Best Credit Cards for Airport Lounge Access in 2024

Plaza Premium Lounge at Adelaide Airport
Plaza Premium Lounge at Adelaide Airport. Photo: Plaza Premium.

The Australian credit card market is a competitive space. So, many banks offer additional benefits to cardholders as an enticement to sign up for their cards. These include things like complimentary travel insurance, bonus credit card sign-up points and even sometimes free flights.

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Another benefit offered by some credit cards is airport lounge access.

Around a dozen Australian credit cards offer two complimentary Qantas Club or Virgin Australia Lounge passes each year. Other credit cards come with Standard Priority Pass membership, including two complimentary Priority Pass lounge visits each year.

Plus, many American Express cardholders are entitled to two annual visits to the international Amex Centurion airport lounges in Sydney or Melbourne.

A few Australian credit cards even go a step further, offering unlimited access to a global network of airport lounges for as long as you keep the card! Most of these cards have relatively high annual fees, but it can still work out to be a very good deal compared to the cost of buying an equivalent airport lounge membership outright.

When comparing products, beware of credit cards that advertise “lounge access” that is not free!

Looking for a credit card with some great lounge access benefits? Here are some of the best Australian cards for lounge access in 2024…

American Express Platinum

Amex Platinum card

With a $1,450 annual fee, the American Express Platinum charge card is not exactly a cheap option. But its lounge access coverage is seriously impressive.

In addition to many other benefits, this card comes with unlimited access to the following lounges in the American Express Global Lounge Collection for the cardholder and a guest:

  • Priority Pass lounges (excluding airport restaurant locations)
  • Plaza Premium lounges
  • Virgin Australia lounges (when flying Virgin Australia domestically)
  • Delta Sky Clubs (when flying Delta, within three hours of departure or arrival)
  • Lufthansa Business Lounges (when flying Lufthansa, SWISS or Austrian Airlines in Economy or Premium Economy)
  • Lufthansa Senator Lounges (when flying Lufthansa, SWISS or Austrian Airlines in Business Class)
  • Amex Centurion lounges
  • American Express international lounges
  • Escape Lounges
  • Airspace Lounges

You can see a full list here of the airport lounges available in Australia to Amex Platinum cardholders.

Lufthansa Panorama Lounge at Frankfurt Airport
The Amex Platinum card includes access to the Lufthansa Panorama Business Lounge at Frankfurt Airport. Photo: Matt Graham.

Citi Prestige

Citi Prestige card

As something a bit more affordable, the $700/year Citi Prestige credit card offers unlimited Priority Pass lounge access for the cardholder and one guest.

Although this is not quite as impressive as the benefits afforded to Amex Platinum users, Priority Pass lounge coverage is still fairly comprehensive. There are more than 1,500 Priority Pass lounges around the world, including over a dozen in Australia.

Entrance to the Rex Lounge in Melbourne Terminal 4
Priority Pass members can access all Rex Lounges in Australia. Photo: Matt Graham.

Unlike American Express Platinum members, Citi Prestige cardholders also continue to receive complimentary food and beverage credits at participating airport restaurants. You could get a complimentary $36 meal voucher for yourself and a guest each time you depart from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Townsville, Perth or Gold Coast airports.

Considering the annual fee, the Citi Prestige card doesn’t have a great deal of earning power as a points-earning credit card. If you opt-in to earning Qantas Frequent Flyer points, you’ll pay $749 per year and earn just 0.5 Qantas points per dollar. If you opt-in to earning Citi Rewards points, the annual fee is $700 and you’ll earn the equivalent of 0.5 Velocity points or 0.4 KrisFlyer miles per dollar spent on the card. That said, you’ll earn 2-3x more points when spending with airlines, hotels, restaurants, supermarkets and petrol stations.

If you’re considering purchasing a Priority Pass Prestige membership anyway, the annual fee on the Citi Prestige card is a similar price. A Priority Pass prestige membership costs USD469 annually, or around ~AU$708 at the current exchange rate.

