How Do I Find Airport Lounges Once I Have Access?

TPG reader Brian emailed me to ask about finding airport lounges:

"I recently got a Priority Pass Select membership, and I'm excited to have lounge access since I travel quite frequently. How can I tell which airports have lounges, and whether I'll be able to use them?"

There's no doubt that having lounge access has improved my travel experiences over the years. I've visited some truly luxurious lounges, but even the average domestic lounge offers at least a relatively tranquil space to get work done or wait out a long layover. Of course, you have to find lounges before you can use them, and there are a few helpful resources that will show you what's available at your location.

For Priority Pass specifically, you have a few good options. The Priority Pass app allows you to search for lounges in a given airport or city using the Find a Lounge feature. The results indicate where you can find each lounge in the terminal and provide basic details about amenities, hours of operation and terms of admission. The app also offers a digital membership card that should get you into most lounges, so you don't need to have your physical card handy. If you're searching on a computer and don't have internet access on your phone, you can get all that same information on the Priority Pass website.

If you have a lounge membership with a specific airline, you can reference similar information easily. American, Delta, United and Alaska keep up-to-date lists on their respective websites and mobile apps. The roster of Amex Centurion Lounges is small enough to memorize, but you can find all the relevant info on the American Express website as well.

More generally, I recommend you check out LoungeBuddy, which offers much of the same information along with more photos and brief reviews. You can also pre-purchase discounted access to lounges worldwide. Priority Pass has notoriously thin coverage in the US, so LoungeBuddy is a decent backup plan if there's nothing available in your network and you don't have other options for complimentary lounge access.

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If you tend to fly the same routes repeatedly, you'll learn pretty quickly which lounges offer the best service and which ones are most convenient for your itinerary. In general, I wouldn't schedule a detour or layover just to visit a lounge, but you might favor one airport over others (in New York, for example) if it gives you better lounge options.

For more on Priority Pass and lounge access in general, check out these posts:

• 9 Best Priority Pass Lounges in the U.S.
• 10 of the Best Priority Pass Lounges Around the World
• Get Airport Lounge Access with These 6 Cards

If you have any other questions, please tweet me @thepointsguy, message me on Facebook or send me an email at info@thepointsguy.com.

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