How to Get Free Airport Lounge Access With Your Credit Card
You've seen the frosted glass doors. Caught glimpses of the large soft leather chairs. Seen frazzled travelers walk in and come out relaxed and smiling.
Those frosted glass doors are the gates to the kingdom. In other words, entrance to the airport lounge.
You can get free airport lounge access from your credit card.
Originally published on January 29, 2018. Updated on February 26, 2021.
How to Get Free Airport Lounge Access with Your Credit Card
I've shared all the tips and tricks on how to get into every airport lounge. One of those tricks is something you may already have in your wallet.
Nope, not cash. Something else, something that you might not realize.
You can get free airport lounge access with your credit card. Keep reading to find out which credit cards come with lounge access.
Credit Cards for Airport Lounge Access
Airport lounges are a haven from the insanity of the terminal. A quiet retreat with free Wi-Fi, food, drinks, and showers. And in some lounges, you can get massages, manicures, and pedicures!
But an airport lounge membership can cost up to $650 a year. Some lounges like the Centurion Lounges, Chase Sapphire Airport Lounges, and Capital One Lounges are so exclusive you can't buy a membership.
You have to be a member of the club or have the right credit card.
Why pay for an airport lounge membership when you can get it for free?
Several credit cards give you free airport lounge membership as part of the card benefits. These are the best credit cards for airport lounge access.
The Platinum Card® from American Express
My favorite credit cards for airport lounge access are the American Express Platinum cards: The Platinum Card® from American Express and The Business Platinum Card® from American Express.
But the new Capital One Lounges, make it worth getting the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card or Capital One Venture X Business.
The The Platinum Card® from American Express and The Business Platinum Card® from American Express give you access to more lounges through the American Express Global Lounge Collection.
With the Global Lounge Collection, you get access to over 1,260 airport lounges worldwide. Part of this network includes American Express's Centurion Lounges.
You get free food from award-winning chefs, free drinks (including alcohol), free Wi-Fi, and a spa.
The spa offers free massages, manicures, and pedicures! You can book an unlimited number of treatments if space is available. 🙂
The Centurion Lounge is open only to American Express Platinum Card, Business Platinum American Express, and Centurion Cardholders and their guests. Because of space limits, you can no longer buy a $50 day pass if you have a different American Express card.
Your The Platinum Card® from American Express and The Business Platinum Card® from American Express also give you a Priority Pass Select membership and a $10 credit for food or drinks at Airspace Lounges. Enrollment is required for selected benefits.
Pro-tip: You can bring in two guests for free. Each additional guest at Priority Pass lounges costs $32 and $20 or more at Airspace lounges.
If you're flying Delta, you can use the Delta Sky Club lounges for free. There are so many lounge options with the Amex Platinum cards, that's why they are one of the 5 cards I always keep in my wallet.
You also get 5x points on airfare purchases, 1x point on all other eligible purchases, up to $200 each year in statement credits for qualifying airline charges, a $100 credit for Global Entry application (or renewal), free Hilton Honors Gold status, and $200 Uber discounts (Amex personal card).
You pay no foreign transaction fees on either card. The annual fee for The Platinum Card(R) from American Express is $695. With the $300 travel credit, it's more like $395. The annual fee for The Business Platinum(R) Card from American Express is $695.
Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is another best travel rewards card that includes airport lounge access.
You get a free Priority Pass Select membership with the Chase Sapphire Reserve. Authorized users also get a free membership.
Pro-tip: There's no fee or limit on how many guests you can bring to the lounge.
As a special perk of the Sapphire Reserve, you get free access for you and two guests to the Sapphire Lounge by The Club.
When you use your card to pay for travel through the Chase travel portal you earn 10X points on hotels and car rentals and 5X points on airfare. When you book directly, you'll earn 3X points. You also earn 3X points on dining. On all other purchases, you earn one point per dollar spent.
You also get a yearly $300 travel credit which is automatically applied. No need to call or submit any paperwork.
Other benefits of the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card include a $100 Global Entry application fee credit and rental car discounts from Avis, National Car Rental, and Silvercar. When you book a hotel with the Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection you get free breakfast, in-room Wi-Fi, and other special perks.
You pay no foreign transaction fees. The annual fee is $550. With the $300 travel credit, it's more like $250.
Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card
If you have the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card you get free airport lounge access.
Because one of the many perks of this card is a Priority Pass Select membership.