You’ll also get an included guest allowance with the Citi Prestige card that doesn’t normally come with paid Priority Pass Prestige membership!

The Citi Prestige card also offers various other travel benefits including international travel insurance, hotel discounts and a cash back on Uber rides.

American Express Centurion

Amex Centurion card

For those lucky enough to be invited to apply, the unadvertised Amex Centurion card offers some serious airport lounge benefits. However, with a $5,000 initiation fee and $6,500 annual fee, the Amex Centurion card is certainly not for everyone.

In addition to many of the same lounges available to Amex Platinum cardholders, Amex Centurion members in Australia can access Qantas Club lounges and receive Emirates Skywards Gold status, granting access to Emirates Lounges when flying with the Dubai-based airline.

Qantas Club Sydney
Amex Centurion members receive complimentary Qantas Club membership. Photo: Qantas.

Credit cards offering complimentary Qantas Club invitations

There are also a range of credit cards that offer single-entry lounge invitations.

The following credit cards offer 2x annual Qantas Club lounge invitations:

Credit cards offering complimentary Virgin Australia Lounge passes

These credit cards come with 2x free annual Virgin Australia Lounge passes:

Virgin Australia Lounge entrance in Melbourne
Virgin Australia Lounge, Melbourne. Photo: Virgin Australia.

Credit cards offering complimentary Amex Centurion Lounge visits

A selection of Australian-issued American Express cards also offer two complimentary visits each calendar year to the Amex Centurion Lounges in Sydney or Melbourne.

These cards include:

The Amex Centurion Lounge at Melbourne Airport
The Amex Centurion Lounge at Melbourne Airport. Photo: American Express.

Credit cards offering two complimentary Priority Pass lounge visits each year

The following credit cards provide the cardholder with complimentary Standard Priority Pass membership, with two included annual lounge visits. Further visits and guests are charged at the normal rate of USD35 each.

The BOQ Specialist Signature card offers four free annual Priority Pass lounge visits, with a free guest included on each visit.

In addition, the CommBank Ultimate Awards card includes two annual DragonPass lounge entries. And the HSBC Platinum card comes with two annual LoungeKey airport lounge visits.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended as financial advice. Consider your personal circumstances before applying for any type of credit.

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 70 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include economics, aviation & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.
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Community Comments

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Hi all,
Hoping someone can assist. I just received a Westpac Altitude Black MasterCard (Qantas) that offers 2 Complimentary Lounge Passes "when you purchase a selected Qantas product or service within Australia".
Question: if I purchase a QF Rewards seat with Points, and pay the Taxes amount using the Altitude Black, would that be considered a valid purchase? (I am thinking so, but just want to check with you experienced people for any gotchas).

Thanks in advance!

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Does anyone know if the personal Diners card, which used to allow unlimited free access to airport lounges, is still providing this benefit.

I have such a card (since 2000), but can't get a straight answer out of their Indian call centre.

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Does anyone know if the personal Diners card, which used to allow unlimited free access to airport lounges, is still providing this benefit.

I tried mine in DXB yesterday just to check out one of the lounges but forgot my PIN (for authorisation purposes) so I would say so...

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I tried mine in DXB yesterday just to check out one of the lounges but forgot my PIN (for authorisation purposes) so I would say so...

Thanks for that. I'd better go chase up my PIN then, which I've never used.

I contacted the DC Service Centre again today, and the agent was adamant that my card can still be used for complementary access to DC Airport Lounges. So we shall see in October when I give it a go at the Omanair lounge at BKK. I'll have access to whatever OneWorld lounge is open around midnight and whatever lounge Royal Jordanian offers, but I do like the Omanair lounge at BKK.

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click to expand...

Surprised the Bankwest More World credit card isn't mentioned here with TEN lounge passes per year through Loungekey (approx $700 value alone) for $270 p.a.

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