In theory, Priority Pass sounds great. After all, membership should mean you can access lounges before flights regardless of airline status or travel class. In turn, this should also result in having somewhere comfortable to wait, decent food and drinks, and a generally relaxed experience. Sadly, the reality is often somewhat different. That’s why I’ve decided I’m cancelling my Priority Pass membership.
Before continuing, it’s worth noting that there are many different ways to obtain a Priority Pass. You can pay for a plan directly (although I’ve never thought this to be particularly great value). Alternatively, you might earn your membership through a credit card. I benefitted from the latter through Amex Spain. While my increasing disappointment with Priority Pass wasn’t the only reason I’ve decided cancel my Amex Platinum card (and as a result my Priority Pass), it’s certainly a major factor. In this article, I’ll explore why I’m cancelling my Priority Pass membership. I’ll also explain why it has long stopped feeling like good value for me.
Expectations v. Reality
Airline lounges are not all made equal. Naturally, there will be variations depending on the airports you’re travelling through and the agreements Priority Pass have in place. Neither do I expect a Priority Pass lounge to equal a traditional airline lounge. I’m not expecting exclusive wines or gourmet food. I don’t expect fancy interiors, somewhere private to nap or even the option of a shower. I do, however, expect somewhere that’s better than the main terminal to wait for my flight, offers something decent to eat and drink, and generally enhances my travel experience. After all, if these basics aren’t being met, what’s the point in membership to begin with?
Unfortunately, particularly over the last couple of years, I’ve concluded that the value proposition has declined considerably. I also don’t have much faith that things will improve in the near future.
Queues & Overcrowding
Naturally, some periods of the day are busier. It’s also true flight delays or travel disruption might sometimes lead to overcrowding. Generally speaking though, this should be the exception not the norm. Unfortunately though, it’s becoming more and more common. In the UK, having to pre-book and pay an additional fee to ‘reserve’ a space has almost become normalised. In other locations it isn’t uncommon to see a ‘Lounge Full’ sign at the door.
This was the case just last week when I was travelling from Mendoza to Buenos Aires. The last time I visited a couple of years ago, entry was easy, I even reviewed the experience and noted the lounge was quiet during my visit. No such luck this time. A large sign on the door warned it was full and a waiting list was in force. Judging by the numbers of people I saw trying to enter and being turned away, I can’t imagine it was a particularly small wait. Indeed, I suspect most of those on the waiting list departed long before reaching the top of the queue.
I witnessed similar in Madrid recently (and not for the first time). Huge queues were in place to enter the AENA Cibeles lounge. If you did manage to get in, there were no seats. It’s interesting to note the lounge was continuing to admit Priority Pass passengers despite there being no seats available. To me, this is even worse than restricting access. It’s bad for Priority Pass holders who may end up wasting a lounge visit by losing one of their yearly allocated lounge passes on a completely inferior experience. It’s bad too for those who have been admitted to an already overcrowded space where finding a seat is almost impossible.
Poor Quality Food & Drink
Once you’ve negotiated an ever expanding queue and managed to squeeze your way in, you might consider yourself reasonable to expect something decent to eat and drink. Not restaurant quality, but at least something fresh and appetising. Unfortunately, too often you’re likely to be disappointed. The ‘prize’ in recent times probably goes to Prague’s Erste Premier Lounge. You’ve probably guessed by now that nothing much was premier about it. That is unless you consider questionable hygiene and distinctly uninspiring ‘snacks’ premium in some way.
Sadly, poor quality food and drink has now become the norm. Take the Sala VIP Joan Olivert in Valencia, where the choice consists of food from tins, or improperly reheated ‘tapas dishes’ where you risk an unpleasant bout of food poisoning with every bite. Or, on the other side of the world, try out the Coral Premium lounge in Phuket. Here, you’ll find low-quality watered down juices, undrinkable coffee, and poor quality canteen-style food. Mind you, it’s generous in comparison to the Card Members Lounge in Kansai, where you’re allowed one sandwich and a packet of crisps to eat – although in their generosity they do allow unlimited soft drinks and watered down coffee in paper cups.
I don’t want to appear overly negative. There are some Priority Pass lounges that do offer a genuinely pleasant experience. When you start becoming pleasantly surprised when something fresh is available though, or because it’s possible to find a drinkable glass of wine, the value proposition becomes ever more questionable.
Declining Standards & Lack of Maintenance
If I’m visiting a lounge with Priority Pass, I don’t expect it to offer any fancy amenities or interiors. I do expect somewhere comfortable to sit though. I also expect somewhere that’s clean and feels a little bit nicer than the main terminal waiting area. While in fairness, most of the lounges I have visited with Priority Pass have just about achieved this, it’s far from consistent.
Uncomfortable and/or poorly maintained furniture, dirty and uncleared tables, lack of toilets, and poorly maintained spaces aren’t uncommon. SkyTeam’s ‘The Lounge’ in São Paulo (which despite its name is primarily utilised by Priority Pass), is just one example of a space which is in desperate need of maintenance and repair.
Cancelling Priority Pass due to Eroding Value
As I mentioned above, there are a number of different ways to get a Priority Pass membership. I suspect for most people, it’ll be through their credit card or bank. In the past, these often provided an unlimited number of accesses per year. Recently this trend has shifted. In Spain for example, Amex has capped the number of visits allowed under their Priority Pass partnership. It’s now 20 for the main cardholder, and 10 for a supplementary card holder. In Argentina and Brasil caps are also becoming increasingly common.
Ironically, considering all I have mentioned about queues and overcrowding, limits such as these should technically assist with the problem. Sadly, I haven’t noticed much of a difference. It does mean, however, that if you travel frequently and risk exceeding your allowance, you have to start considering whether it’s worth using up one of your visits. Considering the annual fees of credit cards which offer a Priority Pass membership, it’s only worth it to me if it’s actually providing some sort of consistent value – and too often, it was falling short.
It has got to the point I don’t particularly enjoy the majority of my Priority Pass visits, especially when I consider value proposition. In this context, cancelling Priority Pass becomes a no-brainer.
As with anything though, your mileage may vary. If your home airport happens to offer a decent Priority Pass option, or you travel frequently through an airport that does, you might understandably take a different view.
Life After Cancelling Priority Pass: What I’ll do instead
I took the time to re-evaluate how I travel, and the things I value the most. If I’m travelling long-haul, or on a flight with a connection, I try to book with an airline where I have status benefits (oneworld or SkyTeam at the moment). This means I’ll probably get access to better lounges anyway, since they’re more likely to be airline operated. The Cathay Pacific lounges in Hong Kong, for example, are always going to be vastly superior to anything offered by Priority Pass. The same holds true for the likes of Iberia in Madrid, or Air France at CDG (where only one Priority Pass option exists anyway, and it isn’t even a proper lounge).
For short-haul flights, I’m quite content to save the cash and skip the lounge. Paying for Amex Platinum had long started to feel like a waste. Priority Pass was one of the key factors behind this. The money saved on sitting in the lounge can almost always be better spent at my destination, or grabbing something I actually want to eat before heading to the airport. This is before factoring in the point that it’s rarely necessary to be at the airport more than a couple of hours before departure. By the time you’ve cleared the formalities, there isn’t all that much time left anyway.
For me, travelling well while getting the best value possible is the most important criteria – and cancelling Priority Pass behind has aided, rather than detracted from that.
