The best credit cards with free airport lounge access of 2022
You don't have to be an elite flyer to enjoy complimentary food, drinks, and amenities — a credit card with lounge access can get you in for free.
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Do you know anyone who purposely gets to the airport earlier than they have to? Airports are noisy and hectic; the seats are uncomfortable and the food is expensive. Why be there any longer than absolutely necessary?
Actually, a lot of us arrive early at the airport — and sometimes even loiter for a while after we've landed. We've got the golden ticket to free alcohol and food, high-speed internet, comfortable loungers, and occasionally free massages. All it takes is holding the right credit card.
If you consider yourself a frequent flyer, a credit card with airport lounge access is worth every penny. Let's look at the best credit cards for airport lounge access.
What are airport lounges?
When you go into any old airport bar or restaurant, you'll likely pay prices reserved for captive audiences in major sports stadiums and theaters. $12 beers and $16 cocktails are far from a bargain. But you can get them for free in an airport lounge.
Most lounge networks provide a number of premium locations at airports around the world. There are really three main lounge types you should know about:
Airline lounges
Most airlines oversee their own proprietary lounge network. Depending on the size of the carrier, it may have just a few lounges or dozens at its most frequented airports.
For the most part, these lounges are reserved for international premium travelers, elite travelers with a ton of annual flights, those who pay a sizable fee, or cardholders of the airline's premium travel credit card. Expect to pay $450+ per year for this type of credit card.
Priority Pass Select
Many lounges operate independently of the airlines. Priority Pass Select is a network that gives you access to 1,300+ lounges around the world.
Read more: The best credit cards with free Priority Pass airport lounge access of 2022
Each lounge has its own rules on admission, guests, and complimentary beverages. Most give you and two guests admission at no charge. Once inside, you can drink and eat to your heart's content without paying a dime.
American Express Centurion Lounges
American Express Centurion Lounges are next-level lounges that offer proper hot meals (gourmet, even), with free mixed drinks, shower suites, and sometimes recreational activities like pool and shuffleboard tables.
These lounges are mostly found in the US. Centurion Lounges have comparatively few locations when compared to Priority Pass — 24 worldwide at the moment, with another 12 Centurion "Studios" serving as a "lite" version of the premium lounge network.
Unless you frequent major airports, you may not encounter a Centurion Lounge as often as you might think.
Best credit cards that offer airport lounge access
The Platinum Card® from American Express
No travel credit card on the market offers more comprehensive airport lounge access than
- Amex Centurion Lounges (widely considered to be the best airport lounges in the US)
- Priority Pass** (access to more than 1,300 airport lounges worldwide)
- Delta Sky Club lounges (only when you have a same-day Delta boarding pass)
- Escape Lounge – The Centurion Studio Partner
- Plaza Premium lounges
- Lufthansa lounges (when flying Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, or SWISS)
There are some other peripheral lounge networks that you can enter but probably won't encounter. For example, Airspace Lounges currently has one location in San Diego.
I had never tried an Amex Centurion Lounge until last year. I've since been to six of them throughout the US, and they are consistently higher quality than other lounges offered by Priority Pass.
The
- Up to $200 in airline fee credits** each calendar year
- Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit
- $189 per year in credits for CLEAR® membership**
- Up to $200 in credits per year toward prepaid hotel bookings through Amex Fine Hotels and Resorts or The Hotel Collection (minimum two-night stay)
- Up to $200 in Uber Cash each calendar year**
- Amex Fine Hotels and Resorts (benefits at exclusive luxury properties)
- Cell phone protection
The card also offers
Insider estimates Amex points value to be 1.8 cents each, making this initial bonus worth
Read more: American Express Platinum Card review
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
This is a small business card, meaning you must have a for-profit venture to qualify for the
- Up to $200 in airline fee credits** each calendar year
- Up to $400 in U.S. Dell credits** each calendar year
- Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit
- Up to $120 in credits for U.S. wireless providers each calendar year
- Up to $360 in Indeed credits** each calendar year
- Up to $150 in Adobe credits** each calendar year
- $189 per year in credits for CLEAR® membership**
- 35% points rebate when you redeem points for first- or business-class tickets, or for any fare with your selected airline, through Amex Travel (up to 500,000 points back per calendar year)
- Cell phone protection
This card comes with
Read more: Amex Business Platinum Card review
Chase Sapphire Reserve®
The
This card offers membership in two lounge networks:
- Priority Pass Select — You can access all Priority Pass lounges as often as you want — with two free guests. You can even add authorized users for $75 each and they'll receive their own full-blown Priority Pass Select membership.
