What is a Priority Pass? How to get a Priority Pass card, reviews about it

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

People who fly frequently are familiar with the tedious process of waiting in the lounge for a flight. Crowded rooms and long queues at eateries will not suit everyone. The Priority Pass card will help make waiting more comfortable. What it is and what advantages its owner has, you will learn from this article.

Introduction

Card holders can change their lives for the better. Priority Pass is an international access program to one of the 600 airport VIP lounges around the world. Regardless of the airline and the class that will be flying, a pass to the lounge area (lounge for superior comfort) is a card and an air ticket for the current day's flight. Card holders are guaranteed peace and quiet in a separate waiting room, as well as low prices, subject to the purchase of an annual subscription. Separately, a range of business class lounges is provided in more than 300 cities around the world.

Cardholder Opportunities

Priority Pass card holder can invite friends to the luxury lounge for a free meal,drink, take a shower before the flight. But in some VIP rooms there are restrictions on the number of invited guests, as well as their age (not all of them allow children). The fee (if any) for the use of the telephone, Internet, Wi-Fi, fax is paid directly to the VIP-lounge staff. The list of free available services includes a TV, fresh newspapers and magazines, the ability to charge popular models of phones, smartphones and tablets.

Attendance is recorded in one of two ways: through the electronic terminal, which is installed at the entrance to the hall, or the cardholder is issued a "Visit Voucher". In the second case, the cardholder must check the correctness of the data indicated in the coupon regarding himself and all the people accompanying him.

VIP Lounge Management may limit the maximum stay (usually no more than 4 hours) to avoid overcrowding. To increase the time spent in a comfortable lounge, you will have to pay twice for visiting the lounge. The fee for visiting the VIP-lounges is charged per visit per person, based on the conditions of participation in the program. The program provides access to meeting rooms.

Access to the hall is available to persons with an air ticket of the same day, provided that it was purchased without a discount. Outside the US, you must also present your boarding pass for your current flight at the entrance to the lounge. In some European countries, access to VIP lounges is open only to tourists traveling within countriesSchengen Agreement.

How to become a member of the program

Great opportunities open up for members of the Priority Pass program. How to access it? This card is not a means of payment, valid until the date indicated on the front side, and if the owner's signature is on the back side. The Priority Pass card is an attachment to the Gold, Platinum, Infinity, Selective cards. Sometimes it is issued together with classic credit cards. But each bank has its own rules.

Only members of the Sberbank-Premier program, that is, customers who have issued a Platinum American Express card, can receive a card at Sberbank. The cost of annual maintenance is 15 thousand rubles. Subject to a pre-approved order, you will have to pay 10,000 rubles for the annual Priority Pass service. Banks Uralsib and Avangard issue a card for free. The first service fee for 365 days is 6,000 rubles, and the second - 3,000-5,000 rubles, depending on the type of main payment card (GOLD or PLATINUM). In some cases, Avangard Bank employees may offer to issue a Priority Pass for free if the Mastercard Standard turnover is large enough. Raiffeisenbank issues a card upon activation of the "Premium" package and charges 3,000 rubles a month.

How much does it cost

Priority Pass card in Russia is also issued by Rosbank, Absolut, Unicredit Bank, SNGB. In Ukraine, the card can be issued in Privatbank, OTP, VTB, VAB, Russian Standard, and recently joined the programDelta bank. Before issuing a card in any bank, you need to clarify the service fee. Practice shows that banks issue the first category of Priority Pass cards to customers more often. What it is? There are three main fare categories:

1. €100 annual fee, each visit by the owner or guest is charged at €24 at a time.
2. 250 EUR - 10 visits included, each subsequent visit 24 EUR per visit per person.
3. €400 per year - unlimited cardholder visit and €24 per guest visit.

But if you spend time and get a card in the "right" bank, you can find tariffs at which the issuance of a card and all visits will be free. This is the best option for a large family.

Alternative way

The second way to get a card is via the Internet, on the Priority Pass website. But, in addition to registering on the site, paying a membership fee and shipping costs, you will also have to link a new card to a regular bank card, from which funds will be debited. The entire process takes approximately 30 days. The amount of the membership fee depends on the tariff:

$399 per year - unlimited.

$249 per year - $27 for all visits from the 11th.

$99 per year - $27 for all visits by the owner and guests.

Scope of application

When issuing a card, a bank employee must provide a directory with a list of airports around the world where this program operates. Availability of a directoryallows you to significantly reduce the time to find the right airport with a VIP lounge. But even if there was no directory at hand, the list of airports can be found in two ways. First - on the official website of the service in the "Find you lounger" sign in the left column, you need to enter the country, city and airport. The second is through an application for gadgets with iOS, Android, and more recently also BlackBerry.

Interestingly, anyone can install the application. At many airports, it is possible to enter the lounge area at a rate of $ 10-20, on the terms of the “fee for using” application. When you first start the program does not require you to enter any membership data. And you can use the application without an active Internet connection. Within the application, you can save your favorite bookmarks and view your search history.

In practice

The advantages of the card are obvious - the opportunity to relax between flights in the lounge with a high level of comfort. But there are some nuances of participating in the Priority Pass program. User reviews on the forums confirm this. Firstly, each VIP room has its own rules: in some, the number of admissions to the lounge areas is limited, in others, you need to pay separately for guests. You can issue two cards in different banks in your name, then the guest will be admitted free of charge. The second option is to issue a card at Raiffeisenbank. When connecting to the "Premium" package, guests can be admitted to the lounge areas for free.

Secondly, in Russia, the possibilities of the card can only be used at Vnukovo, Sheremetyevo and Pulkovo airports. In Ukraine - Kharkov airport, Boryspil and Zhuliany. Much more opportunities open up at international airports. Forum members actively share useful information. At the airports of Dubai, Barcelona and Hong Kong, food, hot showers, drinks, Internet access are provided free of charge in the lounge areas. The Nairobi Airport VIP Lounge is air-conditioned, unlike the airport itself. The ideal use of the card is when traveling with children. In such cases, free places in the rooms with food and drinks are guaranteed.

CV

If a tourist travels more than 3 times a year, and besides with a family with two children, then issuing a card will significantly save the budget and allow you to comfortably pass the time between flights.