THIS BLOG POST HAS BEEN REPLACED BY A NEW UPDATED GUIDE RIGHT ON THE MAIN REWARDS CANADA SITE:
http://www.rewardscanada.ca/lounges/
Having elite status with an airline frequent flyer program or flying in business or first class can almost always guarantee you access to the typically quiet and good-for-the-soul business class lounges at airports across the globe. What if you don’t have elite status or never fly in a premium cabin? Can you still access business class lounges? The answer is yes, absolutely you can! If you have followed Rewards Canada even for just a little while you would already have known that answer but this post can also help you out along with all the newbies on how to take advantage of the various methods of using Business Class lounges to get you out of the hustle and bustle of many busy airports in Canada and around the world.
The Rewards Canada Guide to Business Class Lounge access is broken down into the following sections
Single Entry Options
Third Party Lounge Access Programs
Credit Cards with Lounge Access
Airline Lounge Access Programs
Single Entry Options
Unbeknownst to a lot of Canadian travelers is the fact that you can walk right up to many third party lounges (those that are not owned or run by airlines) and pay to access that lounge for a single visit. The fees tend to be reasonable and access is usually granted for 2 to 3 hours. The two primary providers of lounges in Canada are Plaza Premium and Servisair.
Want to find lounges that offer single entry options? A new app launched only a few weeks ago called Lounge Buddy can help. The app is still in its infancy and for Canadian airports it only covers Toronto but I would like to believe that their database of lounges will grow quickly to include other Canadian cities. Website: www.loungebuddy.com
Plaza Premium (www.plaza-network.com)
Plaza Premium has a dozen lounges across Canada in Edmonton (2), Toronto (6) and Vancouver (3 + 1 Arrival Lounge). They also have lounges in 8 countries in Asia and the Middle East. Walk up costs for Plaza Premium Lounges in Canada are $35 for 2 hours, $45 for 3 hours and $65 for 6 hours. Children aged 2-11 enjoy a 30% discount.
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| Some of the offerings in the YYC Chinook Lounge |
Servisair (www.executivelounges.com)
Servisair runs three lounges in Canada: the Rocky Mountain and Chinook lounges in YYC along with the National Bank World MasterCard lounge in YUL. Outside of Canada they operate 35 lounges in the U.K. Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
WestJet Lounges (www.westjet.com/guest/en/travel/special-arrangements/lounges.shtml)
WestJet runs a ‘lounge’ program that provides access to select Plaza Premium and Servisair lounges across Canada as well as a couple of other independent lounges in Quebec and Jamaica. You can book single entry visits for most of the lounges online or present your WestJet boarding pass along with payment right at the lounge. Prices range from $18.90 to $36.80 depending on the lounge and the time of day you visit. For some lounges this is cheaper than the walk up rate, for example WestJet guests can enjoy 20% off select Plaza Premium lounges until Dec 31, 13
Third Party Annual Lounge Access Programs
Priority Pass (www.prioritypass.com)
The most famous and largest of all lounge programs, Priority Pass has been around for many years and offers access to over 600 lounges all over the world. They are also the most aggressive in adding new lounges with a few new lounges being added each month. Priority Pass requires users to purchase an annual membership and depending on the level of membership that you buy you may or may not have to pay an entry fee each time you enter a Priority Pass lounge. The fee tends to be less than the walk up rate for lounges that provide that option. There are some credit cards in Canada that provide the Priority Pass program as part of the benefits and will cover the annual cost along with providing some free lounge visits. You can see those listed below. The three levels of membership that Priority Pass provides are as follows
Standard Membership – full annual fee US$99
Standard
membership provides access to over 600 airport VIP lounges at a cost of
US$27 per person per visit. The members designated payment card is
charged by Priority Pass with the lounge visit fee following a visit.Standard Plus Membership – full annual fee US$249
Standard Plus membership includes 10 free visits for the member and additional member visits are charged at US$27 per visit.
