the company.

    Before I say anything else, I would point out that we have been around since 1992, we have several million members around the world, handle literally millions of lounge visits each year, and work in close partnership with virtually every single major financial institution in the world, who demand stringent security standards. So accusations of being a scam are not only of great concern to me, but are absolutely unfounded.

    To take the points made by “MJ” one at a time:

    He says he found only 2 lounges out of 32 that accepted Priority Pass. The list of these lounges that belong to our program (over 600 of them) is easily and publically available by using our simple search tool on the home page of our website. I would advise our members to check which lounges are available at the airports they use, and then go to them, rather than approaching any lounge they come across. It would also be logical for people to check this list before they decide to join.

    He says that our members can only use Continental Airlines lounges. That’s just not true. Again, a quick check of our lounge list will make that clear.

    He complains that he was unable to access a lounge as he didn’t have his Priority Pass membership card. It is certainly true that our members do need to have their membership card with them to get access to any lounge in the program, and we make this very clear in all our communications with members. I think it’s fairly clear why this needs to be the case as we are dealing with over 600 lounges around the world and we can’t expect the staff at those lounges to have to verify each person’s identity and then call us to confirm if they are a member.

    The other occasion when MJ visited a lounge, he says that he was charged for a person who entered the lounge behind him. Obviously I don’t know the circumstances of this individual occasion, but when our members visit a lounge, the staff there swipe or take an imprint of the member’s card (which is why they need it with them), and then makes a note of whether the member is bringing any guests with them into the lounge (and, if so, how many guests). A voucher is then produced and the member is asked to check and sign the voucher (where they can see how many guests have been entered). The lounge then sends a copy of the voucher to us (so we can record the visit) and the member is also given a copy of the voucher for his/her records.

    If MJ thinks that an incorrect charge has been made, then we can check the details on our copy of the voucher. Our membership services team will be able to do this.

    Regarding the general point he makes about unauthorized charges, and that he was told this happens frequently, I refute this entirely. Our business depends on our integrity.

    As to Wayne’s subsequent point about the fact that he has unauthorized charges on his card at about the same time as he joined Priority Pass, and that it he feels it is something to do with us, I would urge him to get in touch with our membership services team if he wants to query any charge (see the “Contact Us” page at prioritypass.com). Again, I would state categorically that we have the highest standards in terms of our data security and business ethics.

    I hope I have clarified these matters.

    Thanks to all our members who happily use our services and have done for many years. We will continue to strive to maintain our high standards.

    [Reply to this comment]

  10. Spot Cool Travel Stuff says:

    Thanks so much for your relaying your experience, Wayne, and in such a level-headed way. Your experience prompted us to call Priority Pass for comment. A senior manager there says they have not had any complaints about unauthorized charges and stressed that members’ credit card information is guarded and not in any way embedded on the physical Priority Pass card. I’m hoping that Priority Pass will leave a comment here directly.

    Of course, it is possible that your credit card was somehow compromised in relation to Priority Pass but not because of some nefarious activity by the company. (Eg. you had spy ware on your computer when you signed up). Obviously, I don’t know your specific circumstance and am not saying one way or the other. But I do think your advice about keeping an eye on your credit card transactions is a good thing to be doing always, regardless.

    For the record, MJ, we are not paid by Priority Pass. My own experience with the program has been a good one, hence this review. It is true that not every major airport has a lounge in the program, though in the United States the only airport among the 20 busiest without a participating lounge is Charlotte, NC. Anyone considering joining should consult the list of participating lounges on the Priority Pass website and see if the cities available fit their travel patterns. If you were to actually check you’d see that are indeed lounges from the airlines you mentioned in the program (eg. American Airlines lounge in Honolulu is in PP) but the beauty of the program is that the airline doesn’t really matter. No matter what airline you fly Priority Pass gives you access to all their participating lounges.

    As for our other readers: Have you had a good experience with Priority Pass? Or a bad one? We’ve love to hear from you.

    [Reply to this comment]

  11. Wayne says:

    I found this website by Googling “credit card fraud priority pass”.

    I joined Priority Pass in the middle of July 2010 with the view to maybe putting it to use on a planned trip later in the year.

    My bank contacted me yesterday to inform that there had been “unauthorized transactions to my credit card”. Sound familiar?

    After checking my account transactions for my credit card, my gut feeling (very strong feeling too), is that the breach has occurred somehow through the Priority Pass organization.

    It is nice to see the positive comments about the service that is obtainable with this card (when you’re carrying it), but I think it must be said that everyone who joins should keep a very close eye on their credit card transactions for a month or two. I’m not saying that it’s not worth joining, because I haven’t tried to use the service yet so I can’t comment on that yet. But I have experienced issues similar to MJ, so my advice is, be wary.

    Cheers,

    Wayne.

    [Reply to this comment]

  12. MJ says:

    How much does Priority Pass pay you for this page? Your responses are ridiculous!!!

    1) HOW ON EARTH DO YOU EXCUSE A COMPANY FOR MAKING UNAUTHORIZED CHARGES??? This is STEALING. And it is most definitely NOT a rare occurrence, when I called my credit card company they remarked that FREQUENTLY get complaints from clients about unauthorized charges from Priority Pass!!

    2) You equate entering and sitting in a lounge with the same risks and responsibilities as driving a car? Unauthorized/incompetent drivers frequently KILL the innocent – THIS is why its required to have a drivers license with you! And other than the registration fee, you dont PAY for the right to drive – this is not a service you are an actual client of, unlike Priority Pass, which charges you then denies you the rights to what you paid for because they refused to validate your membership via phone/ check in the database. You want physical proof?? How about my passport/drivers license thats good enough for the government in addition with their own database?? Come on!