You also get a free award night redeemable for hotels up to 85,000 points each year (some hotels have resort fees), up to $300 (up to $25 per month) statement credit each year on eligible dining purchases at restaurants worldwide, a $100 credit every year on 2 nights stays at The Ritz-Carlton or St. Regis
With the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card, you also get free Marriott Platinum status (free upgrade including Select Suites, free Wi-Fi, late checkout, welcome gift, and bonus points), fee credit for GlobalEntry or TSA PreCheck, 6x points at Marriott Bonvoy hotels, 3x points on airline tickets booked with the airlines, 3x points at restaurants worldwide, and 2x points on all other eligible purchases.
Each calendar year you spend $60,000 on eligible purchases you can choose a Brilliant Earned Choice Award. You can only earn one Choice Ward per calendar year. Enrollment is required for select benefits.
There are no foreign transaction fees so you can use your card when traveling internationally. The $650 annual fee is easily offset by the yearly credits.
Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card
As a Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card holder, you get 10 free airport lounge passes every year.
This card's perks include a free weekend night every year and free Hilton Gold status (a free upgrade, free breakfast, free in-room Wi-Fi, and late checkout). You can earn a second free weekend night when you spend $45,000 a year. When using this card you earn 12x points directly with Hilton hotels, 6x points on certain travel and business expenses, and 3x points on all other eligible purchases. Enrollment is required for select benefits.
There are no foreign transaction fees so you can use your card when traveling internationally. The annual fee is $95.
Hilton Honors American Express Business Card
With Hilton Honors American Express Business Card, you get 10 free airport lounge passes each year.
You also get a free weekend night each year (after spending $15,000 or more on eligible purchases in a calendar year), free Hilton Gold status (free upgrade, free breakfast, free in-room Wi-Fi, and late checkout), a second free weekend night when you spend $45,000 a year, 12x points directly with Hilton hotels and resorts, 6x points on certain travel and business expenses, and 3x points on all other eligible purchases. Enrollment is required for select benefits.
There are no foreign transaction fees so you can use your card when traveling internationally. The annual fee is $95.
United Club℠ Infinite Card
The United Club℠ Infinite Card gives you a free membership to the United Club ($650 value).
When flying on a Star Alliance flight, you get free access for you and a guest to any Star Alliance Business Class lounge worldwide.
Pro-tip: In Singapore, you can only get into the Singapore Airlines Krisflyer Gold Lounge.
You earn 4 miles per dollar spent on United and 2 miles per dollar spent on travel and restaurants, including certain delivery services. You earn 1 mile on all other purchases.
This card gives you and a travel companion free first and second checked bags ($320 value). You also get Hertz Gold Plus Rewards President's Circle Elite status.
You get free breakfast, room upgrade, in-room Wi-Fi, and other perks when you book a hotel with the Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection.
There are no foreign transaction fees. The annual fee is $525.
Pro-tip: Save on annual fees: you get 2 free United Club passes from the United℠ Explorer Card.
Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card
You get a free entry to the Delta Sky Club with the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card and Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card.
Pro-tip: Reserve Card Members (personal card) pay $50 per guest for up to two guests. Business Reserve Card Members get two free one-time Guest Passes a year.
Effective February 1, 2025, personal and business Reserve Card Members get 15 visits to the Delta Sky Club per year. For unlimited visits, you have to spend $75,000 or more on eligible purchases on your card between January 1, 2024 and December 31, 2024 and each subsequent calendar year. After the 15 free visits have been used, Business Reserve Card Members can purchase additional visits for $50 per person per visit.
One nice benefit of these cards is the annual companion certificate. Your companion flies for free (including First Class) in the continental US when they travel with you.
Both cards give you 3 miles for every dollar spent on Delta purchases, 1 mile on all other eligible purchases, priority boarding, and a free checked bag.
The Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card participates in the OPEN Savings program. So you'll save 3% to 10% on purchases at businesses like FedEx, Hertz, and OfficeMax.
You pay no foreign transaction fees on either card. The annual fee for the Delta Reserve card is $550. The annual fee for the Delta Reserve Business card is $550.
Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®
The Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® gets you a free American Airlines Admirals Club membership ($650 value). You can invite your immediate family or two guests to the Club.
Pro-tip: Authorized users can get their own free membership
This card also offers priority boarding, a free checked bag for you and up to 8 travel companions, and 2 miles per dollar spent on American Airlines purchases and 1 mile on all other purchases.
You get up to a $100 credit for Global Entry or TSAPreCheck and a 25% discount on inflight purchases.
Plus you can earn 10,000 Loyalty Points when you spend $40,000 in purchases in a calendar year with the Citi Executive Card. This is great if you fly a lot on American Airlines as I do.
