Priority Pass continues to single-handedly offset my credit card annual fee with this overlooked benefit
I cannot recall the last time I paid for a meal at the airport. If I'm flying, my travel buddies and I are almost certainly eating for (practically) free.
Free food is doubly important at the airport, where restaurant menu prices are insulting. With an appetizer and a mixed drink, you could be staring at a $70 check after tip. Priority Pass airport lounge membership solves the overpriced food crisis in two ways:
- Priority Pass gives you access to over 1,300 airport lounges, most of which offer unlimited free alcohol and snacks. Though many offerings are hardly a proper meal, they're substantial enough to keep you from visiting an airport restaurant.
- Priority Pass gives you free food at over 50 airport restaurants.
This second point is the one I want to remind you about. It's quite an unsung hero among travel credit card benefits. I'll share some tricks you may not have considered to potentially save over $100 at every participating restaurant!
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Easily save hundreds per year with the Priority Pass restaurant benefit
Would you keep a credit card that offered a benefit of free food at airport restaurants? I would.
Of course, I'm just rephrasing the fact that Priority Pass gives you up to $56 in food at over 50 airport restaurants worldwide (over half of them within the U.S.). Here's how it works: The Priority Pass cardholder gets $28 off their meal. They can also bring along a guest and receive $28 more deducted from the bill. You can read the list of participating restaurants here (though note that this list changes intermittently as some close temporarily/permanently in the wake of COVID-19).
A $56 discount restricted to participating restaurants — that's far from carte blanche access to any and all airport cuisine your heart desires. You'll need to be at an airport with a participating restaurant, and you'll need to be prepared to walk, as the restaurant may be on the other side of the airport.
If you're exhausted and just want a quick meal, you may not get as much value from this perk. But if you're like me and you get a thrill out of free stuff, you're probably willing to make the trek to a different terminal for a complimentary dinner. I've gone from Terminal 4 at New York-JFK to Terminal 8 just for a free salmon filet at Bobby Van's Steakhouse. And it was worth it.
I'll cross the airport to get to a participating restaurant even if I'm not hungry. I just like getting free stuff.
My wife and I were recently in San Francisco (SFO) and stopped to eat at the San Francisco Giants Clubhouse in Concourse F. For $58.95, we ordered exactly what we wanted. Our check came to $2.95.
Related: Skip the lounge and get free food at 31 restaurants that are part of Priority Pass
4 pro tips to maximize the Priority Pass restaurant discount
There are four things to know if you want to get the biggest bang from this benefit.
1. Amex cards don't qualify
Priority Pass accounts acquired via an American Express card, such as The Platinum Card® from American Express or Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card, do not offer this restaurant benefit. You'll need to get your Priority Pass membership through a card like the Chase Sapphire Reserve or the U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Visa Infinite® Card. (Enrollment is required to receive complimentary Priority Pass membership on cards.)
The information for the U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
2. Tip on the original bill, not the final tally
This is the least "free" part of the Priority Pass restaurant credit. You can't use it to tip. So for the $56 you get in free food, you may pay around $10 anyway. Not too shabby considering you're eating a real meal at the airport...so tip your waiters and waitresses, folks!
3. You can visit multiple restaurants in the same airport
Many larger airports house multiple restaurants that participate in the Priority Pass program (again, look at our list here). You can hop from one to the other, gathering multiple free meals in a single trip. When this is the case, you can effectively split your meal in half and get all the expensive stuff. For example:
- Restaurant 1: Mixed drink, appetizer, entree.
- Restaurant 2: Mixed drink, dessert.
You and a guest could easily save $112 in food by visiting a couple of restaurants.
4. Travelers in two-player mode can get double the value
If you and your travel buddy both have a Priority Pass account, you could get double the value at each restaurant if you've got the audacity. I've never done this personally, but the Priority Pass system would have no way of catching you out.
Each of you has guest privileges. You could use your membership and guest privilege to get $56 off the meal. Then your travel buddy could start another bill and save another $56 when claiming you as their guest. This shouldn't entail more than a quick explanation to the server (they could likely just split tender on the bill), but you may have to pay for the first check before starting the next.
And get this -- authorized users on select cards get full Priority Pass membership for free! Here's what it costs to add authorized users on popular cards:
- Chase Sapphire Reserve: $75 per year.
- The Ritz-Carlton Credit Card: $0 (not available to new applicants but you can upgrade to it from other Chase Marriott personal credit cards. Read here why you absolutely should).
