Generally I am a fan of the Timberline Restaurant, which is the Priority Pass DEN “lounge” in the Denver airport. I have been there a few times when I’ve transited Denver airport, and I’ve been impressed with the food and the value that you can get from the Priority Pass card ($28 per guest on your card)
We were there again in Denver this past week and had some problems with an inconsistent guest policy. So I thought I’d share a bit of our experience and see what other travelers had encountered with the Timberline Restaurant guest policy
Before we begin…
Before we begin, I thought I’d just mention (once again) that I am aware that I have a large family. Every time I post about things like this, I get angry commenters talking about how I am taking advantage of the system with my large family
And in a sense, I understand, but in another sense, I feel like this is what we are ALL doing. I am trying to maximize my own (and my family’s) rewards within the constraints of what “the rules” are. I just like to know what “the rules” are, ya know?
Timberline Restaurant guest policy
On our way TO Denver, we stopped at the Timberline Restaurant for lunch. Like many of you, I have a multitude of Priority Pass cards, but the one with the most lenient guest policy is the one that comes with my Citi Prestige card, which offers access for the immediate family.
When we got to the Timberline restaurant and looked at the menu, I decided to just have my wife and I both just use one guest on our cards (4 total). Since most of my kids were ordering off of the kids menu (where prices are ~$5-6), I knew that the $112 would be more than enough to cover our bill. Sure enough, it came to about $84
On our way back Sunday morning, we stopped in for some breakfast and planned to do the same thing. But our server Sunday morning said that each person could only order one meal, and that even though 4 guests ($112) would be more than enough to cover the bill for the 8 of us, I’d still have to pay for the other 4 meals
I asked if the rules had changed since Thursday, and she handed me this card, which was in ready supply at the restaurant.
I guess that’s part of rule #4? It’s not 100% clear to me. Then when the dedicated Priority Pass scanner person came over (yes, the restaurant is SO inundated with Priority Pass guests that it has a worker solely dedicated to checking people’s Priority Pass card), I asked to just register us for 2 guests each (like we had done on Thursday). She said that was no problem.
But then she came back over and I guess our original server had yelled at her or told her it was wrong, because she then said that they couldn’t do that. So I had her scan my wife’s card for her and one guest, and scan the other 6 of us on my Citi Prestige Priority Pass card (which should be covered).
As predicted, we were nowhere near the $224 we were allotted for 8 guests
Understanding the Priority Pass guest policy
So I guess I don’t really understand the Priority Pass guest policy, especially as it pertains to children and/or immediate families. I had actually called into Citi and Priority Pass before our trip, and spoke to an agent over the phone. What he had told me is that the lounges themselves set the guest policy and would collect any fees for additional guests, and if they didn’t, then I wouldn’t see them on my credit card statement. He said that if I wasn’t charged anything additional at the time of lounge entry, I wouldn’t be charged anything.
That’s exactly the opposite of what the server at the Timberline restaurant told me, which was that she could scan me for however many guests I wanted and it would be up to the bank / credit card company to possibly charge me for any additional guests.
So… I dunno… At this point I have not seen any additional line items on my credit card statement either for this visit or the 5 guests I brought into The Club CVG on Thursday (3 of my kids counted as too young)
What will irritate me is if the restaurant is charging Priority Pass for 8 guests for only $71 in food, and then pocketing the difference. I guess that puts a different spin on whether restaurants are making any money off of Priority Pass
What’s been your experience with the guest policy at restaurants using Priority Pass? Ever been charged on your credit card for additional guests?
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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 
It’s exactly what the restaurant will do. 8 persons used the lounge… They’ll get paid for 8. It doesn’t matter if you max out the value or not
And also what they should do. Further, when I see “complaints” like this, I am impelled to ask the complainer, “why do you care?” – it’s not as if you’re any more out-of-pocket than you would have been if they did not “max it out” on their end. Remember that many people seeking travel deals have no issue “maxing things out” and this large family seems to do that good and often.
I don’t know that I would call it a “complaint” but it is mildly annoying.
I just commented but seemed to say something the blogger did not agree with, so I don’t get published. Nice.
All (most) comments are automatically moderated by the blogging software and require manual intervention to be approved. It took me 38 minutes to approve your comment which I feel is a reasonable SLA :-). I generally do not censor comments unless they are really over the top (vulgar / personal attacks / etc)
I stand corrected, thanks.
No worries. Thank you for giving me a different perspective. I was thinking at it from the mindset that it isn’t “fair” for them to charge for $228 of food if I only ate $71. But after reading your comment, I also thought of it from the perspective of that I’m still taking up 8 seats, regardless of how much food I actually eat, which is also a valid way of looking at things
My wife and I recently visited the Timberline Restaurant and had a great experience. The Priority Pass app states an OUTBOUND boarding pass must be presented, so we didn’t stop there when we arrived in Denver. When we did visit, I was not asked for a boarding pass or anything related to travel plans.
I see the rule #2 doesn’t differentiate between arrival and departure. Wish I had known that in advance.
I have Priority Pass through Citi Prestige.
Scott – I noticed that too. And I also had the same experience where they did not check the boarding pass at all. In fact, when we checked in on arrival the hostess asked what time we were boarding and when I told her we had just arrived that was not an issue.
They get paid $23 per person regardless what you order. Of course they want you to scan all the people.
Been there twice and no boarding pass checks. The servers said that they get stiffed on tips from many guests using PP. Maybe they should add that nicely to their rules.
That is on their rules 🙂 – it’s #9
Personally I’d like to know what you tipped…?
You think I’m a cheapskate?!?!? 😛 Okay okay I could see how you might think that 🙂 I tipped around 15% – I believe $12 on $84 and $11 on $71
I’ve been there three or four times in the last 18 months, and have never been asked for a boarding pass. Twice I asked for dessert to go without a problem/charge…so I wonder if that’s been a recent change…
I’ve been 15 or so times, both inbound and outbound. Many of the times I go with my wife and toddler son, in which case we get to spend more even though he isn’t really eating. Sometimes I have to clarify with them that he should count for a $28 credit, but ultimately it always works out. My wife and I are individually using more than $28 and they don’t care