Airport Lounge Access, My Experience

 The first rule of airport lounges is to not talk about airport lounges. So crowded because people would take all their friends and extended family in, then fill their cargo shorts with little sandwiches. Yeah this is why we can't have nice things.

I've found the best  lounges to be those that airlines let you into when you're flying in an international premium cabin.

Fortunately or unfortunately, lounge operators are catching onto these tricks and are limiting guest access or number of visits. It remains to be seen if these tactics will work.

Anyway, how do you get into these mythical places anyway, and is it even worth the hassle?

Every card listed below comes with a statement credit to cover the application fee for either Global Entry or TSA Pre-Check, so you can spend a bit more time in a lounge, if you departure airport has one.

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Capital One VentureX (Referral Link)

The CapitalOne VentureX is probably the most cost-effective credit card for frequent travelers looking for lounge access. The excellent CapitalOne lounges can be found at  DEN, DFW, IAD, JFK, LAS, DCA, and LGA, not the best footprint so the basic Priority Pass membership has to fill in the gaps. (Sorry, no restaurant benefits with this one).

Here's a sampling of the food spread at the Denver CapitalOne lounge when I visited in 2024. This was in addition to some nice cocktails and a decent beer/wine selection.

Guest access at CapitalOne lounges costs $45 per guest, per visit. (Guests aged 17 and younger cost $25 per visit) Additional cardholders on one account can purchase airport lounge access for $125 per year, this buys access to Priority Pass and CapitalOne lounges. To earn complimentary guest access for two guests, a primary cardholder of a VentureX will need to spend at least $75k per calendar year. That $75k spend does not give additional guest passes to use for Priority Pass lounges, however.

CapitalOne points are one of my favorite points currencies since they have a good list of transfer partners, or can simply be redeemed for $0.01 each with the travel "purchase eraser." Buy a $200 airline ticket, redeem 20k points after it posts is the simple way. I personally prefer to transfer the points to Japan Airlines to redeem for a business class seat to/from Japan. Holding an International business class ticket with Japan Airlines entitles you to lounge access in a JAL or other Oneworld lounge.

If you want to double dip on 75k point CapitalOne bonuses with the Venture along with the VentureX cards, you need to do the $95/yr Venture first, as they don't let you double dip if you go in the other direction.

Here's my CapitalOne Referral Link: https://i.capitalone.com/GP3O8a2hF
Please note that I have seen the same 75k point offer with the Venture card, but it comes with an additional $250 to use in the travel portal, that offer expired but it, or the 100k offer could come back in the future.

The Oneworld Lounge at LAX is accessible when flying home in International Business class, such as Japan Airlines, as long as the long flight is in Business class and your connecting flight to get home is also on a Oneworld Carrier such as Alaska or American Airlines. (On the same itinerary) A shower was a welcome sight after sitting in a plane for 10 hours.

The American Express Platinum (Referral link.) 

The Amex Plat is widely regarded as the gold standard in lounge access with high quality lounges and a healty amount of locations: (* indicates coming soon) ATL, CLT, EWR*, BOS*, DFW, IAH, LAS, LAX, MIA, JFK, LGA, PHL, PHX, SLC, SEA, SFO, and DCA  - Outside of the USA, you can find American Express Centurion Lounges at HKG, LHR, HND, AMS*, EZE, DEL, MEL, MEX, MTY, BOM, ARN, SYD 

Food and beverage from the Amex lounge at Seatac, Spring 2019.

The welcome offer for the American Express Platinum is dynamic based on your initial application, I would suggest accepting no worse than 125k bonus points. Make sure the spend requirement is doable.

You need to take advantage of the "coupon book" style of credits for this card to make it worth the $895 annual fee. The $100/quarter Resy credit is easy, just spend at restaurants that are on Resy. The $15 per month Uber credit is ok if you're using Uber anyway. The $300 hotel credit sounds nice, but requires a 2 night stay at an expensive hotel. The $200 airline fee credit is nice too.

American Express points are a valuable transferrable currency, my favorite use is to move them to All Nippon Airways points to use on Business Class seats to Japan. Of note, you get additional lounge access if you're flying in business class. ANA would put you up in a contract lounge, such as the Star Alliance lounge, at LAX, if you're flying in International Business class.

On our way to Japan a few years ago, I tried Vegemite in the LAX Oneworld lounge. It wasn't very good. But the lounge itself was spacious, had a nice selection of drinks, and plenty of places to relax.

Chase Sapphire Reserve:  (Referral Link)

Chase is still working on building their lounge network, and is supplementing their Sapphire Lounge access with a basic Priority Pass membership. The Sapphire Lounges are actually nice, plus you get to bring in a guest.
You can find Sapphire lounges at BOS, LAS, JFK, LGA, PHL, PHX, SAN, DFW, LAX

In addition to the Priority Pass and Sapphire lounges, the Sapphire Reserve grants you access to Air Canada lounges when traveling on a Star Alliance carrier. (Air Canada, United, EVA Air, ANA, Luftansa, and more) - Air Canada lounges are also highly regarded in comparison to the basic Priority Pass Lounges.

The welcome offer is 125k bonus points after spending $6k in 3 months, not counting the $795 annual fee. The points have a variable value in their travel portal, or can be transferred to a number of partners, such as Air Canada, United, Virgin Atlantic, Air France, and Hyatt Hotels. I've had pretty good redemptions with Air France points. My favorite was Vietnam Airlines business class from Saigon to Osaka. Since I'm writing about lounges, the Vietnam Airlines Lotus lounge at Saigon was lovely and I had access to it, thanks to my business class ticket. The private shower in the lounge after a day of touristing in the humid city was a welcome sight.