Prestige Membership – full annual fee US$399
Prestige membership Includes unlimited lounge visits for the member.
Rewards Canada has worked with Priority Pass in the past and for this feature we are pleased to provide our readers the following discounts on their annual memberships:
Standard Membership – full annual fee US$99
Special offer – 20% discount on first year membership – US$79
Standard Plus Membership – full annual fee US$249
Special offer – 10% discount on first year membership – US$224
Prestige Membership – full annual fee US$399
Special offer – 10% discount on first year membership – US$359
To access this special offer for Rewards Canada readers please visit here
Plaza Premium (www.plaza-network.com)
Plaza Premium also offers multiple use passes (not annual based) to their lounges if you think you will use them quite often. A single visit pass is $49, a 5 visit pass is $179 and 10 visit pass is $269. All of the passes come with extra features like massage service, extra use or Cathay Pacific Asia Miles.
Airport Angel (www.airportangel.co.uk)
Airport Angel is a direct competitor to Priority Pass with access to 550 lounges across the globe. Much like Priority Pass they have three levels of membership and depending on which level you buy you may or may not have to pay an entry fee each time you enter a lounge. The entry fees once again like Priority Pass are typically less than you would pay if you were to pay the walk up rate.
The three levels of membership that Airport Angel provides are as follows:
Premium GBP65 annual fee and then you pay GBP15 per lounge visit
Premium+ GBP155 annual fee, 10 free lounge visits then GPB15 per lounge visis
Platinum GBP250 annual, unlimited free lounge visits
Servisair (www.executivelounges.com)
Servisair has annual pass for GBP249.99 that provides you with unlimited free access to all their lounges including bringing in 1 guest for free. Most other annual programs, the guest(s) have to pay the entry free. It also come with LoungeMiles, their loyalty program that rewards you with a gift voucher for every 5 lounge visits.
Credit Cards
Credit Cards can be a great way to gain access to many lounges in Canada and beyond. The majority don’t have their own programs per say but provide free membership into the Priority Pass program as mentioned above. The cards that do have their own access programs or tie into separate ones are The Platinum Card from American Express, the Diners Club Club Rewards MasterCard and the American Express AeroplanPlus Platinum Card.
The Platinum Card from American Express
This is the mack daddy card of lounge access with many different options providing access to over 1,000 business class lounges worldwide. The lounge access benefits for the Platinum Card are as follows
- Canadian Platinum Lounge benefit: Free of charge access for the cardmember + Spouse and 2 children or one guest participating lounges in Canada
- The Card provides Cathay Pacific The Marco Polo Club membership which provides free of charge access to Cathay Pacific Marco Polo lounges and/or OneWorld alliance lounges for the cardmember and one travelling companion who are travelling on Cathay Pacific, Dragonair or any oneworld carrier..
– Access to American Airlines Admirals Club for no charge for the cardmember + Spouse and 2 children or two travelling companions who are holding an AA flight boarding pass
– Access to US Airways Clubs for no charge for the cardmember + Spouse and 2 children or two travelling companions regardless of the airline you are travelling on
– Access to Delta Sky Clubs for no charge for the cardmember + Spouse and 2 children or two travelling companions who are holding an Delta flight boarding pass
- Access to American Express lounges for the cardholder + 1 travelling companion
– Priority Pass Prestige Membership (see above)
Diners Club Club Rewards MasterCard
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| Diners Club iPhone App
showing the Lounge Locator |
This card has the largest lounge access program out of all the cards that they can call their own. Up until a few years ago it dwindled from around 350 lounges to less than 150 worldwide as Diners Club went through changes in ownership. Now that those changes have taken place the program is stronger than ever with over 450 lounges available to cardholders including 15 in Canada. The card used to offer free membership in Priority Pass but that benefit was removed as many of the lounges in Diners’ own program overlapped with Priority Pass. I currently have this card and love it for the lounge access here in my home airport (YYC) but also for the access at many of the other airports around the globe. Unfortunately if you do not currently hold this card you cannot apply for it. BMO bought the rights to the brand in Canada and the U.S. and stopped accepting applications for it while they transitioned it from Citibank. I keep getting told it will be open for applications soon but that is the same story I’ve heard for nearly 3 years. Fingers crossed it will be soon however! To see what lounges are covered by Diners Club you can visit their Airport Lounge Locator or download the Diners Club app for your smartphone.