There are no foreign transaction fees. The annual fee is $450 which is offset by the Club membership and checked bag fee savings.
Citi Prestige
Like the Amex Platinum cards and the Chase Sapphire Reserve, the Citi Prestige Card gives you a free Priority Pass Select membership ($429 value).
Pro-tip: Your immediate family or two guests can join you for free in the lounge.
Other benefits of this card include a $250 yearly air travel credit and $100 reimbursement for Global Entry application/renewal.
But the most valuable perk is the 4th-night free hotel. When you stay four nights, you get the 4th night free. You only pay taxes and fees.
When using the Citi Prestige you earn 5x points on airline tickets and restaurants, 3x points on hotels, 2x points at restaurants, and 1 point on all other purchases.
There are no foreign transaction fees. You'll pay a $495 annual fee but it's offset by the travel benefits.
Ritz-Carlton
Another card that gives you a Priority Pass Select membership ($399 value) is the Ritz-Carlton card.
With the Ritz-Carlton card, you can bring your immediate family or two guests into the airport lounge.
You also get a $300 travel credit and $100 Global Entry credit. Plus you get Ritz Carlton Gold status your first year.
This card gives you 6x points at Ritz Carlton and Marriott Bonvoy hotels, 3x points on airline tickets, car rentals, and restaurants. You'll earn 2 points on all other charges.
You'll pay no foreign transaction fees and an annual fee of $450.
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
You get free airport lounge access with the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card for you and 2 guests at Capital One Lounges and Plaza Premium Lounges.
Pro-tip: As a Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card holder, you and all guests traveling with you get free access to Priority Pass Lounges.
When you book travel through the Capital One Travel portal and pay with your card you earn 10x miles on hotels and car rentals and 5x miles on flights. You earn 2x miles per dollar on all other purchases.
There's no limit to how many rewards you can earn on purchases.
Each year you get a $300 statement credit for Capital One Travel bookings and 10,000 miles every card anniversary.
You can transfer miles to 18 airline and hotel partners. Miles never expire as long as you keep your card open.
With the Capital One Venture X Rewards, other perks include up to a $100 Global Entry or TSA PreCheck fee credit, Hertz President's Circle status on car rentals, and up to $800 cell phone loss or theft.
Book your hotel through the Premier Collection and you get free daily breakfast for two, a room upgrade, in room Wi-Fi, $100 credit, early check-in and late checkout, and you earn 10X miles!
You pay no foreign transaction fees. The annual fee is $395. With the $300 travel credit, it's more like $95.
Capital One Venture X Business
As a Capital One Venture X Business card holder, you get free airport lounge access at Capital One Lounges, Plaza Premium Lounges, and Priority Pass Lounges.
Pro-tip: There's no spending requirement to bring a guest into their branded lounges. You should consider replacing your Business Platinum with the Venture X Business.
Booking and paying for travel through the Capital One Travel portal earns 10x miles on hotels and car rentals and 5x miles on flights.
You earn unlimited 2x miles per dollar on all other purchases.
The Capital One Venture X Business offers a $300 statement credit every year for Capital One Travel bookings and 10,000 miles on your card anniversary.
This card's other perks include up to a $100 Global Entry or TSA PreCheck fee credit and access to hotels through the Premier Collection.
You'll earn 10x miles on Premier Collection hotels, get free daily breakfast for two, a free room upgrade, in-room Wi-Fi, early checkin, late checkout, and $100 credit.
Venture X Business is a great card to bring when traveling internationally because there are no foreign transaction fees.
The annual fee is $395. When factoring in the $300 yearly travel credit, it comes to $95.
Conclusion
An airport lounge is a great place to relax before waiting for your flight. And it's the best place to go if your flight is canceled, especially if you need to get on another flight.
You can purchase an airport lounge membership through programs like Priority Pass. But you might not have to. Because one or more of your credit cards may offer it for free.
Cards like the The Platinum Card® from American Express, The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, and Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card give you free entry to over 1,260 lounges worldwide.
While cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card and the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card give you a free Priority Pass Select membership. It's a good idea to check the benefits of your travel rewards cards.
Which is your favorite credit card for airport lounge access?
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We visited several lounges over the last year with our Chase Sapphire Reserved card and the Priority Pass, and it was absolutely worth it. Especially with international travel, the best perk was just that it was quiet. All of the lounges (good and bad) that we visited were mercifully quiet.