- Chase Sapphire Lounges — Chase will soon open four proprietary lounges in San Diego (SAN), New York-LaGuardia (LGA), Boston (BOS), and Hong Kong (HKG). We don't have an exact opening date.
The
- Up to $300 in statement credits each cardmember year toward travel purchases
- Complimentary year of Lyft Pink membership when you activate by March 31, 2022
- Complimentary year of DoorDash DashPass membership (activation required by December 31, 2024)
- Access to Reserved by Sapphire restaurant reservations
- Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit
- Primary car rental insurance
- Trip delay insurance
- Baggage delay insurance
- Lost luggage reimbursement
The
Read more: Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card review
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
The
With this card, you'll get:
- Priority Pass Select — Unlimited access to 1,300 Priority Pass lounges for you and two free guests. You can add up to four authorized users at no cost, and they'll receive the same lounge privileges as the primary cardholder.
- Capital One airport lounges — Unlimited access for you and two free guests, though there is currently only one location in Dallas (DFW) with another coming soon to Denver (DEN).
Similar to the Chase Sapphire Reserve, this card's Priority Pass membership can be used at participating airport restaurants for a $28 to $30 discount (or $56 to $60 if you bring a guest). I recently used this perk for a complimentary whiskey tasting at Westward Whiskey at the Portland airport.
This card also offers solid benefits such as:
- Up to $300 per year in statement credits toward Capital One Travel bookings
- 10,000-mile bonus each account anniversary (worth at least $100 in travel)
- Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit
- Primary car rental insurance
- Trip delay reimbursement
- Cell phone protection
The
Read more: Capital One Venture X Credit Card review
Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card
You won't see many five-star credit card ratings on Insider, but the
The card provides Priority Pass Select lounge access. That's unlimited entries for you and up to two guests traveling with you. You'll also get:
- $250 annual Hilton resort statement credit
- Automatic Hilton Honors Diamond elite status
- Annual weekend night certificate
- Another free weekend night certificate after you spend a total of $60,000 on eligible purchases in a calendar year
- Up to $100 in on-property credits for minimum stays of two nights at participating Waldorf Astoria and Conrad properties
- Up to $250 in airline incidental fee credits** per calendar year
The
Read more: Amex Hilton Aspire review
Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card
The
- Up to $300 annual statement credit for purchases at Marriott hotels (offer ends 9/22/22 and will be replaced with a benefit of up to $25 in statement credits per month for eligible purchases at restaurants worldwide)
- Annual free night award (valid for hotels costing 50,000 points or less)
- 15 elite night credits each calendar year
- Automatic Marriott Bonvoy Gold elite status
- Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit
To boot, you'll receive Priority Pass Select airport lounge access. You and two guests traveling with you can enter for free as often as you like. Even if there's more than one lounge at your airport, you can hopscotch around to try them all.
The
Insider estimates Marriott points value to be 0.7 cents each, on average. That means the points portion of this bonus is worth
Read more: Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express review
Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card
The
- Delta Sky Club access — Free entry when flying on a same-day Delta-operated/marketed flight. You'll also get two single-use guest passes each year.
- Amex Centurion Lounge access — Free entry when flying on a same-day Delta-operated/marketed flight. You won't get any free guests, but can purchase a maximum of two guest passes per visit at a rate of $50 each.
The
The card also offers:
- Free first checked bag and priority boarding on Delta flights
- Annual Delta companion certificate
- 15,000 Medallion® Qualification Miles (MQMs) after you spend $30,000 in purchases on your card in a calendar year, up to four times*
- Complimentary Delta Sky Club airport lounge access when you fly Delta
- Access to complimentary upgrades and upgrade priority
- Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit after you apply through any authorized enrollment provider
- 20% off inflight purchases as a statement credit
If you're a first-time cardholder, you'll receive
Read our post on the best ways to use Delta miles.
Read more: Delta SkyMiles Reserve review
United Club℠ Infinite Card
The
You'll receive a full United Club membership with this card, meaning you can also bring two guests (or one adult and as many children under 21 as you like). You'll even gain access to several other Star Alliance airline lounges.
