Through having way too many cards, I have complimentary Priority Pass access. At present, I have/had the following cards with Priority Pass:
- Capital One Venture X: Priority Pass (w/o restaurants as of 1/1/23)
- Bank of America Premium Rewards Elite (w/ restaurant access)
- Oxygen Fire Debit (no longer have)
Lounges
For those unaware, Priority Pass is an airport lounge access membership that comes with many premium travel cards. Priority Pass has a few flavors and some even come with restaurant access. Lounges give you access to buffet style food, a bar and a quieter place to sit. Everything aside from tipping is free at the lounges
Resturants
Restaurant access is my favorite feature of Priority Pass and I was very sad to see it removed by Capital One to their Venture X card. Priority Pass, in an effort to expand their covered airports, have partnered with some restaurants to offer a discount off of your check. Most restaurants give you $28 for you and per guests you bring. This covers anything on your check but, as always, does not cover tip. And it is good practice to tip on the full price of the bill before the discount
Visit Nuances
Through visiting and reading online I have discovered some nuances with visiting these lounges/restaurants
Restaurant Cooldown
Through flying very frequently, arriving early and getting flights delayed, I have some data points on how frequently you can use the restaurant benefit. This data point of mine shows that you can use the benefit as frequently as 2.5 hours apart. The restaurants I went to were American Tap Room and Bracket Room in DCA. I had no problem using them and I believe the reported 2 hour cooldown between these visits is accurate
Revisiting Restaurants in the Same Day
I have also used my Priority Pass discount twice at the same restaurant in the same day, which I detailed in this data point. This is incredibly useful if you are delayed and there is only one of these restaurants in your terminal
My Uses
Discuss my uses on the podcast and the document tracking it all can be found on my Patreon!
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