Priority Pass, the most recognized third party airport lounge access program will regain access to Plaza Premium lounges worldwide including those here in Canada. Just shy of two years ago there was a big shake up in the lounge access industry when Plaza Premium and Priority Pass parted ways and nowhere was the effect felt more than here in Canada. Of the 57 Plaza Premium lounges globally that left Priority Pass, 13 were right here in Canada.
June 6 Update: The news is now up on Priority Pass’ site. There will be a total 63 Plaza Premium lounges added to Priority Pass. 39 are already available and another 24 will join on June 20. Click here to see the full list.
Our coverage from 2021:
- Major News: Priority Pass and LoungeKey losing access to most Plaza Premium lounges worldwide
- A look at the Canadian airport lounges that may be left for Priority Pass and LoungeKey come July
- Sorry for the bad news – It is now confirmed that Canadian Plaza Premium lounges are leaving Priority Pass & LoungeKey
Part of the reason for the split was Plaza Premium coming to an agreement with DragonPass which is Priority Pass’ primary competitor in the third party airport lounge membership market. With Plaza Premium being the largest operator of third party lounges in Canada this meant most credit card holders with lounge memberships could no longer access those lounges as they were all part of Priority Pass.
This quickly led to a shift in the Canadian market where Visa and Mastercard both switched to offering DragonPass memberships instead of Priority Pass for the cardholders. Rewards Canada was the first to break this news early in 2022:
- Big news! Visa Canada switching lounge access from Priority Pass to DragonPass (which means access to Plaza Premium lounges!)
- Big News! Mastercard Canada switching lounge access from LoungeKey to DragonPass (which means access to Plaza Premium lounges!)
Priority Pass is back!
The news to be released soon from Collinson Group (the operator of Priority Pass) will be that they are adding many of the Plaza Premium lounges they lost in 2021. In fact, if you go to the Priority Pass website the Canadian Plaza Premium lounges are already back in their listings! Noticeably absent however is the new Air France KLM lounge in Montreal that is operated by Plaza Premium – that lounge does not show up Priority Pass’ listings.
The word behind the scenes is that with Plaza Premium investing heavily in new lounges and an interest to go public in the near future, they need to increase their revenue beyond what they are currently achieving. Thus, the decision to bring Priority Pass back into the mix. Priority Pass is still the largest lounge access program in the world and while Canada and several other countries saw a shift to DragonPass, others like one of the largest travel markets in the world, the United States, still have Priority Pass as the primary lounge access program provided on credit cards. That’s a big market of travellers that Plaza Premium will be looking to bring back to the 50+ spaces that stopped accepting Priority Pass nearly two years ago.
The good news is this does not affect the partnership with DragonPass and they will continue to also offer access to all Plaza Premium lounges.
How will this affect Canadian lounges?
With the majority of Canadian credit card issuers having shifted to DragonPass this news shouldn’t really affect Canadian lounges. There may be a slight increase in the number of international travellers accessing some Canadian Plaza Premium lounges with their Priority Pass memberships but all in all it probably won’t even be noticed by Canadian travellers.
Even the few cards here in Canada that offer Priority Pass (American Express® Gold Rewards Card®, Scotiabank®* Platinum American Express® Card and the Platinum Card from American Express) it won’t be a major difference as they offer annual passes for use at Plaza Premium lounges or in the case of the Platinum Card – unlimited access.
The two cards that this is the best news for however are the American Express® Aeroplan®* Reserve Card and the Neo Credit Card with the Travel Bundle as both offer Priority Pass membership but neither of them provide Plaza Premium passes like the Amex Gold or Scotia Platinum cards. Granted, with the Aeroplan Reserve and Neo Credit you will still have to pay the US$32 entry fee.
Wrapping it up
After nearly a two year hiatus Priority Pass members will once again be able to access many Plaza Premium lounges worldwide including 13 of them here in Canada. The move seems driven by Plaza Premium looking for ways to fund their future growth and is welcome news for Priority Pass members. Here in Canada the effect of this news will be minimal due to DragonPass being the primary lounge access program here. It will most likely have a greater effect in countries such as the U.K. where many Plaza Premium lounges also left Priority Pass.