The
- Free first and second checked bags on United flights (you must pay with the card)
- Priority boarding on United flights
- Premier Access travel services
- Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit
- Complimentary Premier upgrades
- Expanded access to United award flights
Plus, it offers an intro bonus of
Insider estimates United points value to be 1.3 cents each, making this bonus worth
Read more: United Club Infinite card review
Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®
The
Unless you've got American Airlines elite status, you'll pay $650 per year for Admirals Club membership. Opening this card is a much cheaper route. To enter American Airlines lounges, you must have a same-day boarding pass on American or one of its partners in order to access the lounge.
This card also comes with:
- Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit
- Free first checked bag for you and up to eight companions on your reservation
- Priority screening, check-in, and boarding with American Airlines
To boot, you'll receive
Read more: Citi AAdvantage Executive card review
One of the best credit cards for airport lounges is no longer available (but you can get it anyway)
The Ritz-Carlton™ Credit Card is perhaps the best travel credit card that isn't on the market. It's' not available to new applicants — but there's a way you can still get it.
If you ask them, Chase can convert your existing Marriott credit card, such as the
The Chase Ritz-Carlton Card comes with Priority Pass lounge access. Here are a few reasons why it's better than the majority of travel credit cards for airport lounges:
- There's no (written) cap on the number of free guests you can bring with you. If you travel with a large family, this could save you $100+ every time you visit a lounge.
- You can add authorized users for free, and they get their own Priority Pass membership (with unlimited guests).
- The Priority Pass membership issued from the Ritz-Carlton card qualifies for Priority Pass restaurant discounts ($28 to $30 off your meal, plus another $28 to $30 if you bring a guest).
You won't get a sign-up bonus since there's no way to apply for the card. But it also comes with valuable benefits such as:
- Up to $300 in annual credits to offset airline incidentals
- Annual free night certificate with Marriott for hotels costing up to 50,000 points per night
- Top-tier travel coverage
This card comes with a $450 annual fee.
Read more: I have 7 hotel credit cards and pay $1435 in annual fees — here's why it's worth it
New to airport lounges? Give them a test-drive for cheap (or even free)
It's understandable if you're apprehensive about paying $395+ for a credit card that comes with access to airport lounges — especially if you're not even sure you'll like them.
If you want to give them a try to see if they fit your travel style, open one of the following cards first.
Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card
The
This is an excellent way to become familiar with the Priority Pass network. The
You'll also receive:
- Hilton Gold elite status
- Upgrade to Diamond status after you spend $40,000 on eligible purchases in a calendar year
- Free weekend night certificate after you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases in a calendar year
As a first-time cardmember, you'll even earn
Read more: Hilton Honors American Express Surpass review
United℠ Explorer Card
The
The best part? The
This card also offers:
- Free first checked bag on United flights (when you pay for your fare with the card)
- Priority boarding on United flights
- Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit
- Complimentary Premier upgrades
- Expanded access to United award flights
Its welcome bonus offer is
Read more: Chase United Explorer Review
Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
What are the Centurion Lounge locations?
Amex Centurion Lounges are at the following airports:
- Charlotte (CLT), between Concourse D and E
- Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), Terminal D
- Denver (DEN), Concourse C
- Houston (IAH), Terminal D
- Las Vegas (LAS), Concourse D
- Los Angeles (LAX), Tom Bradley International Terminal
- Miami (MIA), Concourse D
- New York (JFK), Terminal 4
- New York (LGA), Terminal B, post-security
- Philadelphia (PHL), Terminal A
- Phoenix (PHX), Terminal 4
- San Francisco (SFO), Terminal 3
- Seattle (SEA), Concourse B
- Hong Kong (HKG), Terminal 1
- London (LHR), Terminal 3
There are also high-quality American Express Lounges internationally which you can browse here.
Are Priority Pass lounges usually crowded?
Priority Pass lounges aren't always crowded, but they all tend to have a busy period which varies depending on the airport. The danger in visiting during peak hours is that you may actually be turned away. Lounges have limited capacity, after all.
If you want to see when a lounge is busy, you can simply google the name of the lounge along with the airport. You should see a graphic on the right side indicating the historical foot traffic of the lounge.
What is the best credit card for lounge access?
Is there a credit card with lounge access and no annual fee?
Unfortunately, there isn't a no-annual-fee card that also offers airport lounge access. However, the