Get ready to feel like a VIP Business Class traveler without the added cost of expensive flights or mileage points, simply by getting a Priority Pass membership for airport lounge access!
For once, you will eagerly look forward to getting to the airport early, rather than dreading the traffic, long security lines, and dirty bathrooms! You may even pack your luggage in advance rather than procrastinating until the last minute, and skip hitting snooze on your “LEAVE FOR THE AIRPORT” alarm!
Take it from me — a full time traveler who claims airports as her second home; having a Priority Pass upped my travel experiences from 2-star to 5-star! Since I’ve had it, I’ve literally waited to eat anything, and gotten to the airport as early as possible, just so I can use my Priority Pass at the lounges and get alllllll the food and drinks!
What exactly does a Priority Pass membership include? Access to select airport lounges which includes food, drinks (including alcohol!), WiFi, clean bathrooms, quiet and safe areas to relax, and some even have spas! Also, Priority Pass provides credits off the bar and restaurant final bill as well in some airports worldwide, Sydney experience was amazing!
My prestige level Priority Pass membership during my recent trip from Dubai to Sydney, with layover in Hong Kong to show you just how awesome and beneficial having a pass is. You wouldn’t believe how much more amazing it made that 28 hour journey! Especially since my layover was at 4am, and I had a slight run-in scare with the Hong Kong police! #Oopsies
Also, just visiting lounges and restaurants at those three airports nearly re-paid for the price of the annual membership itself! You’ll see the breakdown of how much it would have costed without the pass as well!
Dying to get your own Priority Pass yet? Check out all the detailed information below about memberships, and then my experience using it across three countries!
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What is a Priority Pass?
You know how airports have special lounges for Business/First Class travelers, or for a hefty day pass fee? Well Priority Pass gives you access to most of those lounges when you purchase a membership for one annual fee!
The word “annual fee” might automatically raise your eyebrows, but you’ll see from my actual 3-airport flight journey that what you get in the lounges more than makes up for the fee!
How Much is a Priority Pass?
There are three different levels of Priority Passes, and you should choose them based on how frequently you travel! Since I travel full time, I have the Prestige Pass, and as I mentioned above, I’ve already more than made back my money’s worth just in the first month!
Right now through October 31st you can get 25% off a Priority Pass membership!! Click here to get it!
What’s Included with a Priority Pass
You’ll have access to over 1,200 airport lounges which you can search for and get details about right from the Priority Pass app or website! The details you’ll find are what’s included in the lounge, where to find it, and if they accept a digital membership card which you can then access right from the app!
Most lounges include:
- Unlimited food
- Unlimited beverages including alcohol (some countries limit this)
- Free high speed internet
- Clean bathrooms (and some with showers!)
- Quiet, safe, comfortable atmospheres
- Some even have spas for an extra cost!
Credit off the restaurant final bill: Priority Pass provides credit off the bar and restaurant final bill in some airports worldwide. Like the Sydney International Airport, the experience was amazing. A single lounge visit in your Priority Pass represents AUS$36 credit off the final bill, it acted as like a voucher for food and drinks at select bars and restaurants!
But enough of the black and white details, let’s see how I actually put the Priority Pass to the test with my recent extremely long flight journey from Dubai, to Hong Kong for a layover, to Sydney!
How I Used my Priority Pass During a 3-Airport Trip!
START: Dubai International Airport
Flight: 5pm
Arrived: 2pm
Lounge: Marhaba Lounge
Normal Day Pass Cost: $65
My Estimated Consumption Costs without Priority Pass: $100
Dubai is known for it’s over-the-top fanciness all around, and I knew already the same could be said for its airport! I also knew that I had spent WAY too much money on meals while in Dubai, and was very much looking forward to gorging on the all inclusiveness of the lounge!
That being said, I got to the airport 3 hours early, went through bag drop and security, and was able to spend a solid 2 hours in the lounge!
I had three heaping plates of pescatarian-friendly food, and a self-replenishing glass of white wine (AKA a very friendly and hospitable lounge waiter!). If I would have ordered the same amount of food and wine at a regular restaurant in Dubai, it would have cost well over $100!
This particular lounge was one of those unicorn ones that has a spa inside of it (for an extra cost), and also has showers available for free! As a solo traveler, I especially loved that I could leave my bags, even my purse and laptop, where I was sitting because a staff member was more than willing to watch it while I used the bathroom or walked around.
I was actually shocked when the concierge came and told me it was time to go to my boarding gate, since I was so comfortable with my food, wine, and free wifi that I barely noticed how long I was in there! I joked on Instagram Stories that I wouldn’t be surprised if I miss a flight soon for trying to wait until the last minute to leave the lounges!
