Priority Pass: A Comprehensive Guide for 2024

The Thrifty Points Priority Pass Review

An email landed in my inbox last week that got me thinking.  The email was titled ‘up to 30% off Priority Pass with this specific link’ and I hadnt realised it’s been nearly 5 years since we last looked at the Priority Pass (last reviewed here).  As the aviation industry continues to rebound, the allure of a serene and comfortable lounge at the airport has resulted in Priority Pass expanding their footprint significantly and as such I thought we’d take a look at what the Piority Pass currently has to offer.  

In this updated review, we take a look at the various changes that have occurred over the last 5 years and importantly running some detailed analysis to see whether the associated fees provide value for money.  Spoiler – this is significantly improved by the current 30% discount – see here.   

Priority Pass has notably broadened its offerings, now providing access to over 1,500 airport lounges worldwide, along with a variety of travel experiences designed to enhance the journey of every traveller. Membership continues to span three main tiers: Standard, Standard Plus, and Prestige, each structured to cater to different frequencies of travel and offering tailored benefits to meet the needs of its members.

A key enhancement is the ability for members to pre-book lounge access at select locations, ensuring availability and a seamless travel experience. The continuously expanding network of lounges and experiences, including dining, sleeping pods, and spa services, underscores Priority Pass’s commitment to enriching the airport experience for travellers.

Moreover, the revamped Priority Pass app enhances the member experience further by simplifying lounge and experience discovery, offering navigational assistance within airports, and providing an efficient way to manage membership details on the go.

As the travel industry evolves, Priority Pass’s value proposition remains robust, offering a compelling mix of benefits that cater to a broad spectrum of travel needs. With its expansive lounge network, varied membership options, and added benefits, Priority Pass sets a high bar for travel comfort and convenience.

In the subsequent sections, we will delve into the updated membership fees, benefits across different tiers, and a comparative analysis to ascertain the real value of Priority Pass memberships in today’s travel landscape.

Priority Pass – Membership Options

As expected, memberships are structured across a number of tiers to cater for a wide range of travellers, from those who travel only a couple of times a year to the frequent business traveller who may pass through an airport on a weekly basis. 

The membership structure is split into three primary tiers, as summarised below.

• Standard Membership: £69 annual fee (pre-discount) with a member visitor fee of £24 per person.  Ideal for occasional travellers, offering lounge access for a per-visit fee. This tier requires an annual membership fee and suits those who travel a few times a year but still wish to enjoy lounge access.
• Standard Plus Membership:  £229 annual fee (pre-discount) with 10 free visits followed by a visitor fee of £24 per person. Targeted at regular travelers, this level includes 10 free lounge visits within the annual fee, reducing the cost per visit. It’s better for those who find themselves frequently in airports and can benefit from a set number of included lounge visits.
• Prestige Membership:  £419 annual fee (pre-discount) for unlimited use.  The most comprehensive option, offering unlimited lounge access without additional per-visit fees, is best suited for frequent flyers who regularly use airport lounges. This tier provides the best value for those who travel extensively, but read on to find out the sweet spots!

As can be seen below, the current saving of up to 30% provides a significant reduction – but does this provide value for money…. Read on to find out! 

What’s the real value of Priority Pass?

As regular readers will know, we like to get a bit geeky when analysing cost versus value.  Below are provide our indicative analysis of what we think the Priority Pass if worth, taking into account the current 30% saving.  

Priority Pass Standard

Offering – £48 pa / £24 per visit

To demonstrate the value of the Priority Card for those who rarely travel, we set out below cost per visit depending on how many times a guest uses a Priority Pass lounge each year.   

As can be seen from the above, the entry level Priority Pass only really to provides real value if you plan to use it more than 5 times – however given the total annual cost of £192 for 6 uses, you’d be better off opting for the Standard Plus option with a cost of £183 and up to 10 free uses per year.  