    3) How many of the 600 lounges you mention actually service the majority of flights?? Since this is a .com site (US-centric), guess what – American Airlines does not take them. Delta/Northwest does not take them. JetBlue does not take them. British Airways does not take them. The vast majority of lounges that service multiple airlines are in Europe and Asia – basically none in the USA! So yes, for those thousands of times i stop in the Bali, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur airports, I’m golden! but for the far more frequent domestic flights: too bad, gotcha sucker!

    SHAME ON YOU for defending a scam of a company and with misleading responses!

    [Reply to this comment]

  13. Wessel Jordaan says:

    I have only had good service at any of prioroty pass lounges…except Cairo last year June or July. I have however noticed it has been closed since and PPas have arrangement for use of the 1st Class longe…nice one!!!

    Guy’s we live on planet earth there will always be dissapointments at various times….make lemonade out of lemons there is always a bright side.

    As one of my basic luggage checks docs etc is do I have my Prioroty Pass Card!

    Keep it up with the new lounges…Oh must add I enjoyed my stop over at the PP longe in Bahrain…very nice…not over the top but clean and friendly staff.

    Thank you

    Wessel

    [Reply to this comment]

  14. MJ says:

    A negative hundred stars. This is a general review on the Priority Pass program, which is supposedly used to access many airport lounges worldwide. I rarely take the time to submit reviews, but am SO aggravated with this program I dont want anyone else to go through this. PRIORITY PASS IS THE BIGGEST SCAM THERE IS. I have found exactly TWO airport lounges which accept priority pass out of 32. Yes. No one except continental takes them. Its worthless. One of the two times I actually found a lounge which would take it, I didnt have the worthless physical card with me, so they wouldnt let me in. I called Priority Pass to verify my membership to the lounge, and Priority Pass told them not to let me in even though I am a member because I did not have my card. The second time I actually found a lounge which takes Priority Pass someone was behind me in line and Priority Pass (which requires you to keep a credit card number on file) charged me for the person behind me even though they were there on their own accord and under their own entrance. If you contact priority pass they refuse to help and simply tell you there’s nothing they can do to help. This is THE MOST WORTHLESS program on the face of the earth. The fact they charge money for it is a huge scam, and I also plan on registering a complaint with the better business bureau (they made unauthorized charges to my credit card). DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME AND MONEY ON THIS RIDICULOUS PROGRAM.

    [Reply to this comment]

    Spot Cool Travel Stuff Reply:

    MJ,

    Thanks for your comment, your negative hundred stars not withstanding.

    Basically, it seem you have three criticisms of Priority Pass:

    1) They made unauthorized charges to your credit card.

    That may has well been your experience. It hasn’t been ours, nor anyone we’ve met. So, my sense is that your experience was more of a one-off thing rather than a routine. (BTW, for unauthorized card charges there’s not too much the BBB can do for you. If you simply tell your credit card company it is not a legitimate charge you won’t have to pay until the issue is resolved).

    2) You need a physical Priority Pass card to get into the lounges.

    While this is absolutely true it strikes us as a bit of nitpicky point. You also need a physical card to legally drive a car and to make a purchase on your MasterCard credit at a store (even though the police or store clerk could call some central database to confirm your details). But we can also see why the requirement would be frustrating to some one who forgot their card at home. For what it is worth, airline lounges of all sorts usually require physical proof that you are allowed in. I’m a United Airlines Gold member and was once turned away from a United lounge bcs I didn’t have my physical premier card.

    3) Only Continental Airline lounges are part of the Priority Pass.

    This is demonstrably false. Anyone can go to the Priority Pass website and see all of the 600 lounges that are part of the program. They run the gamut of airlines. Many of the lounges serve multiple airlines. Last time we flew out of Bali, for example, we noticed how almost every airline (including the one we were flying, Singapore) contracted out to one of four lounges. All four lounges were part of Priority Pass.

    ~ SCS

    [Reply to this comment]

  15. marina k. villatoro says:


    Twitter:
    I’ve passed the outside of these rooms and have often considered the membership fee! But traveling with child, I’m more into roaming the airports then sitting put in some luxury room, as much as I’d love to, I have to keep my little man excited:)

    marina k. villatoro’s last blog post..Daily Guatemala – Macaws

    [Reply to this comment]

    Spot Cool Travel Stuff Reply:

    Hi Marina,

    That makes sense. Just so you know: Priority Pass does allow children traveling with you to join you in their lounges free of charge. Some of the lounges have better close-up views of the airport operations than the public areas of the airport do and many have child-friendly food and drinks (chocolate milk, etc.). But, yeah, the lounges have more of a quiet-business environment rather than a place for kids to run around.

    [Reply to this comment]

  16. Cate says:


    Twitter:
    Things have certainly changed since I first started travelling. No longer do you have to suffer seatless and hot, minding a grotty backpack. You can lounge and surf. Either travellers have become more affluent or particular in their standards. I like the new way.

    Cate’s last blog post..Forbidden no more – Beijing’s city within

    [Reply to this comment]

  17. Erica says:


    Twitter:
    I’ve always had a tendency to arrive too late to airports, so I haven’t really had any time to relax in any airline lounges… yet. I hope to change that when I next travel abroad.

    Erica’s last blog post..Karma When Traveling

    [Reply to this comment]

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