Pay as you go airport lounge access?

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runey

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My wife and I travel internationally once a year and maybe an additional domestic as well. So it's hardly worthwhile buying a lounge membership.

I was wondering how common the pay as you go airport lounges are. Specifically for this year we are travelling through Adelaide, Sydney and Bangkok (as well as other regional Thai cities)

We had heard about a new lounge in Sydney where you can pay $35 to get in. Is this true? I could not find it on the Sydney Airport website.

Thanks for your help
 
According to the Priority Pass website they have a lounge in the Sydney International terminal (Pier C). Basic membership is US$99 per year plus US$24 per visit (and another US$24 to get a guest in).

Bit steep for a couple of visits if you ask me.

I don't know of any other pay-per-visit lounges in SYD, but I may be wrong. It may be that the Priority Pass lounge has a special $35 deal, but I can't find any mention of it on the website.
 
Thanks Alan, I looked at Priority Pass but a bit pricey for a once a year use :(

For this trip I may take advantage of this offer http://www.prioritytraveller.com/freetrial

Still have to pay to get into the lounge, e.g. US$24, but at least no membership fee for 60 days :)

Still it would nice to know if there were any lounges that you can buy your way into on a per use plan, rather than buying annual membership. Any input would be appreciated.
 
runey, this won't assist for this trip, but potentially for the future. Diner's Club appears to have a lounge network for cardholders. Unfortunately ADL, SYD and BKK aren't amongst them, but for future trips dependent on where you are heading, may be an option? I have no idea of their rules or quality, but more information can be found at
http://www.dinersclub.com/en/DCIHome/airport.jhtml
 
I tend to travel alot through Asia, so not too usefull. But I am planning a big trip to Europe, just not sure when, and it looks very useful for that. Thankyou

American Express also have lounge access apparently, but you have to be a platinum member :shock:
 
Runey, I can't help with BKK, but there are a couple of options domestically. Virgin Blue have Blue Room lounges in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne which you can trial for $5 per visit (there are costs, though, for food etc once you are inside). Importantly, you don't have to be flying Virgin to use the lounge. Details are on the Virgin Blue website.

Another option is to lurk on ebay and try to buy the complimentary Qantas Club passes which turn up now and again. I know one went for around $150 the other day, but I looked a few days ago and there were half a dozen on offer which were quite undersubscribed at a few dollars each. (I suspect that a bunch of people saw the price the first one went for and put theirs up - that was actually my intention too, but the bids were so low I decided not to bother).

Because these passes are usually valid for a year or so, you can probably get them quite reasonably if you just hang around ebay and buy when the price suits, rather than the night before you fly and hang the expense! Though the passes will also be cheaper when there is only a month or two left to use them. If you search on ebay, there's one advertised now for $10 (only valid til end of August, no bids, with a day to go), and another for $5 (valid til end of September, one bid, 9 days to go).

Hope this helps.
 
Thanks for that Icarus.... Do you need to be flying Qantas with those complimentary passes? Not a prob for this trip since I'm flying Qantas :)

I'll check out the Blue Lounge inof for future trips
 
tuapekastar said:
runey, this won't assist for this trip, but potentially for the future. Diner's Club appears to have a lounge network for cardholders. Unfortunately ADL, SYD and BKK aren't amongst them, but for future trips dependent on where you are heading, may be an option? I have no idea of their rules or quality, but more information can be found at
http://www.dinersclub.com/en/DCIHome/airport.jhtml
I have used my diners card on several occasions to gain acces to an airport lounge. In Asia, I have used the Diners lounge at Narita, where you get exactly one beer (plus nibblies, etc) for your trouble. However, it beats mingling with the madding crowd outside.

Also, at BKK, I have noticed pay as you go lounges airside. They don't look too flash, but might be better than sitting with the hoi polloi.

:)
 
"Priority Pass" is an umbrella marketing group. Most of the lounges are independently owned and operated while Priority Pass have a global and internet presence to represent them. So you can check the web site of the airport you are travelling to and see if they have an independent lounge.

One company in Asia is Plaza. http://www.plaza-ppl.com/. You can just pay and walk in - HKG, SIN, KUL, GGT. They also have a lounge in YVR! Showers, internet, snacks, news service, phones, massage chairs – they’re great. So, there are many options other than elite status with particular airlines or expensive memberships.

Some may not be as glamorous as the airline lounges – some will be better - but in my experience, all are very practical in their offering and clearly fill a need.
 
Hi again, Runey - yes, you do have to fly Qantas to use the passes; sorry I jumped to conclusions as to how you'd be flying!
 
runey said:
WooHoo... Found it :D

http://thegreatoutdoors.com.au/general.php?ID=7141

Knew I saw it somewhere
Well, done - I hadn't heard about that one.

Must be new; the Plaza web site hasn't been updated to include SYD yet!

If I'm ever forced to fly a non-Oneworld airline out of SYD I think I will give it a try (of course I hope that never happens!).

Looks like your best bet unless you can pick up one of the Qantas Club passes cheaper on e-bay. Just be careful to ensure that it is a "Complimentary Invitation" and not a (now defunct) "Guest Pass".
 
No need to be sorry Icarus :) I normally fly Oneworld unless I can find a fare that is considerably cheaper, and a decent airline :D

Unless I can find two passes on eBay I'll be using that lounge. I'll post a report on it when I get back (end of Sept)

Just an idea to any mods who might see this. How about a sticky listing pay-per-use lounges in various cities and maybe a score. This info seems to be hard to find and I think it would be a nice addition to the site.

I'll do Sydney and Bangkok when I get back
 
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not Amex

runey said:
American Express also have lounge access apparently, but you have to be a platinum member :shock:

Not with the Australian Platinum AMEX. I spoke to the concierge about that very benefit the other day.

It is available to US and UK cardholders but again it doesn't really cover Asian airport lounges.
 
Well that's fairly typical... Well it's a moot point, at least for me, I'm not likely to be getting an 'invitation' for a Platinum card :D
 
Alan in CBR said:
Well, done - I hadn't heard about that one.

Must be new; the Plaza web site hasn't been updated to include SYD yet!

If I'm ever forced to fly a non-Oneworld airline out of SYD I think I will give it a try (of course I hope that never happens!).

Looks like your best bet unless you can pick up one of the Qantas Club passes cheaper on e-bay. Just be careful to ensure that it is a "Complimentary Invitation" and not a (now defunct) "Guest Pass".

Its the old Qantas Club with a rework.
 
markis10 said:
Its the old Qantas Club with a rework.
OK, that makes sense. Is it both the old First lounge (on the departures level) and Business lounge (downstairs) or only one of them?
 
Don't know where the old Qantas lounges were, but if you do this might help.

There's a large lounge near gate 24, seating 100 people (Pier B) and another one near gate 53, seating 50 people (Pier C).
 
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