Plaza Premium launches Lounge Pass
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As we covered three weeks ago, Plaza Premium is leaving the Priority Pass airport lounge card scheme at the end of June.
This is bad news for American Express Preferred Rewards Gold cardholders, as it reduces the options for using your two annual free lounge visits. It make NO DIFFERENCE to holders of The Platinum Card, because Amex has a direct deal with Plaza Premium for Platinum cardholders.
Plaza Premium has just launched a new product called Lounge Pass. See this page of its website.
You can prepay for visits to Plaza Premium lounges globally:
- 2 visits costs £54
- 4 visits costs £108
- 6 visits costs £142
Until the end of May, you save 10% on the prices above if you are a member of Plaza’s Smart Traveller loyalty scheme.
The reason I am mentioning this is that I think Plaza Premium has bigger plans for its Lounge Pass.
The company has been making aggressive statements recently about sharply increasing the number of lounges it works with, and about creating new partnerships.
It wouldn’t surprise me if we soon see other independent lounges joining Plaza Premium Lounge Pass with a view to creating a more focused competitor to Priority Pass.
If, for example, No1 Lounges (which has also split with Priority Pass) and Plaza Premium were available via the same membership scheme, it would prove attractive to UK banks looking for an alternative to Priority Pass.
Let’s see where this ends up. You can buy a Lounge Pass, or learn more, here.
How to get FREE airport lounge access via UK credit cards (April 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 1,300 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 a huge range of valuable benefits – for a 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 £195 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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