Whilst most Priority Pass holders would have a fair idea about which lounges across Australia and the world they have access before a flight did you know that another big feature of Priority Pass is airport ‘experiences’ – namely restaurants and bars? Yes you heard it right, you don’t necessary have to visit a participating lounge at the airport your travelling through to still get benefit out of your membership through visitation of participating airport restaurants and bars.
This means next time you are travelling through an airport that doesn’t appear to have a participating lounge it certainly pays to keep a close eye out to the Priority Pass/ Lounge Key website or App as there’s a fair chance there will be a participating restaurant that you can visit and flash your membership card in exchange for a $36 credit. At some of Australia’s biggest airport such as Melbourne and Sydney domestic there are even both lounges and restaurants available to visit with your membership.
Is it better to visit Priority Pass Lounges or participating restaurants/ bars
The answer to this question certainly does not have to be a zero sum equation although it is worth keeping in mind a few considerations with regards to first the availability of options to visit at the airport, your level of membership and whether redemptions are free, the amount of spare time you have before a flight and of course what sort of mood and preferences you have on the day of flying. That being said if you got plenty of time to spare and there are both participating lounges and restaurants there is no harm in getting the best of both worlds and visiting them both (or even more).
Standard + Standard Plus Priority Pass Membership/ paid access schemes
First things first the only time when you really might want to think twice about using Priority Pass for an airport lounge is if indeed your membership usually requires you to pay for lounge access. This essentially means just like to enter a lounge you’ll be charged $35USD to essentially redeem a $36 Aud credit. Given the exchange rate using a pay as you go type membership you’ll likely find such an redemption to be poor value.
If however your membership gives you a set amount of included visits before needing to pay extra such as the 10 free visits afforded by Standard Plus the evaluation of visiting a participating restaurant should warrant much greater thought. A $36 restaurant credit will likely get you a standard sort of airport pub style meal and a drink and you could find yourself getting better value than out of the most basic lounges but the more premium ones with nice amenities and food and beverage options will probably be of better value.
Prestige or complementary memberships
If you are lucky enough to have unlimited free visits courtesy of complementary or Prestige Membership than there is really nothing too loose at all by visiting participating restaurants and claiming those $36 credits. At the end of the day it just comes down to preference and how much time you have. Obviously if there is no lounge then visiting the restaurant or bar is a no brainer as you can still get the opportunity to have a meal and drink before your flight. If there is a lounge available you may still wish to visit a participating restaurant first if you preference a more substantial a la carte meal before moving on to a lounge for working or relaxing before that next flight.
Visit as many participating lounges and restaurants/bars as you like
The beauty of using Priority Pass or Lounge Key is that even if they are multiple lounges and participating restaurants/bars in the same terminal visiting one certainly doesn’t preclude you from visiting another (or all of them). If you’ve got unlimited visits and visiting a busy airport why not visit a restaurant for a nice meal, a lounge to or work and maybe even an airport bar for a cocktail all in the one visit?. On the other hand if you’ve got to pay per use its probably best scouting out the best possible eligible lounge or if all else fails just parting with your own cash at airport food outlets.
How to redeem Priority Pass/ Lounge key for participating airport ‘experiences’ (Restaurants/Bars etc)
Whilst the idea of using Priorty Pass/ Lounge Key at participating airport venues might seem complicated at first, it really is not and to redeem is very much the same process as for visiting lounges with a few important caveats.
How to find a participating Airport outlet
First if you’re unfamiliar with the offerings at you visiting airport it pays to check the respective website app where you can narrow down participating outlets to your airport and even the particular terminal your leaving from. Not all airports will have participating restaurants and bars especially if there is already an eligible lounge but some have both whilst other’s often have them in the absence of lounges.
Redeeming your credit upfront
Once you have identified a participating outlet you wish to visit it is important to first mention and show your membership prior to ordering just as you would with entering a lounge. This means typically bringing your physical membership card/ and or credit card that your complementary membership is encoded too. Some outlets may accept just your digital card but in any case it pays to ensure you have both. You’ll generally need your valid outbound boarding pass as well.
Once processed you’ll then get $36 off your order or it can be credited to be taken off the final bill depedening on the culture of the country you a visiting- if your visiting a country where tipping is the social custom don’t forget to leave some cash for your server or ask how you can add it to your bill if you don’t want to be looked frowned upon!
Once your membership is validated you only get a 1 one-off $36 credit per membership per outlet/ per airport visit. This means it is important to use up all the credit in one go otherwise be prepared to forfeit any balance so it pays to order up when you first arrive. Any guests you are travelling with will have to pay the standard Priority Pass guest fees just to redeem the credit though.
