Here’s the Best Way to Get Airport Lounge Access for Free

There’s a scene in the movie Unaccompanied Minors where a rich teenager sneaks into a luxe airport lounge. That was my first exposure to this glamorous travel perk — an amenity I never thought I’d be able to experience myself.
Last year, I left my job as a full-time personal finance editor to travel the world. Armed with my knowledge of credit card points, savings hacks and smart money advice, I figured out how to visit more than 36 countries on a budget. I quickly learned that airport lounge access doesn’t cost as much as you’d think. You can typically snag a day pass for around $35 to $75.
But if you play your cards right, you might be able to snag Priority Pass lounge access for free.
Priority Pass membership can get your access to a network of over 1,600 airport lounges and experiences worldwide. Here’s how you can get Priority Pass airport lounge access affordably, and in some cases, for not extra cost.
Read more: Breeze Through Airport Security. These Credit Cards Offer TSA PreCheck for Free
How much does Priority Pass membership cost?
The prices for an annual Priority Pass membership range from $99 for the Standard plan (with a $35 charge for each lounge visit) to $469 for the Prestige plan (with unlimited complimentary visits).
If you only plan to visit a lounge once or twice a year, paying for a day pass or the standard plan is your best bet. But if you’re taking more frequent trips, you’ll want a plan that gives you unlimited access.
Luckily, there’s a cheaper way to get it than purchasing the Prestige plan directly from Priority Pass: credit cards.
Popular credit cards that offer Priority Pass
Several premium travel credit cards offer cardholders (and sometimes authorized users) complimentary Priority Pass Select membership, which grants unlimited lounge visits just like the Prestige plan.
Since the Prestige plan costs $469 annually, any credit card with an annual fee below that amount is already a better deal, even before you consider the card’s other benefits.
Some of the most popular travel cards people turn to for Priority Pass include:
Several business cards and hotel or airline co-branded cards also offer Priority Pass, but those cards appeal to a narrower audience and aren’t significantly cheaper than the options above.
What’s the cheapest way to get Priority Pass airport lounge access?
Looking at the four cards above, there’s a clear standout: the Capital One Venture X has the lowest annual fee, at $395. Capital One also lets you add up to four authorized users, who all get their own Priority Pass membership at no additional charge.
Clearly, the Venture X is the winner, right?
Well, that depends. If you’re not going to use the card for any other travel benefits, then maybe. But if you’re traveling often enough to want Priority Pass membership, there are other factors to consider.
In addition to offering Priority Pass, the four cards above come with a litany of benefits, including statement credits that offer quantifiable cash value. If you use these credits to offset purchases you were going to make through normal spending, they can help lower the card’s annual fees significantly. Let’s take a look at the value you can get from each card’s statement credits and effective annual fees if you use all of them.
For ease of comparison, I’m only counting credits that have a defined cash value attached and don’t come with complicated restrictions. Some credits aren’t available every year, so the calculations below reflect each card’s first-year value.
Priority pass credit card values Card name Annual fee Total cash value of credits and benefits Effective annual fee *Capital One Venture X $395 $420 -$25 Chase Sapphire Reserve $550 $755 -$205 The Platinum Card from American Express $695 $1,294 -$599 Bank of America Premium Rewards Elite Credit Card $550 $550 $0
Notice a trend?
If you can maximize all the credits without overspending, these cards are effectively free and you might even come out on top.
Of the four cards above, the Amex Platinum technically has the lowest effective annual fee, at -$599. However, the Platinum’s credits are split into many different parts, some of which may be harder to maximize than others. Among the options listed, it’s also the card with the highest actual annual fee, meaning it requires the largest upfront investment with no guarantee you’ll be able to