Before starting collecting miles and points (and credit cards!), we thought the world of fancy airport lounges would never be our world.

But we’ve crossed over and now it is one of the things we look forward to on travel days — when they are available to us.

For families doing a few trips a year (or more!), I highly recommend looking into getting lounge access. The lounges you can access will vary based on the credit card you have, the airline you’re flying, and the airport you’re at.

What is an airport lounge & how can I get in?

Airport lounges are an oasis of calm in a busy airport terminal. They typically have free wifi, free drinks (many include alcoholic options) and some food. Generally you’ll find more expansive lounges internationally but the U.S is catching up with some great lounges, too.

Free food and drinks in the airport was a revelation for us. As budget travelers, we were always those people packing our carry-ons full of food for the airport and airplane. Prior to living the lounge life we have actually been known to refuse to buy water even if we were quite thirsty, because we wanted to wait to get on the plane where water was free. Such was the case in the Cancun airport where there aren’t drinking fountains and bottled water is highly overpriced. We suffer of thirst no more!

To get in you usually need to fall into one of these categories:

• Have airline status (not us)
• Fly business or first class (not us, have never done it)
• Pay a one-time fee (not us, again, with being cheapskates)
• Have a lounge pass for a lounge network (Ding, ding, ding! That’s the one for us!)

Where are these lounges?

The most common lounge network that premium credit cards give you access to is Priority Pass. There are also lounge networks operated by American Express (for their premium card members), by Capital One (for card members) by individual airlines, and other networks like Plaza Premium.

It’s important to note that Capital One and American Express give you access to more than just their own lounges and Priority Pass — see the notes under each card for all the lounge networks you can access with a certain card.

Priority Pass has a growing number of lounges in the US, but has a much larger presence in international airports.

We’ve enjoyed some great food and drinks (and sometimes massage chairs and showers) at lounges in South Korea, Taiwan, Spain, the Philippines, Jamaica, Cancun, and more. We’ve also been known to walk to another terminal (if airports allow) to track down lounges on layovers or upon arrival, such as in Seattle, Honolulu, and LAX.

Priority Pass: Lounges vs Restaurants vs Experiences

Priority Pass also has a relationships with a number of airport restaurants or even spas where you can get a free massage. This gets a bit confusing, though, as American Express and Capital One have cards that provide Priority Pass memberships but they don’t offer access to those Priority Pass options–just to lounges marked as lounges on their website and app.

The main cards that will include access to Priority Pass restaurants and spas are the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card and The Ritz-Carlton^™ Credit Card. Unfortunately, restaurant access will be eliminated from these cards as of July 1, 2024.

If you have one of these, your Priority Pass membership will get each member and typically get your included guest $28 to spend. The Priority Pass app tells the number of guests allowed – some restaurants allow one guest and other allow two guests.

On a trip to Denver, our family of 4 got $112 to spend on food and drinks at Sweetwater Mountain Taphouse at the Denver Airport since Sweetwater is part of the Priority Pass network! The kids just got a few things which means dad and mom got some nice meals and a beer.

Which airports have airport lounges?

It would be too lengthy to list all the airports Priority Pass serves (over 1300 lounges), so hop on their website and see what’s available at your home airport or airports you often layover in.

For many US airports, lounges might only be in the international terminal. That is the case for us in Chicago. And some international flights don’t even fly out of the international terminal, so sometimes we miss out. We were rarely able to use a lounge in Chicago until recently when Southwest started operating some some flights of out O’Hare’s Terminal 5. Even this lounge is usually operating at capacity and we can’t enter.

On the day of your flight, be sure to check open/close times when you are looking at lounges. Many lounges participate with other clubs and offer entrance to other loyalty programs. Because of this, note that some lounges say they are full and don’t accept Priority Pass members at certain times.

Best lounges if you fly Southwest

Since we frequently fly Southwest, I often reference this Flyertalk thread when trying to figure out if I can get into an airport’s Priority Pass lounge from the terminal Southwest operates out of.