- Citi Prestige® Card: $75.
That means you could potentially double your restaurant savings by adding your travel partner as an authorized user.
Related: How valuable is a Priority Pass lounge membership?
The information for the Citi Prestige has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Bottom line
If you've got a Priority Pass membership from a non-Amex card (such as the Chase Sapphire Reserve), you can get up to $28 per person in food for you and a guest at over 50 airport restaurants. And you can double that figure if your travel buddy has Priority Pass, too (which you can give them for free)!
Plus, if you're at an airport with multiple restaurants, you can hop from one to another, saving potentially hundreds of dollars during a single connection -- if you've got the time.
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Intro offer
Annual Fee
Recommended Credit
Why We Chose It
The Capital One Venture X card is one of the best all-round travel credit cards ever launched. Not only is it offering a tremendous welcome bonus, but cardholders can earn tons of miles on everyday spending and receive a 10,000-mile anniversary bonus to boot. Its annual fee is $395, but cardholders can count on up to $300 in statement credits toward travel booked through Capital One Travel each year and other valuable benefits like access to Priority Pass lounges and Capital One’s own growing family of airport lounges.Pros
- Excellent welcome offer worth 75,000 miles after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months.
- Up to $300 in annual travel statement credits toward bookings make through Capital One Travel.
- 10,000 bonus miles (worth $100 toward travel) each account anniversary.
Cons
- The $395 annual fee might be expensive for some, but this card’s benefits provide much more value than that.
- If you don’t travel frequently, this might not be the best card for you.
- Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel
- Receive up to $300 back annually as statement credits for bookings through Capital One Travel, where you'll get Capital One's best prices on thousands of options
- Get 10,000 bonus miles (equal to $100 towards travel) every year, starting on your first anniversary
- Earn unlimited 10X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel and 5X miles on flights booked through Capital One Travel
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on all other purchases
- Unlimited complimentary access for you and two guests to 1,300+ lounges, including Capital One Lounges and the Partner Lounge Network
- Receive up to a $100 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®
- Use your Venture X miles to easily cover travel expenses, including flights, hotels, rental cars and more—you can even transfer your miles to your choice of 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Named editors' choice for "Best New Credit Card of 2021" by The Points Guy
- Earn 10 miles per dollar when you book on Turo, the world's largest car sharing marketplace, through May 16, 2023
Rewards Rate
10X | Earn unlimited 10X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel |
5X | 5X miles on flights booked through Capital One Travel. |
2X | 2 Miles per dollar on every purchase, every day |
Intro Offer
Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel75,000 bonus milesAnnual Fee
$395Recommended Credit
Credit ranges are a variation of FICO© Score 8, one of many types of credit scores lenders may use when considering your credit card application.740-850Excellent
Why We Chose It
The Capital One Venture X card is one of the best all-round travel credit cards ever launched. Not only is it offering a tremendous welcome bonus, but cardholders can earn tons of miles on everyday spending and receive a 10,000-mile anniversary bonus to boot. Its annual fee is $395, but cardholders can count on up to $300 in statement credits toward travel booked through Capital One Travel each year and other valuable benefits like access to Priority Pass lounges and Capital One’s own growing family of airport lounges.Pros
- Excellent welcome offer worth 75,000 miles after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months.
- Up to $300 in annual travel statement credits toward bookings make through Capital One Travel.
- 10,000 bonus miles (worth $100 toward travel) each account anniversary.
Cons
- The $395 annual fee might be expensive for some, but this card’s benefits provide much more value than that.
- If you don’t travel frequently, this might not be the best card for you.
- Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel
- Receive up to $300 back annually as statement credits for bookings through Capital One Travel, where you'll get Capital One's best prices on thousands of options
- Get 10,000 bonus miles (equal to $100 towards travel) every year, starting on your first anniversary
- Earn unlimited 10X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel and 5X miles on flights booked through Capital One Travel
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on all other purchases
- Unlimited complimentary access for you and two guests to 1,300+ lounges, including Capital One Lounges and the Partner Lounge Network
- Receive up to a $100 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®
- Use your Venture X miles to easily cover travel expenses, including flights, hotels, rental cars and more—you can even transfer your miles to your choice of 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Named editors' choice for "Best New Credit Card of 2021" by The Points Guy
- Earn 10 miles per dollar when you book on Turo, the world's largest car sharing marketplace, through May 16, 2023