Everybody in this hobby should have a Priority Pass. It seems like every time I open a card, I get a new Priority Pass in the mail a few weeks later. I think I have 2 right now…3 with the new AmEx Hilton Ascend!
My Priority Pass has been an awesome benefit to my air travel. I’ve used lounges throughout the US, in Costa Rica, Mexico, and the Bahamas. Each time, I’m admitted to the lounges fee-free and get a bite to eat. At airport food prices, the Priority Pass alone offsets some of my annual fee on my premium credit cards.
(If you find your wallet strangely lacking of Priority Pass access, pick up a new card with lounge access here!)
The list of Priority Pass lounges has been constantly growing, and more recently, the network expanded to include a handful of restaurants and bars. Instead of getting free access to a lounge, you can stop by the bar for a bite to eat, and get a certain dollar amount off your meal. You’ll find some of these restaurants in Denver, New York, Miami, St. Louis, Lexington, London, and Portland. Portland boasts three restaurant/bar lounges, and up until recently, you could easily hit all three of them with a long layover. Lunch at the Capers Market, afternoon drinks at the House Spirits Distillery, and dinner at Capers Cafe Le Bar. Now of course, I don’t think every Priority Pass holder stopping by each restaurant every time they had time at PDX is very good for business…and apparently Priority Pas agrees.
A burger and fries from the Timberline – a Priority Pass restaurant at Denver International.
Priority Pass has updated their terms to include the following restrictions:
- You can only stop by one of the Capers locations at PDX
- You must show an outbound boarding pass to use your priority pass discount.
I have to level with you guys, I think these restrictions are fair. My dad voice is popping into the back of my head, “This is why we can’t have nice things..”
Although I definitely use lounges on arrival if I have time to kill, this isn’t a common occurrence for me. Lounge access (and food) prior to my flight is much more important to me than afterward. By the time I land, I’m usually itching to get to the next place anyway. I think Priority Pass has implemented just restrictions, and I think it’ll be easy for us to follow those rules.
This certainly isn’t the first time Priority Pass has started to limit us…should we be worried? Let me know what you think about Capers and House Spirits Distillery!
Hat tip to Lucky over at One Mile at a Time.
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
I have used PP lounges on arrival (though not in PDX) to catch a bite before the trip home. Airport to home usually takes some time, so it’s nice to have a bite / drink to make the trip home more relaxing.
I think limiting to visiting 1 venue is fair, but would’ve been nice to allow 1 visit for arrival as well.
I’d like to see the Arrival option myself too – I’ve definitely done the same
How can they know you stop by one of the 2 locations?
You know, I’m not sure how it’s enforced Alan. I’d imagine PP has an internal check on their end, maybe something that comes up at the Capers bar/market when they swipe your Priority Pass card.
Good thing I abused this while I could. I still have bottles of Oregon wine I got from Capers that I haven’t drank yet.
Great value while it lasted!
Still a really good deal. They allow a guest (or two?) at both Capers so it still won’t be an issue for us to go to both locations as my spouse and I both have our own passes.
Same here Michele, for traveling companions with separate Priority Passes, it’l l be easy to do!
When are Priority Pass going to come up with a solution to Terminal 1 at JFK. I was on the 22:35 flight to Rome with Alitalia last week [but travelling Premium Economy so no AZ lounge] only to find that there is no available PP lounge after 20:30 in the evening. The AF Lounge is available until 13:30 and from 23:00 and the KAL Lounge is open until 20:30 – both restrictions in the evening hours only for PP cardmembers. It is not that the lounges are closed. The excuse given is that this is due to capacity controls. Both lounges were virtually empty.
There are still a few places with little to no Priority Pass options, I feel your pain Harry!
The Priority Lounge at San Jose airport used to be great. Now when British air passengers are waiting for a flight ( which is most of the day ) they limit Priority Pass members to 25 at a time regardless how crowded the lounge is. I have seen it pretty empty with a line of Priority pass members waiting for a priority pass member to leave the lounge before they allow the next one in.
I hope this Pass doesn’t lose it’s value altoether.