American Express is removing Priority Pass lounge card restaurant access
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The Platinum Card from American Express comes with two Priority Pass airport lounge access cards, one for you and one for your supplementary Platinum cardholder. This allows each of you to get two people into any of the 1,200 airport lounges in the Priority Pass network.
You can find full details on Priority Pass here – you can buy one separately without having to take out an Amex Platinum card.
Over recent years, Priority Pass has been adding restaurant partners too. Instead of visiting a lounge, you can visit a restaurant in your departure terminal and receive a £15 discount on your bill per person. A lot of people found this more attractive than visiting a lounge – and, in fact, you could do both. Priority Pass does not limit the number of different lounges or participating restaurants you can visit in the same trip.
American Express is now removing the restaurant benefit from UK issued Platinum cards. From 1st August, you will no longer be able to claim a credit in participating restaurants even if the restaurant is still listed on the Priority Pass website.
There is one relevant exception. The only UK restaurant participating in the scheme, the Grain Store Café & Bar at Gatwick South, will be retained, at least for UK cardholders. We looked at The Grain Store here.
I am guessing that, following the recent sharp increase in the Platinum fee, Amex did not want to be seen to be removing key benefits so soon. A handful of other restaurants globally will also be retained although there is no list.
There is now a problem, in that the Priority Pass website is no longer an accurate guide as to what you can access with an American Express-issued Priority Pass. You need to use the ‘Find A Lounge’ function on the Amex website – click here – which is the only place you can see which restaurants will still accept your Amex-issued Priority Pass card.
How to get FREE airport lounge access via UK credit cards (September 2024)
Here are the four options to get FREE airport lounge access via a UK credit card.
The Platinum Card from American Express comes with two free Priority Pass cards, one for you and one for a supplementary cardholder. Each card admits two so a family of four gets in free. You get access to all 1,500 lounges in the Priority Pass network – search it here.
You also get access to Eurostar, Lufthansa and Delta Air Lines lounges. Our American Express Platinum review is here. You can apply here.
The Platinum Card from American Express
40,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review
If you have a small business, consider American Express Business Platinum instead.
American Express Business Platinum
40,000 points sign-up bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review
American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for the first year. It comes with a Priority Pass card loaded with four free visits to any Priority Pass lounge – see the list here.
Additional lounge visits are charged at £24. You get four more free visits for every year you keep the card.
There is no annual fee for Amex Gold in Year 1 and you get a 20,000 points sign-up bonus. Full details are in our American Express Preferred Rewards Gold review here.
American Express Preferred Rewards Gold
Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review
HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard gets you get a free Priority Pass card, allowing you access to the Priority Pass network. Guests are charged at £24 although it may be cheaper to pay £60 for a supplementary credit card for your partner.
The card has a fee of £290 and there are strict financial requirements to become a HSBC Premier customer. Full details are in my HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard review.
HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard
A huge bonus, but only available to HSBC Premier clients Read our full review
PS. You can find all of HfP’s UK airport lounge reviews – and we’ve been to most of them – indexed here.
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