You can transfer Chase points to British Airways, and redeem those points for a JAL Business ticket to get access to the JAL Osaka Sakura lounge, where you can play with this delightful rice dispenser.

Citi Strata Elite: (Non-referral link)

In addition to the basic priority pass membership, the Citi Strata Elite includes 4 passes to American Airlines Admirals Lounges per year. The catch is you need to be flying on a Oneworld carrier, such as American or Alaska Airlines.

The welcome bonus is currently 75k Citi ThankYou points. Notably, these points are transferrable to, among other hotel and airline programs, American Airlines, at a 1:1 rate with the Citi Strata Elite card.

This is another card that offers a coupon book, although it's an easier-to-use coupon book than the previously mentioned Chase Sapphire Preferred and American Express Platinum. You'll get a $300 annual hotel credit booked through cititravel.com, (Not just fancy hotels) a $200 annual "splurge" credit that can be used at Best Buy, and $200 credit to Blacklane, which is a fancy taxi service. Unfortunately that Blacklane credit is split up into two $100 credits active on the half-year.

The curry rice set from the Japan Airlines Sakura Business lounge at Haneda Airport (Tokyo) was fantastic. We redeemed American Airlines miles for JAL Business class, which gave access.

Airline Cards:

Chase United Explorer card (Referral link) 

For the first year, the $150 annual fee is waived. Plus you get a welcome bonus of 60-90k United Miles depending on the link/timing you use to apply. Here's my referral link, which earns you 70k United Miles after spending $3k in 3 months, an additional 10k miles for adding an authorized user, and two entries to a United Club Lounge per account anniversary. (You twice, or you and a guest once) The catch is that you've got to be traveling on United or another Star Alliance carrier to use a pass. 

The United Club Visa card, accessible through the same link above, gives you club membership for yourself, you have to earn guest access. The United Club Visa also gives you additional benefits when traveling on United Airlines and has a coupon book to help make up for the $695 annual fee. The welcome bonus is higher, at 110k miles after spending $5k.

If you fly United Polaris (their business class), you'll have access to the Polaris Lounges, which are way nicer than their club lounges.

I would only get the United Club card if I flew United a lot.

*Note that there is an offer out there that can pay you an extra 5k miles if you use a United employee's 6 digit code by using the chat function on their website. Or I get 10k if you use my referral link. If you use my link, I'll provide you with a crisp high five next time I see you.

Alaska Airlines Atmos Summit Visa (non-referral link)

100k welcome offer after spending $6500 in the first 90 days from opening the card.

This card offers two Alaska Lounge passes per calendar quarter. You have to be flying on a Oneworld carrier to use them. Additionally, this card offers a very attractive welcome offer of 100k Alaska Atmos points. Its ongoing value is great too with 3x points earned on foreign transactions, a 25k "Global Companion" award, which basically knocks 25k points off the cost of your travel companion's fare. And then you can earn a 100k Global Companion award if you spend $60k in a calendar year. 2 wifi passes per quarter and 10k annual anniversary Atmos points round out its value to make it a solid pick for $395 per year.

Fly Alaska's 787 in a lie-flat seat to Korea, Italy, or Japan for 150k points, burn that 100k companion reward, and two of you can fly for 200k points used. When flying in a long-haul Alaska premium cabin, even on points, you do get access to the Alaska lounge without burning these passes. 

Delta Reserve American Express (Referral Link)

100k bonus points after spending $5k in 6 months.

Delta lounge access when flying on Delta, plus Amex Centurion lounge access if you book a Delta flight with this card. You get 15 passes a year and 4 guest passes. The $650 annual fee can be offset with the $20/month Resy credit and the annual Delta Companion fare if you keep the card beyond the first anniversary. 

This card also helps boost your status at Delta to increase your odds of getting seat upgrades.

Citi AAdvantage Executive Mastercard (Non-referral link)

75k bonus miles after spending $7500 in 3 months. This bonus seems to regularly be 90-100k so it could be worth waiting.

This card gives you American Airlines Admiral's club membership which gives you great access to a good selection of Oneworld lounges, plus you can bring in two guests per visit. To get in, you need to be flying on a Oneworld itinerary. 
This page details the lounges you can get into with your Admiral's Club membership.

US Bank Altitude Connect (Non-referral link).

The cheapest way to get into a lounge is the US Bank Altitude Connect.  It basically just costs you the opportunity cost of a welcome bonus for a competing card.  You get a 20k point bonus, worth $200 on travel, for spending $1000 in the first 90 days. I won't get this card because I typically get $600-$3000 in value out of one welcome bonus, and the more cards you get, the harder it is to qualify for another.

The lounge access: 4 Priority Pass visits per year. At the time of writing, those can even be used at Priority Pass Restaurants, a rare perk. ($28 credit per visit burned, so if you're traveling with one other person, you can each get in and have a $28 credit if you burn 2 of your "visits" - not a lounge, but still enough for an omelet and a beer.)

As I said earlier, the best lounges are those that airlines let you into when you're flying in a premium cabin. The best lounge that I've ever been into stateside was the Emirates space at San Francisco International Airport ahead of our A380 Business Class flight to Dubai. We redeemed Air Canada Aeroplan miles to purchase our seats. The miles were earned through the welcome bonus of our Chase Air Canada cards, then topped off with a mix of CapitalOne, Chase, and American Express points. Here's a video tour I took since we entered right when they opened.