Ensuring sufficient funds on your eligible credit card
If your visiting as a courtesy of your credit card/debit card privileges it pays to ensure you have have available credit or balance to cover a small pre authorisation charge which may be charged to the card to ensure it is valid which will usually disappear a few days to weeks later. It also pays to ensure international transactions are enabled otherwise you may also run the risk of your card being declined.
Participating Priority Pass Restaurants+Bars in Australian Airports
Visiting participating restaurants and bars can be a great option for those with unlimited visits especially when travelling domestically in Australia whereby the only lounges in the network are the REX lounge at Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide Airports in addition to the Aspire Lounge at Perth Airport. Whilst the REX lounge is certainly by all means a comfortable place to relax and have a light refreshment visiting an airport restaurant is likely going be a better option if you want something more substantial when travelling through domestic Australian airport terminals. When travelling international through Australia’s major airport’s you are likely to encounter more lounge options particularly at Sydney and Melbourne Airports.
Brisbane Airport
Domestic:
Merlo Cafe Graze Grill and Bar The Common Mezze Za Za
International:
Corretor Cafe and BAR
Sydney Airport
Domestic T2:
MoVida Bistro 2020 and Bar
Domestic T3:
Wok on Air Bar Roma
Sydney International:
Mach2 Peroni Bar
Melbourne Airport
Domestic T3:
Biggie Smalls
Domestic T4:
Quickshots
International:
Cafe Sol Urban Provodore Bar Pulpo by MoVida
Canberra Airport
Domestic:
Noodles XO Capital Brewing City Hill Coffee
Gold Coast Airport
Domestic:
Coffee and Co
International:
Wollumbin
Townsville Airport
Domestic:
Castle Hill Cafe
What is Priority Pass and what are the levels of membership
Priority Pass offers 3 different types of membership which should suit intermittent, regular and frequent travelers.
For the occasional traveler it may be worth considering getting a standard Priority Pass membership which comes currently at a 50% discount at 34 pounds which allows access to all lounges across the network at discounted member and guest cost of 20 pounds per visit and is available here . Whilst it is unlikely to be great value if you only visit 1 or 2 lounges a year it may offer some slight savings if visiting 3 or 4 times a year.
If visiting 5 or more times and ideally close to 10 visits a year as possible there is some good value to be had in Standard Plus Membership which comes currently at a 35% discount at at a cost of 122 pounds and is available here. After the 10 complimentary visits have been exhausted further visits are permitted at a cost of $20 pounds each although the sweet spot for this membership is when using as close to the 10 visits as possible.
If you are likely to visit at least 21 Priority Pass lounges a year it will be best value to get a Prestige membership for 339 pounds which offers unlimited member visits with guests an additional 20 pounds per visit. If you plan to visit less than 21 times but still a regular traveler the Standard plus option will be better value.
How can you attain Priority Pass membership?
Joining Priority Pass is a relatively straights forward approach, is open to most nationalities and there is no pre existing eligibility requirements or ongoing commitments. It’s a basic sign up form as seen below however do be careful that your name used meets exactly what will be on your boarding pass and ID/passport used when flying to ensure no dramas when trying to access lounges. Make sure you put in the correct address and billing details as a physical membership card will then be sent in the post. Priority Pass now also has an app that you can use to locate lounges and other important information and importantly you can activate a digital membership card to store in the app after joining. We’d recommend keeping the physical card on you whenever possible however.
Where can I use Priority Pass for Lounges in Australia?
Priority Pass members have access to over 1300 lounges and experiences (usually airport restaurants or bars) worldwide which includes over 440 at airports in the Asia Pacific region alone. Participating Priority pass lounges in Australia include the Rex Lounge Network (Sydney, Melbourne, Sydney), Marhaba Lounge at Melbourne and The House at Melbourne and Sydney, the Aspire Lounges at Perth. Travelers finding themselves across the ditch in New Zealand can also visit the Strata Lounge in Auckland and the Mania Lounge at Christchurch. Many other airports also have participating restaurants or bars (especially those without a eligible lounge) which you can use your entitlement for a $36credit but we’d only generally recommend this option if you have complimentary or unlimited Priority Pass access.
Summing Up
Overall, using Priority Pass or Lounge Key at participating airport food outlets can be a great way to get extra value out of your membership with a few key caveats – the most important being that your membership provides complementary visits otherwise you could find yourself spending more to redeem a credit that’s worth less. That being said for those who have unlimited or complementary visits this is a great initiate of the programs and really opens up the opportunity to get more value out of your membership by providing more options and most important more opportunities to elevate your airport experience even at terminals that don’t have participating lounges.
