topic Re: Airport lounge access and priority boarding in Credit Cards

Airport lounge access and priority boarding

toothgrind3r — Sun, 25 Oct 2015 20:19:23 GMT

Hello. I am someone who doesn't travel too much...maybe 3-5 times a year. Not looking to rack up tons of miles for free flights or anything....but two things that would make traveling much nicer for me would be lounge access and/or priority boarding.

Are there any cards out there that come with these benefits now-a-days?

Re: Airport lounge access and priority boarding

B335is — Sun, 25 Oct 2015 20:26:04 GMT

Do you find yourself flying one airline or more interested in a particular lounge? Citi Executive AAdvantage was nice when I was using AA frequently last year, enough so that I kept it longer than originally anticipated. Amex Priority Pass has been hit or miss where it has accepted it for me.

Re: Airport lounge access and priority boarding

Anonymous — Sun, 25 Oct 2015 20:31:34 GMT

@toothgrind3r wrote:
Hello. I am someone who doesn't travel too much...maybe 3-5 times a year. Not looking to rack up tons of miles for free flights or anything....but two things that would make traveling much nicer for me would be lounge access and/or priority boarding.

Are there any cards out there that come with these benefits now-a-days?

I wonder if you don't stick to a specific airline, if a person is able to add on priority boarding for a nominal fee to their ticket, and then be reimbursed from a credit card like Prestige/Premier/PRG/Ritz/etc?

I can tell based on your heavy use cards you dont focus much on rewards. That is fine.... but even if you fly 5 times a year, switching out the BCE and adding in a premier/prestige or a freedom/csp combo or a EDP/Delta Gold could prove handy....

Others will chime in on the lounges....I think the Amex Platinum has lounge access, as does the ritz, Diners Elite (new apps dc'd for now), and prestige.

Re: Airport lounge access and priority boarding

toothgrind3r — Sun, 25 Oct 2015 21:02:40 GMT

To answer both your questions, no, I am not loyal to one airline, nor do I really have a preference at this point.

And yeah, I'm not much of a rewards person...more into easy cashback.

I'll start looking at what's been reco'd....thanks!

Re: Airport lounge access and priority boarding

NRB525 — Sun, 25 Oct 2015 22:05:24 GMT

@toothgrind3r wrote:
Hello. I am someone who doesn't travel too much...maybe 3-5 times a year. Not looking to rack up tons of miles for free flights or anything....but two things that would make traveling much nicer for me would be lounge access and/or priority boarding.

Are there any cards out there that come with these benefits now-a-days?

Priority Boarding is easy: Delta AMEX, Citi AAdvantage, Chase United, BofA Alaska Air. Works as long as you have the card. Generally the other non-airline branded cards do not offer priority boarding.

The other way to get priority boarding is to have elite status, but both the credit card and the elite status require some level of focus on one airline.

The side advantage to each of the 4 cards above is, first checked bag free, and extra miles when you use the card to pay for tickets.

Now when you talk lounge access, that's a whole other kettle of fish. You can get basic Delta lounge access, buy your way in, with the Delta AMEX, United gives you two passes per year I think, but not the other two. So there is very limited lounge availability in the basic airline cards.

To get real lounge access, you have to go to the $450 AF cards (Diners Premier being not available). They have all kinds of possibilities, and restrictions and holes here and there, but the other avenue is to outright buy a PriorityPass membership for $100 per year, and $27 per visit. It's out of pocket cost, but if you don't want to shell out $450 for an unknown number of visits, it's a viable alternative.

Re: Airport lounge access and priority boarding

Anonymous — Sun, 25 Oct 2015 22:45:11 GMT

UNFCU has one card that gives Priority Pass lounge access ($50 AF): https://www.unfcu.org/product.aspx?id=386. You'll need to be related to the UN somehow or join UNA-USA to be eligible for that CU.

Re: Airport lounge access and priority boarding

FinStar — Sun, 25 Oct 2015 22:53:31 GMT

That's another option provided the OP can get approved for their Visa Elite (given minimum income requirements for that particular card).

I joined UNFCU not long ago and it was a pretty lengthy, manual process to join and was approved for their Visa Elite. The OP would still need to fund the minimum for UNFCU membership plus the UNA-USA association fee. Still, the overall (low) initial investment for this Elite card can provide some decent benefits in the long run for some folks.

Re: Airport lounge access and priority boarding

jsucool76 — Sun, 25 Oct 2015 23:26:33 GMT

Something like the amex plat or ritz carlton card will reimburse you for both lounge access, and priority boarding when added to your ticket. Ritz will work for any airline, amex plat will require you to choose a single airline every year.

I'd recommend the ritz card for this as it lets you use any airline. It's $395 a year, but will grant you marriott gold status for your travels, and reimburse up to $300 for club access, priority access, and checked baggage.

Re: Airport lounge access and priority boarding

NRB525 — Mon, 26 Oct 2015 00:03:08 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
UNFCU has one card that gives Priority Pass lounge access ($50 AF): https://www.unfcu.org/product.aspx?id=386. You'll need to be related to the UN somehow or join UNA-USA to be eligible for that CU.

...and earn more than $75k...

Re: Airport lounge access and priority boarding

FinStar — Mon, 26 Oct 2015 00:19:15 GMT

Exactly, that's what I hinted in my post above with the income requirement for the Visa Elite.

Re: Airport lounge access and priority boarding

jsucool76 — Mon, 26 Oct 2015 00:41:48 GMT

I have an odd feeling that visa elite card gives you a membership to priority pass, but not the free one.

It's probably "access to lounges" for $27/person/visit.

Re: Airport lounge access and priority boarding

FinStar — Mon, 26 Oct 2015 00:48:08 GMT

The Priority Pass for Visa Elite allows 5 free visits annually regardless of the airline or loyalty program but only applies to participating lounges. Any other visits beyond those 5 would be $27 per person, per visit.

Re: Airport lounge access and priority boarding

toothgrind3r — Mon, 26 Oct 2015 01:00:39 GMT

Thanks all for your comments, very helpful!

Am I right in that from what I read the Prestige doesn't give you priority boarding?

Re: Airport lounge access and priority boarding

jsucool76 — Mon, 26 Oct 2015 01:29:18 GMT

Prestige won't give you priority boarding. It does have a $250 airline credit which you could use for priority access, but it can also be used to just pay for a ticket.

Prestige is the best choice if your trips usually have you staying in a single hotel for 4+ nights