Best Credit Cards For Family Airport Lounge Access

Many premium credit cards out there give you lounge access as an included benefit. It is part of a package of premium benefits they offer. Here are the top options and my take on them.

Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card

Lounge Network: Priority Pass + Capital One Lounges + Plaza Premium Lounges

Guests allowed: 2 guests – but authorized users are free to add and get their own lounge access for themselves + 2 guests

Annual Fee: $395

Annual Travel Credit: $300 credit for bookings made through Capital One Travel (flights, hotels, car rentals), per cardmember year

Authorized User Fee: $0 for up to 4. No minimum age for authorized users means you can add your kids as authorized users as well.

Other card benefits we love:

• 10,000 bonus Venture miles on the account anniversary every year; there’s no spending requirement to unlock this (worth at least $100 in travel credit)
• Global Entry or TSA Precheck fee credit
• Hertz President’s Circle status for the primary cardmember and authorized users: perks include being able to skip the counter, guaranteed upgrades, and free additional drivers
• Cell phone protection, concierge service, trip delay and cancelation coverage
• 10x Venture miles on hotels and rental cars booked via Capital One Travel
• 5x Venture miles on flights booked via Capital One Travel
• 2x Venture miles on all other purchases

Our take: This is the current best option for families to get lounge access for the lowest price and least hassle — unless you are very loyal to one airline like Delta, American, or United. It is even better if your airport has a great Priority Pass option or one of the new Capital One Lounges (currently in DFW and IAD, expanding to Denver in late 2023). It matches most of the current policies by allowing only 2 guests – but the ability to add authorized users for $0 means even large families can get in lounges for free. The annual fee is low for a premium card and very easy to off-set with the $300 annual travel credit. Capital One used to be notoriously hard to get approved for (specifically for people with many cards, if you are newer to miles and points it should be easier), but if we were approved and this card will definitely be a keeper. See my complete guide to the Venture X here.

Note: If you want to stay under 5/24, you could consider the Capital One Venture X Business card. This card is very similar to the Venture X with a notable exception: authorized users do not receive lounge access.

Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card

Lounge Network: Priority Pass

Guests allowed: 2 guests

Annual Fee: $550

Annual Travel Credit: $300, per cardmember year

Authorized User Fee: $75

Other card benefits we love:

• Chase Ultimate Rewards® points are worth more with this card when redeemed at Chase Travel (1.5x vs. 1.25x with their other products). So this means a flight that costs $600 will only use 40,000 points.
• 3x points for travel and dining. Points on travel are earned after the $300 credit is earned each year.
• Global Entry or TSA Precheck fee credit
• Trip Delay Insurance if your trip is delayed 6+ hours (and a host of other travel insurances)
• Roadside assistance ($50 per incident)
• Primary car rental insurance
• Through 7/31/2024 you will get a $15 per month statement credit when you use Instacart.
• Free DashPass through 12/31/24 or a minimum of 1 year depending on activation date. Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card members enrolled in DashPass will receive $5 per month DoorDash credit. If the credit is not used within the calendar month, it will be carried over for a maximum of 2 months.

Our take: We had this card for 4 years and got some great value from our travel benefits and using Chase Ultimate Rewards® points with a great redemption rate. Unfortunately, the lounge access benefit isn’t enough for our family of 4 to get into lounges. So we had to pair this with another option in order to get lounge access. In 2020, Chase also raised the annual fee from $450 to $550, which puts it a bit out of our mental limits since we would have to pay another $75 to have another authorized user and each have our own access to Priority Pass through this card. We downgraded this card and got the Venture X instead. With the new Instacart credits, it makes it easier to justify, though, and if you are at an airport that has Priority Pass restaurants, you may want to seriously consider this card. Read my complete guide here.

The Ritz-Carlton^™ Credit Card

Lounge Network: Priority Pass

Guests allowed: All accompanying guests.

