As I write this Priority Pass MBJ review, I am sitting in Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay (MBJ), waiting for our Air Canada flight back to Toronto. We had a great time in Jamaica at the Holiday Inn Sunspree Montego Bay Jamaica all-inclusive resort and the Hyatt Zilara Rose Hall Montego Bay all-inclusive resort.
We’re waiting here in the terminal even though there is in theory a Priority Pass MBJ lounge – the Club Mobay. After clearing departure security, we went through the duty-free section to arrive at the Club Mobay Priority Pass MBJ lounge, which is located near Gate 10
Quite the “scam”
There was an attendant out front of the Club Mobay Priority Pass Montego Bay lounge, and when I showed her my Priority Pass card, she said that while they DO accept Priority Pass, right now there were no seats available. She invited us to come back in 30 minutes.
So we hung out in the terminal for awhile, and then returned to the Priority Pass MBJ Club Mobay lounge. The same attendant was on duty and once again told us that the lounge was full. We decided to just wait right there by the lounge entrance. We continued to see everyone with a Priority Pass card being turned away, even though plenty of people were exiting the lounge. After talking with some of the other cardholders and staff members, it became apparent that they were never going to accept Priority Pass cardholders.
Apparently there is a “fast track” VIP service offered where, for USD$80 / person roundtrip, you can skip to the front of the immigration and departure security lines as well as access to the Club Mobay arrivals and departure lounge. Club Mobay has realized that this service is popular enough that there is no room for Priority Pass passengers.
Should Priority Pass do something?
I know that in the past, Alaska Airlines for one has limited access to Priority Pass members at some of their lounges before eliminating it completely in 4 locations.
Now to be very clear, I understand that people who have paid $80 / person should have priority over me, who has Priority Pass from a credit card (even though I guess technically I paid more than $80 ($450+ annual fee). I understand that some may think that I sound entitled, even though that is not my intention.
In my opinion, if Club Mobay knows that during busy times they will be turning away Priority Pass members for hours at a time, it just needs to be CLEAR somewhere so that travelers can manage expectations. The Priority Pass page is vague (“subject to space availability in the lounge”), which to me doesn’t quite detail the situation that I ran into on Sunday.
Personally, if this is as ongoing a problem as it appears to me, I’d rather Priority Pass just remove them from the network. I certainly wouldn’t “highly recommend” them (see pictures below)
Ever flown through the Montego Bay airport in Jamaica and tried to access the Club Mobay Priority Pass MBJ lounge? I’m curious to hear your experiences in the comments
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I’ve entered the PP lounge at MBJ twice and with my entire family of five. But last time was 2017.
Early January this year we were also turned away after showing our Priority Pass card.
Paid the $80, then my handler insisted on a $20 tip for 30 minutes work. Ripoff.
Thanks for the datapoint – confirms my initial thought that the fast track immigration service was not a good buy
In October we utilized it both arriving and departing via Priority Pass. We arrived at 3PM on a Friday and we left at 11AM on a Wednesday. We did not pay for arrival fast track.
Ihave been there a couple of times with 2 guests both times with no issues.
Use this with Priority Pass January 2017 with no trouble. Sounds like a new policy. It was nice to get WiFi and a cold drink since the airport was hot and humid.
We were turned away – told no Priority Pass from noon-3pm.
We have been able to get in with PP in the past – but like some of the other replies, not within the last couple of years (“no space for Priority Pass”). Flying to MBJ again next week, this time I caved and paid the US$30 for lounge access on the return leg. You can now book lounge access with your PP, but they will charge an additional $5 “processing fee” (!). Given that we’re traveling with a group, and that delays are fairly common flying out of MBJ, we’ll eat the cost. It sucks though, especially coming off a European trip where we accessed lounges in 3 countries with our PP with no issues whatsoever.
Totally agree with this post. Very simply, Club MoBay does not honor the Priority Pass card. I wish Club MoBay was truthful about this, and I hope Priority Pass was more transparent with their customers. Access to Club MoBay with a PP card is an outright lie!!!!
Right. I mean like I said in the post, I do get that they want to focus on the people that paid for the “premium” service, and that’s fine. Just don’t be SAYING you’re taking Priority Pass when you clearly are not