LAYOVER: Hong Kong International
Flight: 9am
Arrived: 4am
Lounge: Plaza Premium
Normal Day Pass Cost: $61
My Estimated Consumption Costs: $30
That’s right. I had a FIVE hour layover at FOUR o’clock in the morning. Never fun, especially if you’re stuck in the regular area of the airport where there’re very few areas to lay down or relax in a quiet, safe atmosphere. Especially with those fluorescent airport lights always blaring in your eyes!
To make matters even more stressful, for the first time ever I had gotten in trouble for going through security and having something in my purse that was considered ILLEGAL! Apparently pepper spray, even the TSA-approved-pink-lipstick-disguised-kind is a big no-no in Hong Kong! Like…it’s literally classified as an “assault weapon”! For an hour I sat half terrified and half asleep as the Hong Kong police filled out reports and waited to hear from their superiors what my punishment would be!
Luckily, since I was a transit passenger, and because the police seemed intrigued with my travel record, they let me off with a write up and a warning. But after that scare, I DEFINITELY needed some lounge TLC!
The Plaza Premium lounge was everything I needed right then; a dimly lit atmosphere with private, comfy chairs. Unlimited access to sodas, water, juice, tea, and coffee. And both continental and local breakfast food options. I of course opted for the traditional noodle soup for breakfast!
To be completely honest, I probably would have cried if I had to sit in the uncomfortable airport chairs in that fluorescent light for five hours in the middle of the night after thinking I was going to get arrested by the Hong Kong police.
Having the comfort of being able to access a lounge with my Priority Pass made having it in general completely worth it. AKA I would have literally paid $300 just to rest somewhere in that moment, and I definitely have done that before!
FINAL DESTINATION: Sydney Airport
Flight: 7pm
Arrived: 4pm
Restaurants: Bistro 2020 & MoVida
My Estimated Consumption Costs: $74
As I mentioned before, not all airports have lounges! But to make your travel experience as awesome as possible, Priority Pass provides credit off the bar and restaurant final bill in some airports worldwide. Sydney is one of them and a single lounge visit in your Priority Pass represents AUS$36 credit off the final bill.
Sydney is also another super expensive place to travel, so I was more than happy to get to the airport three hours early to use my Priority Pass at a few of the restaurant options! That’s right! You can use the pass at multiple places!
So I started my experience at Bistro 2020 where I ordered a linguine with shrimp entree and a glass of Chardonnay totaling right at $36 AUD. All I had to do was give the server my mobile Priority Pass to scan plus my ID, and I was good to go!
Even though I didn’t have the comfy chairs that lounges usually have, the epic view of the tarmac more than made up for it!
With only 45 minutes left before boarding, I wanted to try and test out to see if the pass would work at a second location. I headed over to MoVida and asked the hilarious, suave-smooth bartender if I could use my pass to get a glass of wine since I had already ate.
To my surprise, he insisted that I at least take food to go since I had AUD$36 credit off the final bill anyway! Again they simply scanned my mobile pass, and let me order away! I had two glasses of Chardonnay (plus a tasting of a few Reds that Rico Suave insisted I tried), and got cinnamon churros with chocolate dipping sauce for take away! Talk about feeling fancy!
That all being said, you can see how just one long travel journey with Priority Pass not only makes up for the cost of the membership, but made the experience ten times better as well! I truly, honestly, cannot recommend this travel essential enough, and would not be surprised if you actually booked more flights because of it!
WHEN you get yours and have your first experience, comment below and share how awesome it is!! Also feel free to ask any questions about it!
Disclaimer: This post is in collaboration with Priority Pass however all thoughts, experiences, and obsessions with it are my own. In fact, I had a Priority Pass before even doing this collaboration…just to show you how interested I already was in it!
Thankou for sharing such informational blog with us keep sharing
I’ll be travelling all over Europe this fall and am looking into getting a priority pass. Im curious, do you know if you are you able to use the PP at your destination airports when you land? Or do you need to have a valid airline ticket for outgoing flights only? Love your blog!! Thanks!
Priority Pass would definitely be useful! As for your question, it’s a little tricky to answer.
The Priority Pass terms and conditions state that the customer must have a valid flight ticket and travel documents for the same day of travel. They go on to say that flight tickets must be accompanied by a valid boarding pass when outside the United States. However, I’ve been reading that some lounges and restaurants are lax about checking that you have an actual same-day departing ticket. Let me know how it works out for you!
Instead of giving annual fee is there any option to buy a single parent for a single trip.
Great question! For more information on Priority Pass, it’s best to check out their website: https://www.prioritypass.com
Very tempting, likely something I’ll get for my next trip. Thank you for sharing!
You should!!
My husband got us priority passes and he just loves them. I think they are pretty handy too and really pretty reasonable if you travel often. The lounges really do help you relax and feel pampered!
I absolutely LOVE it! For me it’s not having to spend money on expensive airport food, and also makes me feel safe leaving my bag down to use the bathroom since I’m usually solo!