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The trend of reducing Priority Pass lounge benefits has been hitting travelers hard this year.  First, we saw Amex drop restaurant and bar locations from their Priority Pass access.  Then earlier this week Doctor of Credit broke the news that The Club Lounges are going to add a rule that limits entry to 3 hours prior to departure.  This change is due to take effect on September 1, 2019.  As I read the updated conditions on The Club Lounges, I came across a potentially new term that may be even worse for families.

What are the Changes?

The Club Lounges have allowed the cardholder plus two guests entry into lounges.  Children under 12 years of age have been admitted for free.  However, the new rule that caught my eye reads, “Children under 2 years are admitted free”.  From the sounds of it, effective September 1, children over two will now count towards a cardholder’s two free guests.  These new terms are displayed on the conditions at all 14 US lounges in The Club network and can be seen below.

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What Does This Mean?

Couples and travelers without children may be happy that this limits the number of kids in lounges and I understand that viewpoint.  However if you have two or more kids this is a game changer.  We have a four-year-old and a four-month-old, so under the old conditions we had a while to go.  The updated terms mean that once our baby turns two, we will need to ensure that my wife and I both have Priority Passes or we will have to pay the $40 per person daily rate for the fourth member of our family to enter.   The Club JAX was recently added at our home airport in Jacksonville and these new conditions are a bummer to me.  This is another significant blow to the value of the Priority Pass for families of four or more who have The Club Lounges at their home airport.  I wonder if there are more lounge devaluations in the pipeline.

 

What are your thoughts on these changes?  Leave a comment and let us know!


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