I'm super bummed, my Travel Rewards is through Bank of America. I think I will look into the United Mileage Plus Club Card before my next annual fee
Huh, I never knew you could get access to lounges with a credit card. Those $450 annual fees are brutal, though. As a budget traveler who is more than used to sleeping in airports, I can't imagine the benefits of airport lounge access would outweigh those fees. Even the $100 fee on my current travel card barely seems worth it -- you have to spend so much money on your card for the travel rewards to even it out, and whenever I've done the calculation, it always seems like I'm spending about the same as I'm saving -- i.e. just paying for travel a different way. Am I totally doing this wrong?
Hi Carrie,
It really depends on your card. Some cards offer a 1 for 1 ratio. Meaning you earn 1 point or mile for every dollar you spend. But there are lots of cards that give you bonus points for specific categories. For example, the Amex Platinum gives you 5x points on airfare. So when you use a card that earns more points/miles you earn more travel rewards without the extra work or having to spend extra money. 🙂
I wonder that too sometimes ... I pay $95/year for my Delta AmEx (gold, not platinum) and $99/year for my Southwest card. Southwest gives me 6 or 7,000 bonus miles per year which is nice. I definitely make my money's worth on Delta just with baggage fees alone ... tried going to one of their lounges once, though, in the Minneapolis airport (layover) and it would have cost $30-50 I believe.
This is a great detailed post about all the airport lounge access options provided by the different credit card providers. We must look into it again. My husband used to have a credit card that gave him access to the lounges of Star Alliance partners. I only had the privilege once when I “accidentally” flew first class from Malta to Munich.
I have always wanted to go behind those closed doors at the airport. Now I know a trick to access the lounges. I like the Citi Prestige because it lets you bring in your immediate family. It sounds like this is a perfect trick for if the flight is canceled.
Love the detail in this post with all the benefits of the different credit cards. Happy to see the only card that I have on this list - United Mileage Plus is great for the lounge benefits. Took advantage of this benefit in Singapore and really like the lounge there. We should really look into an American Express next. Great post.
Very detailed post on how to enjoy some of the benefits of having credit cards. However, I guess all or most of the featured cards in this post are American ones. As someone from the UK, most of the credit cards we have are Visa and Mastercard and I'm not even sure if we can use them for free airport lounge access.
I had no idea that I could have access to the lounges simply by having a credit card. The annual fee of the card is not that much if you consider all the benefits and the extras you can get by..spending money! Thank you for the info!
I have the Platinum Card from American Express and it's fabulous for lounge access - in Australia it gets me into Virgin lounges which is fabulous, because I have Qantas status but not Virgin, and they're pretty much the two mainstream airlines here so you usually fly one or another. The last time I used it for a Delta lounge though I had to pay for a guest to join me, I haven't checked if they've changed that in the last few years though.
This was a true information giving article for a frequent traveler like me and there is no better place than a lounge to relax and rejuvenate before the take off. I have Priority pass and AmEx and both give me an access to best of the lounges. Thanks for this post.
I've never used an airport lounge. Always figured there was no way I could get in. I had no idea certain credit cards let you in though. I'll definitely keep that in mind if I apply for any new credit cards.
Great informational post. I discovered the priority pass for lounges or food credit. Free with one of my American express cards. Lounges are limited, but the perk of food credit makes up for it imo.
Such smart tips for the frequent flyer and traveler. It is so nice to go to these ritzy lounges when you are flying
Awesome, I'll keep this in mind. I would love to have access to an airport lounge.
I will have to look into these credit cards. I would love to have lounge access.
I had no idea this was an option! I will definitely check it out next time we travel.
This post is really informative, I had no idea some of these cards offered this perk.
Credit cards might be a good way to get free lounge access but I joined BA's executive membership and since I fly a lot for leisure I got access pretty quickly and now its free for me and my companion
That's really nice to know. Thanks for sharing this knowledge.
I had no idea I could get in with one of these cards, which I have! So good to know, thank you!
That lounge looks like the place to be, I would like to get a chance to hang out there. That sounds like a nice perk.
Oh, I didn't know you could do that. Thank you for the tips!
Oh wow. This is so exciting to do.. Thanks for sharing about this.
My daughter loves to travel. I'll have to let her know about these different ways to get free airport lounge access.
This is great to know. I have never actually traveled on a plane before. I'm hoping to sometime, so it's great to know about this.
That sounds like something I need to check out before we travel next. I wonder if my card has this available. Thanks for the info x
This is rally great to know! I will be keeping this in mind. Knowing that we can use our credit cards to access free airport lounge is awesome.
This is awesome! I want to get this, too! A free airport lounge access is really good.