Review of LoungeKey for airport lounge access
After several years of traveling, we’ve gotten a bit fancy and treated ourselves to access to the airport lounges.
For those who need a refresher, airport lounges are “VIP” areas where you can wait for your flight comfortably, away from the noise of the boarding gates, while enjoying a complimentary buffet and drinks. I’ve written a post on the topic.
Since we often arrive at the airport well in advance to avoid rushing, and we often fly with low-cost airlines that offer questionable comfort, this is a luxury we really appreciate.
To access airport lounges, we’ve been using our card until now Priority Pass. Priority Pass is a paid card, but we get it for free thanks to our American Express Business Platinum. This Amex card is paid as well, but we more or less break even each year thanks to the benefits it offers.
In the meantime, I’ve discovered another way to access airport lounges: the LoungeKey pass.
It took me a while to figure out, but Priority Pass and LoungeKey are owned by the same company: Collinson. It’s actually striking when you install both apps on your phone: they’re identical, apart from a few color changes and the logo 😀
It seems like Priority Pass offers access to more lounges than LoungeKey (1,300 vs. 1,100), but so far I haven’t noticed any differences in the airports I’ve been to.
The main difference is in how the card is marketed:
- Priority Pass is available to anyone who pays for the subscription
- LoungeKey is a benefit offered by certain premium credit cards
On our end, we each have a crypto.com card with a status that includes a LoungeKey pass. To get it, you have to stake a certain amount in crypto.com’s cryptocurrency (CRO). This crypto can go up or down in value (and right now, it’s losing more than it’s gaining ^^). But as long as you’ve staked that amount, you get free access to airport lounges, without having to pay a subscription or annual fee (like with our Amex). The number of visits is unlimited—you can even have fun trying out all the eligible lounges in one airport 😀
Other cards that offer a LoungeKey pass:
- Revolut : for some of its plans, Revolut offers a discounted rate for LoungeKey access, around €25 per visit.
- Mastercard: World Elite and World Mastercard cards include a LoungeKey pass. I haven’t found much info on which banks issue these cards. Not sure it’s possible in France.
- Visa: Visa Infinite and Visa Platinum cards include a LoungeKey pass. These cards are available at several French banks at an accessible price (between €100 and €200 per year). However, check the details carefully; sometimes it’s a downgraded pass (Smart Delay pass) that only grants access if your flight is delayed.
- Curve : like Revolut, some Curve plans offer a discounted rate of about €25 per visit.
- N26 : LoungeKey access is unfortunately only for UK residents with N26.
In short, in my opinion, LoungeKey is the most cost-effective way to access airport lounges if you find the right offer. If you know any other tricks, feel free to share them in the comments!