Amex Cuts Priority Pass Restaurant Access — Here's What You Can Do

Aug. 01, 2019

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3 min read

Amex Cuts Priority Pass Restaurant Access — Here's What You Can Do

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Effective Thursday, Aug. 1, 2019, American Express has cut complimentary airport restaurant access for its cards that include a Priority Pass membership. The silver lining, however, is that the perk remains for other cards that include Priority Pass.

There are currently 28 eligible restaurants in US airports that are a part of the Priority Pass program and 16 others across the globe. Fortunately, cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve, U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Visa Infinite Card and Citi Prestige should still offer Priority Pass memberships that include restaurant access as long Amex credit cards have cut that benefit at this time. These cards provide a set amount to spend at the airport restaurants for the membership holder and eligible guests (often around $28 each), so it's easy to piece together an almost free meal for the whole family before your flight -- just remember to tip.

The information for the U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

While things can always change in the future, TPG has confirmed with Chase that the Sapphire Reserve's Priority Pass membership will continue to offer access to airport restaurants. Citi has also said it has no plans to change any benefits at this time. Additionally, US Bank verified that the Altitude Reserve card's Priority Pass benefit will remain the same.

But if your current Priority Pass membership was generated through your Amex card, it's officially time to set that one to the side. If you have a non-Amex card with Priority Pass, like those mentioned above, your next task is to login to your account, surf over to benefits and follow the instructions for activating Priority Pass membership, if you haven't already. If you don't have one of those cards, and you plan to visit Priority Pass restaurants, signing up for one of those cards should be added to your to-do list.

Yankee Pier at SFO (Photo by Katie Genter/The Points Guy)

The Priority Pass lounge membership program is one of the most popular and widespread benefits of many premium credit cards, offering access to more than 1,200 airport lounges and restaurants around the globe. While you may need to change up your strategy for accessing Priority Pass restaurants, there are still plenty of ways to fuel-up before your next flight thanks to your rewards credit cards.

Featured image by (Photo courtesy of The Points Guy)

Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.