Got an Amex Priority Pass? There’s good news at London City Airport

Airport lounge access card Priority Pass is not just about lounges. It also has deals with many airport restaurants where you can receive a free or discounted meal by showing your Priority Pass card.

At any of these restaurants, you will receive £18 credit towards a meal or drinks. If your Priority Pass allows a free guest and you arrive with someone else, you will receive a £36 credit between you.

Unfortunately these deals are NOT available to anyone who gets their Priority Pass via American Express.

It is available to anyone who gets their pass directly from Priority Pass or via the £15 per month Lloyds Bank World Elite Mastercard.

It is also available on cards with stricter eligibility requirements such as the HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard (requires a HSBC Premier current account) or the Capital on Tap Pro Visa card (for Limited Company owners).

There was ONE place that Amex Priority Pass cardholders could go

There was, globally, a grand total of ONE airport restaurant that you could visit with an American Express-issued Priority Pass.

This is the Pizza Express in London Gatwick’s South Terminal.

Turn up there (it’s open for breakfast too!) and you can get an £18 credit towards literally anything on the menu by swiping your American Express-issued Priority Pass. If you are travelling with someone else, you get £36 of credit between you because your Priority Pass allows a free guest.

There seems to be a SECOND restaurant now

Something very interesting has appeared on the American Express Global Lounge Collection website.

If you look up London City Airport, you will see that Juniper & Co is there.

It also shows in the Priority Pass app if you have it linked to an American Express-issued Priority Pass.

According to the London City website, Juniper & Co is:

A premium bar and restaurant offering locally sourced produce featuring Paul Rhodes’ bakery, Forman’s salmon, local cheeses and a fantastic selection of local spirits, Jeroboams’ fine wines and craft beers.

It is open from 5am to 9pm Monday to Friday, 5am to 1pm on Saturday and 11am to 9pm on Sunday.

Without any official announcement from Amex or Priority Pass, we can’t tell if this is a mistake or not. If it is, I’m sure I’ll have an email about it before lunch and we can update this article!

I doubt it though. There are no airport lounges at London City Airport. Your Priority Pass – and by default your American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card or The Platinum Card – are useless there.

Given that the passenger demographic at London City is one which would be very attractive to American Express and/or Priority Pass, I suspect it was in the interests of both parties to do a deal. It’s the same reason that continued overcrowding at the Gatwick lounges got the Priority Pass / Amex / Pizza Express deal done.

I checked all other UK airports and couldn’t see any other restaurants added to the Global Lounge Collection directory or the Priority Pass app (for apps linked to an Amex card).

Conclusion

Whilst we can’t yet be 100% certain, it seems that Juniper & Co at London City Airport is now giving £18 of credit (£36 if you are with someone else) for Priority Pass cards issued by American Express.

It brings American Express into line with the Priority Pass benefits enjoyed by HSBC Premier World Elite, Lloyds Bank World Elite and Capital on Tap Pro credit card holders.

Thanks to rho for flagging in our forum.