Priority Pass members can once again visit most Alaska Airlines lounges

As with other U.S. airlines, Alaska Airlines closed most of its airport lounges early during the pandemic, largely in response to a steep drop in demand. Most of the carrier's locations have since reopened, however, and as One Mile at a Time reports, several are once again accepting Priority Pass guests.

Alaska's decision to remove several locations from the Priority Pass network actually came long before the pandemic began, in the summer of 2018, presumably due to overcrowding.

With the pandemic still keeping many travelers away from airports and lounges, however, crowd control is presumably less of an issue. Since the airline gets paid when Priority Pass members visit, this must have seemed like a good time to reopen those lounge doors to premium credit cardholders and other eligible guests.

As of now, the following Alaska Airlines lounges are listed as participating on the Priority Pass website:

• Anchorage (ANC) — Concourse C, near gate C-1
• Los Angeles (LAX) — Terminal 6 on the mezzanine level, near gate 64
• New York (JFK) — Terminal 7, just after the security checkpoint
• Portland Airport (PDX) — Concourse C, across from gate C5
• Seattle-Tacoma (SEA) — North Satellite, above gates N13-N18

Note that the New York-JFK lounge has yet to reopen, but it appears that Priority Pass guests will be able to visit once it does.

As a reminder, customers with many premium credit cards are eligible for a complimentary Priority Pass membership, granting access to well over 1,000 lounges around the world. For example, both my Chase Sapphire Reserve® and The Platinum Card® from American Express made me eligible to enroll for complimentary access, as do a handful of other top cards. Enrollment required for select benefits.