priority pass – TrupTravels

REVIEW: PRIORITY PASS LOUNGE- THE CLUB AT BWI

I had about 45 minutes before my flight from Baltimore to Atlanta so decided to hit up The Club at BWI, which is a priority pass lounge close to gate D10. I used my membership from my AMEX platinum card, but also could have used my membership from my Citi Prestige card. Now usually Priority Pass lounges are just OK and typically crowded where you have to hover around people and wait for them to leave. This lounge was brigh,t airy, and practically empty.

There was plenty of seating. It was actually comfortable and clean and there were window seats with good views.

The food was fresh and above what I was expecting. Fresh fruit, yogurts, pastries, cereals, and lots of different drinks. They also had a very friendly bartenders with full free bar, but 7am was a lil to early for me that day…

For a domestic Priority Pass lounge that was easily accessible, this was great. I wouldn’t go out of my way to go here, but it was pleasant, clean, and lots of light.

REVIEW: LOUNGE HOPPING AT THE ATL AIRPORT. 3 Skyclubs and 1 Priority Pass

A business trip in Late February had me going to London and then a few days later to Rome.After a normal flight from OKC to ATL, I had over 4 hours to relax. So I decided to do 2 things, walk everywhere since I usually eat too much while on travel, and check out a few different lounges.

I flew into terminal D so I decided to first check out the terminal D Skyclub lounge. You walk in and go down a story to get checked in. The desk person took my boarding pass and informed me I had a while till my next flight and that there was also a Skyclub in terminal F next to my gate. I told him I know but have 4 hours to kill.

There was two things I first noticed about the lounge, one that it was small, and the second that it was pretty empty. When you can find 8 seats next to each other, its end up being very peaceful. Also with it being empty, getting a drink was not a problem They mostly had snack food which you can see in the pictures. I only spent about 45 minutes here, got some work done, and had a snack and a drink. There were some small windows, but not a lot of natural light here. The bathrooms were individual bathrooms and small but clean.

After this I decided to walk down to Terminal E and up to the Skyclub there. I could tell before walking it that it would be crowded here as there were several people all walking in at the same time. While they had several more hot options of food here, there was no place to sit down to eat. The bar was crowded and there was a line to just get a drink. I decided to walk through here and leave to the next lounge.

I figured there would be some priority pass lounges in the international terminal F. I looked online and see that have a “Club” in F but that there was also a Minutes Suites in terminal B. So I decided to get some more steps in and walk back down to Terminal B.

With a priority pass you only get one hour of time per cardholder. I have several memberships, so I don’t know if I could have combined them or not since I was planning on going to other lounges. I had to put a credit card down for incidentals and she led me to my room and told me that she would come knock on the door in about 75 minutes. (thanks for being a lil generous) There was about 8 suites total in this little space. No food or drink is included, but you can bring it in and they have some water, snacks, and other drug store type items at the front desk or in the room to purchase.

The room was about 8 ft by 8 ft. It had a couch with a trundle bed and a small desk with a TV above it. The best thing is it was nice and quit. While you could hear some noise from the terminal, it was more peaceful that what I was expecting. I was able to get an hour of work done while watching the Olympics. With only an hour, I didn’t want to try to take a nap and then wake up groggy, but they did provide some blankets and pillows. There was also an Alexa in there. Just having your own personal space where you can kick off your shoes and relax in an airport was amazing. I could see taking kids here and playing a game, or even getting a lil yoga or other type of workout in.

After my time was up here, I decided to walk from Terminal B to Terminal F. Wow, that walk was a longer than I expected. It took more time to go form E-F than it did to go from B-E.

So now that I am in terminal F I walked up to the Skyclub Lounge. Now after the crowds at E, I expected F to be crowded as well. It wasn’t though. As you can see there are lots of spots open to each other. There was also numerous open chairs in the quit lounge area. They had several hot and cold food options similar to E. The best part of the F lounge is the outside terrace. It was about 75 degrees, sun was setting and beer was cold. The main downside is the bar area smelled like somebody mopped the floor with and old mop. This lounge is their main lounge and is very large. I didn’t see a kids area which I was a little surprised of.

If I had 4 hours again, I would definitely hit up the minute suites and the Terminal F lounge. D lounge was nice if you are in that terminal already, but I would avoid the E lounge.

MY CALL TO PRIORITY PASS

Between my wife and I, we have a least 7 Priority Pass Memberships. I think we actually have more, but some we throw away as they aren’t value added. With several premium travel cards, you can get a complimentary membership that includes yourself and 2-3 guests, some are only for yourself, and some are for yourself but at a fee still. Sometimes you hear stories of people using the wrong priority pass and they get into a lounge and then they get a bill on their credit card its enrolled through a few weeks later. AMEX and Citi card memberships seem to have 11 digit numbers and Chase card memberships seem to have 16 digit numbers. I have multiple chase and AMEX memberships so it can be hard to figure out the difference. I have written on some cards where it comes from, but sometimes I forget….

I keep the pass I receive from my Citi prestige card in my travel wallet so I use that often and know it gets my family of 4 in to Priority Pass Lounges. We have a trip with some extended family coming up so I needed to figure out how to get them in as well.

PP levels — Pricing from Priority Pass website. I don’t know who would pay $399 and not have any guest privileges. AMEX Platinum, Citi Prestige, Chase Ritz Carlton, and some of the premium Chase cards (which I don’t have because of 5/24) all include guest privileges.

So I called the number on the back of the cards (1 469 241 6807). After about and 8 minute wait, I got a live person. She asked me the name, number, exp date, and address of each card and was able to tell my what bank it was issued from as well as what membership level it was and what benefits were included. So this time I wrote them down and threw some away as well. Interesting though that I receive a membership from the Chase Ritz Carlton Card via JP Morgan, and they could not inform me what membership level it was.