Priority Pass Lounges Adding Co-Payments

Priority Pass membership gives you access to over 1,700 airport lounges, restaurants and experiences, including lounges at five Australian airports. This is a great benefit for times when you’re flying on an airline where you don’t otherwise get lounge access through your status or class of travel. You can even get access with some credit cards.

In general, to access a Priority Pass lounge, you just need to show your membership card. But there’s a new trend where some airport lounges are adding a co-payment to access some of the services – or even just to get in.

Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse in Los Angeles has a USD35 co-payment

The Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse lounge at Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT) in Los Angeles recently joined the Priority Pass network. This is the main international terminal where Qantas and most other airlines operating their long-haul international flights from. There are currently no other Priority Pass lounges there, so it’s a welcome addition.

Virgin Atlantic opened its LAX lounge last month. It’s a particularly nice space with a la carte dining, a fully stocked bar, soundproofed work pods, showers and a “Zen Den” to promote relaxation.

But there’s a catch. To access this lounge using Priority Pass, you would need to pay an extra USD35 (~AU$55) at the door.

Other lounges charging a surcharge for entry

Virgin Atlantic’s LAX Clubhouse isn’t the first lounge participating in Priority Pass to add a surcharge for entry. For example, an additional fee also applies to enter the Clubrooms lounge in Terminal 3 at London Heathrow Airport.

Other lounges charging for “premium” services

I have also visited numerous Priority Pass participating lounges that added extra fees for access to “premium” services.

For example, some lounges only include a limited number of alcoholic drinks and charge extra for additional beverages, or for premium drinks like spirits or champagne. In fact, some lounges charge extra for any alcoholic drinks if you enter via Priority Pass – but they’ll include a drink or two if you’ve been invited in by your airline.

To give another example, I recall paying an extra ~AU$15 to have a shower at the Ambaar Lounge in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

Closer to home, in the international terminals at Sydney and Melbourne, The House lounges charge an extra $20 to access premium brand alcohol, a la carte dining and shower facilities. Priority Pass members can still access these lounges without paying for the upgrade, but only get access to food from the buffet and a smaller selection of drinks from the bar.

Is this a good development?

Priority Pass typically pays a fixed amount to its partner lounge operators for each person who enters. I’m not sure how much negotiation goes on between Priority Pass and the lounge operator when setting the price. But I suspect the lounge operators are generally more “price takers” – and can choose to either accept the amount Priority Pass is offering, or not.

Given the quality of the amenities available in Virgin Atlantic’s Los Angeles Clubhouse, my guess is that Virgin Atlantic felt it wasn’t worth accepting in guests for whatever amount Priority Pass was willing to pay. So, as a compromise, it has decided to offer access via Priority Pass to help fill the lounge during off-peak periods, but Priority Pass has agreed to let them add a surcharge that goes directly to Virgin Atlantic.

On one hand, I’d rather have the option to access more lounges – albeit an additional cost – than not to have the option. On the other hand, I would probably feel a bit ripped off if I’d paid an extra $55 to use my Priority Pass benefit and the experience wasn’t amazing.

In this case, if I was flying from Los Angeles back to Australia and didn’t otherwise have lounge access, I probably would pay the extra amount. This particular lounge looks great and is probably worth paying a bit extra for – especially if I planned to take full advantage of the food and drinks on offer.

That said, I don’t want to see this practice spreading to more lounges at other airports. If this became commonplace, it would devalue Priority Pass membership. Keep in mind that Priority Pass itself is not free – you need to buy a membership or have the right credit card to get access in the first place. Being constantly asked to pay extra to then use this benefit would make me feel like I’m being nickel-and-dimed.

What do you make of this development? Share your thoughts on the AFF forum!

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to more than 100 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. His interests include aviation, economics & 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.