Annual Fee: $450

Annual Travel Credit: $300 per calendar year. See what qualifies

Authorized User Fee: $0, Authorized Users get their own Priority Pass membership

Other card benefits we love:

• Global Entry or TSA Precheck fee credit
• Roadside assistance
• Trip Insurance
• Free annual night certificate at Marriott property up to 85,000 points (top it off with up to 15,000 points)

Our take: This card is no longer available directly, you can only get it if you have a Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card or Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card and call to upgrade to this card. You will need to hold your Marriott card for a year before being eligible for upgrade. So obviously that is a big hoop to jump through for most people.

This card has the most generous Priority Pass membership out there. You can add unlimited authorized users and they get unlimited guests. You could add a trusted extended family member or friend as an authorized user and they would get their own Priority Pass. This Priority Pass also includes experiences (but no longer includes restaurants as of July 1, 2024)!

The annual travel credit is based on a calendar year, so you can very easily upgrade to this card in August, for instance, and use the $300 Travel Credit. Then in January, the travel credit will reset and you can get use it again. The Travel Credit is not automatic and has to be requested manually, it is also somewhat restrictive.

The Platinum Card® from American Express:

Lounge Network: Centurion Lounges, Priority Pass (except restaurants and experiences), Delta Lounges (if you’re flying Delta), Also the following:

• Escape Lounges — The Centurion Studio Partner.
• Airspace lounges.
• Plaza Premium lounges.
• Lufthansa lounges.
• Other Global Lounge Collection partner lounges.
• Find participating airport lounges during your travels by using the Global Lounge Collection website

Guests allowed: No free guests at Centurion Lounges unless you spend $75,000 a year on your card. You can pay $50 for an adult guest and $30 for a child. Priority Pass and Plaza Premium allow 2 guests. Escape Lounges allow 2 guests or immediate family members.

Annual Fee: $695

Terms Apply. | Rates & Fees.

Annual Travel Credit: $200 for a specific airline you select in advance, per calendar year

Authorized User Fee: $175 per authorized user. You can add kids as authorized users when they reach 13 if you want to get access to Centurion lounges for your whole family.

Other card benefits we love:

• $200 annual airline incidental credit, enrollment required
• Enjoy Uber VIP status and up to $200 in Uber savings on rides or eats orders in the US annually. Uber Cash and Uber VIP status is available to Basic Card Member only. Benefit renews annually. Enrollment required. Terms Apply.
• Get up to $20 in statement credits each month when you pay for eligible purchases with the Platinum Card® at your choice of one or more of the following providers: Disney+, ESPN+, Hulu, The New York Times, Peacock, SiriusXM, and The Wall Street Journal. Enrollment required.
• Lounge access to Centurion Lounges and Priority Pass lounges and more, enrollment required
• Hilton Gold Status, enrollment required
• Marriott Gold Status, enrollment required

Our take: The annual fee is the highest of this group, with the lowest and most restrictive travel credit. Unfortunately, the lounge access benefit still isn’t enough for our family of 4 to get into Centurion lounges. Even for Priority Pass lounges, we would have to pair this with another option in order to get lounge access or pay the authorized user fee.

The trip delay insurance is the best on this card and Amex does have great purchase protection, which I have utilized twice when I’ve had newer cell phones break.

United Club℠ Infinite Card:

Lounge Network: United Clubs (and select Star Alliance Clubs) when flying on United or another Star Alliance Partner

Guests allowed: 2 adults or 1 adult + all dependent children under 21

Annual Fee: $525

Annual Travel Credit: None

Authorized Users Do Not Get Lounge Access

Other card benefits:

• 1st and 2nd bags checked free
• Premier upgrades on award tickets when available
• Trip Delay Insurance if your trip is delayed 12+ hours (and a host of other travel insurances)
• Purchase protection (insures new purchase for 120 days for loss, theft, or damage)
• 10% United Economy Saver Award discount within the continental U.S. and Canada

Our take: If you are very committed to flying United/Star Alliance partners and have a large family, this card could definitely make sense. If you fly a variety of airlines, it would be hard to get the value of the annual fee out of this card.

Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard:

Lounge Network: American Airlines Admirals Club (when flying on American Airlines)

Guests allowed: 2 guests OR all immediate family members (spouse, domestic partner and/or children under 18)

Annual Fee: $595

Annual Travel Credit: None

Authorized User Fee: $0 — Authorized users get access to Admirals Club lounges but not other lounges including oneworld lounges with reciprocal agreements

Other card benefits:

• Free checked bag
• Global Entry or TSA Precheck fee credit

Our take:If you are very committed to flying American and have a large family, this card could definitely make sense. If you fly a variety of airlines, it would be hard to get the value of the annual fee out of this card unless you have a lot of friends who also fly American and you add a bunch of authorized users.

Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card

Lounge Network:Priority Pass (except restaurants and experiences)

Guests allowed: 2 guests

Annual Fee: $450

Annual Travel Credit: $250 statement credit for use at Hilton Resorts, $250 airline incidental credit at 1 airline of your choice

Authorized User Fee: $0, no Priority Pass membership for authorized users

Other card benefits:

• Hilton Diamond status: includes free breakfast, room upgrades (including suites if available), and executive lounge access
• Free weekend night on account anniversary
• Purchase protection (insures new purchase for 120 days for loss, theft, or damage)

Our take: If Hilton is your brand of choice, this card definitely could make sense. Unfortunately, the lounge access benefit still isn’t enough for our family of 4 to get into lounges more than twice.

Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card or Hilton Honors American Express Business Card

These benefits are ending.

Enrolled before January 31, 2023? Benefit ended on February 1, 2024.

Enrolled between February 1, 2023 and January 31, 2024? Benefit ends on November 1, 2024.

Lounge Network: Priority Pass (except restaurants and experiences) – 10 visits per cardmember year

Guests allowed: Guests count towards your 10 visits per year

Terms Apply. | Rates & Fees.

Biz: Terms Apply. | Rates & Fees.

Annual Travel Credit: None

Authorized User Fee: $0, no Priority Pass membership for authorized users

Other card benefits:

• Hilton Gold status: includes free breakfast for 2 and room upgrades
• Extended warranty and purchase protection (insures new purchase for 120 days for loss, theft, or damage)

Our take: Great starter option for a family who wants to try out lounges. You will also get bonus points when you sign up for the card and meet the minimum spending, which will easily offset the $95 annual fee. This excludes restaurant options, which are mainly in the US. So for a family with 1 international trip planned, this could be a great card. Also well worth it if you have stays at Hiltons coming up, as we place a high value on free breakfast!

Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card

Lounge Network: Delta Sky Club Access when flying Delta. Effective 2/1/25, Reserve Card Members will receive 10 Visits per year to the Delta Sky Club; to earn an unlimited number of Visits each year starting on 2/1/25, the total eligible purchases on the Card must equal $75,000 or more between 1/1/24 and 12/31/24, and each calendar year thereafter.

Guests allowed: Bring up to two guests or immediate family at a rate of $50 per person per visit.

Annual Fee: $650

Terms Apply. | Rates & Fees.

Annual Travel Credit: None

Authorized User Fee: $175

Other card benefits:

• First checked bag free
• Free companion certificate
• Enjoy complimentary access to The Centurion® Lounge when you book a Delta flight with your Reserve Card.
• Eligible Card Members get 15% off when using miles to book Award Travel on Delta flights through delta.com and the Fly Delta app. Discount not applicable to partner-operated flights or to taxes and fees.

Our take: Not of any great value to families because you still have to pay for guests to enter the lounge. The American Express Platinum is a better option if you are a family who loves to fly Delta because you will get into Delta lounges as long as you are flying Delta.

Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card

Lounge Network: Priority Pass (Lounges only, not restaurants or experiences)

Guests allowed: 2

Annual Fee: $650

Terms Apply. | Rates & Fees.

Annual Travel Credit: None

Authorized User Fee: Authorized users do not appear to get their own Priority pass access

Other card benefits:

• $300 in statement credits per calendar year (up to $25 per month) for eligible purchases at restaurants worldwide.
• Global Entry or TSA Precheck Fee Credit
• Receive 1 Free Night Award every year after your Card renewal month. Award can be used for one night (redemption level at or under 85,000 Marriott Bonvoy points) at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy®. Certain hotels have resort fees.
• Each calendar year with your Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card you can receive 25 Elite Night Credits toward the next level of Marriott Bonvoy® Elite status. Limitations apply per Marriott Bonvoy® member account. Benefit is not exclusive to Cards offered by American Express. Terms apply.
• $100 Marriott Bonvoy Property Credit: Enjoy your stay. Receive up to a $100 property credit for qualifying charges at The Ritz-Carlton® or St. Regis® when you book direct using a special rate for a two-night minimum stay using your Card.

Our take: If you have a small family and are loyal to Marriott, this card might make sense as a way to also enjoy lounge access. For bigger families, it won’t cut it!

Citi Prestige (not currently open for new applicants)

Lounge Network: Priority Pass

Guests allowed: 2 guests OR immediate family members (spouse and all children under 18)

Annual Fee: $495

Annual Travel Credit: $250 per calendar year

Authorized User Fee: $75

Other card benefits we love:

• 4th night stay free on hotels booked through their service (can be used 2x per year)
• Global Entry fee credit
• Roadside assistance
• Cell phone insurance ($50 deductible, some exclusions)

Our take: No longer available to new applicants but it used to be the best option for families — until the Venture X replaced it!

The annual travel credit is based on a calendar year, so you can very easily apply for this card in August, for instance, and use the $250 Travel Credit. Then in January, the travel credit will reset and you can get use it again! Absolutely worth it if you have a year of travel coming up where you want lounge access, as with the 2 travel credits, your Annual Fee essentially gets cancelled out.

We held this card for 4 years but were grandfathered in at a lower annual fee. Our annual fee increased in April 2020, though, and I downgraded this card to the no-annual fee Citi Rewards+® Card.

The 4th night stay free can be a strong offering for some families but it hasn’t been worth much to us because we don’t often pay for 4 night stays with anything but points. We also found that the rates for the hotels we looked at were inflated so it wasn’t quite like a full night free. We did use it to book 4 nights at a Residence Inn in London where we found a great rate.

A great value for the points you will earn from the sign up bonus is to transfer them to Turkish Airways and use them to book on Turkish’s partner United for domestic flights. All Saver Award flights cost 20,000 points round trip within the US (including Hawaii and Alaska!)

Best Options for Families:

If you’re very loyal to either American Airlines or United Airlines, their premium cards may make the most sense for your family. Both provide access to their respective lounges for all immediate family members when flying on that airline.

If you want to try out lounges with a low annual fee commitment: Hilton Honors Surpass or Business card has a $95 annual fee and gives you 10 Priority Pass visits per year that can be shared with guests. Note that these do not give you access to the restaurants in the Priority Pass network.

For everyone else: Capital One Venture X! It is easy to make up your annual fee and you can add authorized users until you have enough guest access for your whole family.

Do you have more questions about lounge access? Leave a comment below so I can help answer!

Upon enrollment, accessible through the Capital One website or mobile app, eligible cardholders will remain at upgraded status level through December 31, 2024. Please note, enrolling through the normal Hertz Gold Plus Rewards enrollment process (e.g. at Hertz.com) will not automatically detect a cardholder as being eligible for the program and cardholders will not be automatically upgraded to the applicable status tier. Additional terms apply.