If you only travel a couple of times a year, fear not, there is a way of obtaining the Standard Priority Pass pre-loaded with 4 access passes for free – yes that’s right, based on the above this would be worth £120.  Read to the end of the article to find out more…

Priority Pass Standard Plus

Offering – £183 pa / 10 free visits / £24 per visit thereafter

Now to work out whether Priority Pass Standard Plus provides good value, it’s worth doing a little more maths. To hopefully make this easier to follow I’ve run two examples. One based on Tony who will visit the lounge 7 times in a year and the other based on Hillary who will make 14 visits to the lounge in a year.

Example 1 – Tony will make a total of 7 visits to a lounge this year. What offering would provide best value:

• Priority Pass Standard (we already know the answer to this!)
  • With an annual fee of £48 and a further £24 per visit, the total cost for Tony would be £216.
• Priority Pass Standard Plus
  • With an annual fee of £183 and 10 free visits, the total cost for Tony in this instance would be £183. This also leaves 3 more passes available should he for some reason travel more than expected in one particular year.
• Free Lounge Pass (as explained later in the article)
  • With this option, Tony will benefit from 4 free passes and with a charge of £24 per use thereafter, the total cost for Tony’s 5 further visits would be £72. That’s a saving of £144 on the Standard card and £111 saving on the Standard Plus card.

Example 2 – Hillary will make a total of 14 visits to a lounge this year. Let’s take a look at the possible cost:

• Priority Pass Standard
  • With an annual fee of £48 and a further £24 per visit, the total cost for Hillary would be £384 – clearly not a good option!
• Priority Pass Standard Plus
  • With an annual fee of £183 and 10 free visits, Hillary would need to purchase a further 4 visits at £24 per visit. As such the total cost would be £279. This is still less than the unlimited access offered by the Prestige card which comes with an annual fee of £377.
• Free Priority Pass (keep reading to find out)
  • With 4 free passes, Hillary will need to pay for a total of 10 visits at £24 per visit. The total cost of £240 is £137 less than the standard card and £39 less than the Standard Plus!

I think the maths outlined above speaks for itself…

Priority Pass Prestige

Offering – £339 pa / Unlimited member visits / £24 per guest visit

The final option available through the Priority Pass website is the Prestige tier. This offers unlimited member visits for a fee of £377 pa (current discounted rate) and guest visits charged at £24 a time.

Again I thought it may be useful to provide a further example to outline when the Priority Pass Prestige may provide value for money.

Example One – The Break-even Point

I’ve set out below the maths for the number of visits a member would need to make to generate real value from the Priority Pass Prestige.

• £377 (Prestige Fee) – £183 (Standard Plus Fee) = £194
• First 10 visits free of charge
• £194 divided by £24 = 8.1
• Break-even Total Visits – 18.1

Essentially this shows that the member would need to visit a Priority Pass lounge at least 19 times a year for the cost of the Prestige card to be worth more than the Standard Plus. 

Most people who travel at least 19 times a year are likely to be members of an airline rewards scheme and as such will gain access to lounges free of charge – if you’re not you should definitely look into it!

Alternative routes to obtaining a Priority Pass?

Now you’ll have seen the not so subtle hints littered throughout this article for the option of obtaining a Priority Pass for free.  Since our original article, the American Express Gold Card has switched from Lounge Club to Priority Pass.  

The card, which is free for the first year, offers 4 complimentary Priority Pass Airport lounge visits every year.  

You can read our review of the American Express Gold Card here. 

Let’s wrap this Priority Pass review up…

With over 1,500 airport lounges across 148 countries, it’s a fact that the Priority Pass is the best lounge pass for international reach.  In this update, we’ve revisited Priority Pass to assess its value in the current travel landscape. With its expansion to over 1,500 lounges globally and refined membership tiers catering to all levels of travellers, Priority Pass has significantly enhanced its offering. 

We delve into each membership level, providing a cost-benefit analysis to guide potential members. Additionally, we uncover a strategy for obtaining free Priority Pass access via certain credit card benefits, providing more ways for travellers to leverage the Priority Pass for a better airport experience.

Save up to 30% here.