American Express AeroplanPlus Platinum Card
This card doesn’t have its own lounge program but provides free access to Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounges plus free membership into the Priority Pass program (see above)
American Express Air Miles Reserve Credit Card
This card doesn’t have its own lounge program but provides free membership into the Priority Pass program (see above) plus four free Priority Pass lounge visits.
BMO Rewards World Elite MasterCard
This card doesn’t have its own lounge program but provides free membership into the Priority Pass program (see above) plus four free Priority Pass lounge visits.
National Bank World MasterCard
The NBC World MasterCard provides free access to the National Bank World MasterCard Lounge at Montreal-Trudeau airport
Scotiabank American Express Platinum Card
This card doesn’t have its own lounge program but provides free membership into the Priority Pass program (see above) plus ten free Priority Pass lounge visits.
Several cards like the Scotiabank American Express Gold Card and TD Travel Visas provide discounted annual membership to Priority Pass
Airline Lounge Access Programs
Finally airlines sell access to their own lounges via annual membership offers. Most do have the requirement that you are traveling with them or one of their partner airlines to be able to access the lounges however. We only provide information on several of the larger North American airlines here but you can always check out other airlines to see if they offer similar programs.
Air Canada’s annual lounge access program is called the Maple Leaf Club and offers three different access levels.
Canada – $365 per year and provides access to 16 lounges in Canada only
North America Plus – $485 per year and provides access to 66 lounges in Canada and the U.S. only
Worldwide – $648.99 per year and provides access to over 270 lounges Worldwide and also provides complimentary access to one guest.
All Maple Leaf Club memberships also provide access to Air Canada’s Executive First® / Executive Class® Priority Check-in counters. Confirmed same-day ticket or boarding pass on a departing Air Canada, Air Canada Express or any Star Alliance member airline flight to access lounges
With a Board Room membership, you get access to Alaska Airlines
Board Room locations in Anchorage, Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, and
San Francisco. The membership also provides
you access to over 50 affiliated lounges worldwide. Here are the membership rates
If you’re just passing through, you may buy a One-Day pass for $45
(USD) and it will allow you to visit any of the five Alaska Airlines
Board Room locations.
American Airlines Admirals Club
American Admirals Club membership provides access to nearly 40 worldwide Admirals Club locations and over 30
international lounges operated by oneworld partner, Qantas (Must be
traveling on Qantas operated flight for access to Qantas lounges). You can buy day passes ($50 each), 30 day passes ($99 each), or annual passes. Current pricing of annual pass memberships is as follows:
There is special offer going on right now until Oct 31, 13 that will award 3,000 AAdvantage Miles for joining. See here for details
Delta SkyClub annual membership gives you access to over 50 lounges around the world. There are also 90 day and single day passes available. Current pricing on annual memberships are as follows:
United Club annual membership provides access to over 45 United Clubs Worldwide. They also sell single day access passes for $50. Current pricing on annual memberships are as follows:
US Airways Club annual membership gives you access to all US Airways Clubs, United’s Red Carpet Clubs and
Star Alliance lounges. Overall it gives you access to over 250 business class lounges worldwide. They also offer 90 day memberships but those only provide access to US Airways Clubs.
Current pricing on annual memberships are as follows:
There you go. Now you know most of the ways to get access to business class lounges without being an elite level frequent flyer or flying in first or business class. Do you have any other tips for lounge access? Feel free to comment below!