As you may know, airports can be pretty crowded sometimes, especially when it’s the holiday season. During the peak season, finding a place to rest your body could be a hard task. As a solution to offer better accommodation for customers, there are some airport lounges available nearby.
There’s even something called Priority Pass Lounges, a place where priority customers can rest more conveniently without having to deal with the crowd. Initially, these lounges were something we could consider exclusive. But as time goes on, it’s getting easier for people to actually get access, resulting in questions like, “are Priority Pass Lounges Usually Crowded?”
We’ll explain why these priority pass lounges can get crowded in the section below! But, before we go any further, don’t forget to check out Buc-ee’s New Locations in 2023.
What Are The Priority Pass Lounges
Before we talk much further about how these lounges can be crowded, it’s better for us to first understand the concept of priority pass lounges. These lounges are an airport network that’s connected to the 1,300 other lounges located globally.
They offer a calmer place where airport passengers may relax or work between their flight schedules. As you might know, these priority lounges are limited to priority passengers only, the ones who have the priority pass. We’ll explain how to get this pass later.
In the Priority Pass Network, you’ll likely meet different brands, and it’s not the same in every country. By showing the Priority Pass, you are allowed to enjoy the services and amenities inside. And talking about the amenities, each brand does have their own rule about it. Some may offer more, while others only deliver less. What matters here is that you can still rest in the Priority Lounge and enjoy all their services, as long as you have the pass.
What Amenities You’ll Find There?
As we’ve mentioned above, you’ll likely find different amenities in each lounge. However, they generally offer these amenities:
- Wi-Fi internet connection
- TV
- Drinks
- Snacks
- Meals
- Flight Information
- Working Space
- Seating
- Musical entertainment
Now, most people are visiting lounges for many reasons, with the common ones for working or simply resting to wait for their flight schedule. The meals, snacks, and drinks are usually welcome amenities, so the customers can get them for free. It’s so nice to have these things as the food or drink prices in the airport can be really expensive sometimes.
Some lounges do offer extra services, including bathrooms complete with showers. Some even have massage chairs, storage, and prayer rooms.
The Advantages Of Priority Pass Lounges
In order to gain access to these Priority Pass lounges, you’ll need to get the Priority Pass. With this Pass, you can access more than 1,300 lounges that are available worldwide. It is certainly useful for travelers who like to visit many countries in their journey. So other than waiting for the flight outside (which could take hours or more), they can instead enjoy all the amenities provided inside.
How to Have An Access
One requirement you need to fulfill if you wish to enjoy the services is by owning a Priority Pass. This Pass comes with different memberships, complete with their own benefits. There are three of them in total, such as:
- Standard – The Standard subscription will cost $99 per year, and lets you and your friends enjoy the lounge services. The cost per person would be $32.
- Standard Plus – Similar to the above subscription, with added free visits up to 10 visits per year. The price is $299 per year, and the cost will be $32 per visit and per person.
- Prestige – The most premium package you can get. The cost for this plan is $429 per year and offers unlimited lounge visits. You can also tag your friends along, with a $32 fee per person.
As you can see, the pass subscription can get pretty expensive. So, we highly recommend another working method, which is by using credit cards. Most credit cards offer some benefits for their customers, including the Priority Pass membership.
You can also enjoy these benefits by simply making transactions with your cards. The benefits you’ll get are similar to what a Prestige subscription can offer. You get free unlimited access to the lounges, two additional guests can be included for free. However, the issuers may have different policies and regulations about this, so make sure to pay attention to these.
In order to check this information, you may visit the website or app of the Priority Pass. By doing so, you can also get the details about amenities, and specific lounges available in the airport.
Why Are The Lounges So Crowded?
The main reason is that what used to be something exclusive is now becoming a common commodity that a lot of people can also enjoy. Sure, for the passengers, it’s not entirely a bad thing as now they have a better place to rest rather than just waiting hours at the terminal gate.
Access has become too common now as more and more credit card issues basically offer the very same benefit as airport lounge access.
You know, the Priority Pass was first founded in 1992, by a traveler. The idea was created to give passengers the same chance of having the airport lounge benefits, which wasn’t common back in the day. Back then, people could only enter these lounges if they held premium tickets. It was exclusive and also expensive.
And now, Priority Pass has millions of users already, who actively using the services from up to 1,300 airport lounges available worldwide. With the increasing amount of users, it’s not very surprising that these lounges will eventually get crowded.
But, surely, this doesn’t happen in all the lounges. In less crowded countries, you may find that the lounges can be emptier. So unless you’re traveling to popular countries, there’s nothing to worry about.
Conclusion
And that is the reason why the Priority Pass lounges are getting more crowded these days. The lounge benefits offered by credit cards are making it easier for anyone to enjoy the lounge services and amenities.
However, please note that it doesn’t happen in all Priority Pass lounges all over the world.
