Status: checked against official sources; automated independent review
FREQUENT FLYER GLOSSARY
What is Priority Pass Select?
Priority Pass Select is Priority Pass membership that arrives with a payment card instead of being bought directly from Priority Pass. It gives the cardholder a Priority Pass means of access to airport lounges and other airport locations, but the card provider, rather than the Priority Pass brand, sets the rates and conditions that apply, so two cards that both advertise Priority Pass can deliver different access. [1] [6]
Facts checked: 18 October 2026
Key takeaways
- Priority Pass Select is the card-supplied version of Priority Pass: Priority Pass runs the programme and sells its own annual plans, while many payment cards offer membership as a card benefit that the holder activates. [1] [6]
- The card provider's rates and terms decide what a visit costs, and the provider can cap how often the membership is used in a period or at one location. [1]
- The network covers lounges and merchants such as dining, spa and retail locations, each with its own terms, and visits carry a per-person charge where the membership plan provides for one. [1]
How is a card-issued Priority Pass membership different from a paid plan?
Priority Pass is a membership programme run by Priority Pass Limited that lets members into third-party airport lounges and merchant locations using a means of access: a Priority Pass card, a digital membership card or an eligible payment card. [1] Priority Pass also sells memberships directly, in three annual plans for travellers who do not hold a card that provides one. [6]
| Plan | Traveller type | Annual fee |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | Occasional traveller | £69 |
| Standard Plus | Regular traveller | £229 |
| Prestige | Frequent traveller | £419 |
A card-issued membership is not a separate scheme: it runs on the same Priority Pass conditions of use, effective 26 March 2026. [1] What changes is who sets the commercial terms. Where the membership comes through a payment card, lounge and merchant visits, including those by accompanying guests, are charged per person, per visit, and are debited either by Priority Pass or by the payment card provider under the rates and terms that party has notified. [1] Where the payment card itself is the means of access, no transaction happens at the lounge desk and the charge is applied afterwards. [1] A card-issued membership also falls away with the card: if the card is cancelled, or the account moves to a card that no longer participates in the programme, the membership is revoked. [1]
Example: American Express Platinum Card in the United States
American Express presents its version of the benefit as “Priority Pass membership (enrollment required)”, one element of a wider Global Lounge Collection that it lists alongside Centurion Lounges and 10 Delta Sky Club visits when flying on an eligible Delta flight, and it puts the collection at over 1,550 airport lounges as of 01/2026. [2] Enrollment is therefore a condition of that card's membership rather than something that starts automatically. [2]
Why can two cards that both offer Priority Pass behave differently?
Because the card side of the benefit is a commercial arrangement between Priority Pass and the card provider, two cards can carry the same Priority Pass name and give different access.
- Different rates. Visits and guest visits are debited at the rates and terms notified by Priority Pass or by the card provider for its membership. [1]
- Visit caps. Priority Pass or the card provider may limit how many times the means of access can be used to enter a lounge or merchant within a time period, and within the same arrival or departure location; where the card provider sets that limit, the card provider notifies the member. [1]
- Changes arrive through the card provider. Priority Pass may change lounge or merchant charges or the programme on 30 days' notice, and for card-issued memberships that notice goes to the card provider, which is responsible for advising the cardholder. [1]
- One membership per visit. A member who holds more than one Priority Pass membership must present the correct means of access and may use only one of them per visit. [1]
- Payment queries have an owner. Questions about a charge go to Priority Pass or to the card provider, not to the individual lounge or merchant. [1]
Does Priority Pass Select include airport restaurants and spas?
Priority Pass defines a merchant as a third-party provider of services including dining, spa, retail or a third-party platform, and merchants sit alongside lounges as places a member can reach with the same means of access. [1] Inclusion is not automatic and does not follow from the Priority Pass name: each lounge and merchant has its own specific terms, set out in its description on the Priority Pass website or app, and using the location means accepting those terms. [1] Visits are charged per person, per visit, where the membership plan provides for a charge, and Priority Pass is not responsible for charges a merchant makes in connection with a visit, whether authorised, unauthorised or incorrect. [1]
Two practical checks apply to any card-issued membership. Not every lounge or merchant in the programme can accept a payment card as the means of access, so a member should check before travelling and carry the Priority Pass card or digital membership card. [1] A card number or a photograph of a means of access is not accepted in its place. [1] Dining-specific detail sits in the guide to Priority Pass restaurants.
Exceptions and limits
- Access is not guaranteed. Lounges and merchants are owned and operated by third parties; holding a means of access does not guarantee access or continued access and entry is subject to capacity restrictions, with Priority Pass not controlling admission, opening times, length of stay or charges above those included. [1]
- Non-transferable. The means of access may be used only by the named customer, up to and including its expiry date, and only one may be used for each visit. [1]
- Guests. Guests must register and enter the location at the same time as the member, and guest visits can be debited to the member's payment card. [1]
- Children. Whether children can enter varies with each location's policy and is at the location's discretion. [1]
- Schengen areas. Some European locations are inside designated Schengen areas, so access is provided only to members travelling between Schengen countries. [1]
- Extras inside the lounge. Alcohol, telephone and wi-fi availability are at each location's discretion, extra consumption and premium drinks are paid directly to the lounge, and locations have no obligation to announce flights. [1]
- Pre-booked visits. Where a location offers pre-booking, a membership that expires or becomes invalid between booking and the visit date removes eligibility for access. [1]
Frequently asked questions
Is Priority Pass Select the same as a membership bought from Priority Pass?
No. Priority Pass sells its own plans, currently Standard, Standard Plus and Prestige with annual fees, while a card-issued membership comes through the payment card provider and is governed by that provider's rates and terms. [1] [6]
Do guests cost extra on a card-issued membership?
Guest visits can be debited to the member's payment card, and the member must sign or otherwise confirm the number of guests at the time of entry. [1] Each guest must register and enter at the same time as the member. [1]
Does Priority Pass Select get me into restaurants and spas?
The programme covers merchants including dining and spa locations, but each location has its own terms and the per-person charge depends on the membership plan, so the location description in the Priority Pass app or website is the place to confirm it. [1]
What happens to the membership if I cancel the card?
The means of access is cancelled with effect from the date the access or card relationship ends, and any location visited on an invalid means of access is charged to the member. [1]
Why does my card's Priority Pass allow fewer visits than another card's?
Because the card provider may cap the number of visits within a time period and at the same arrival or departure location, and it is the provider that notifies the member of that limit. [1]
Sources
Sources accessed on 18 October 2026. Card-issued memberships from issuers other than American Express are not covered here, and the individual terms of lounges and merchants in the network are not reproduced.
- Priority Pass conditions of use, checked 18 October 2026
- American Express Platinum Card benefits and terms (United States), checked 18 October 2026
- Priority Pass airport lounges and membership plans, checked 18 October 2026