The Guide to Chase Sapphire Preferred Lounge Access
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The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is a midlevel travel credit card with some solid benefits and points-earning potential, along with a $95 annual fee.
But does the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card get you into airport lounges? The short answer is no.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card does not include any type of Priority Pass membership or regular entrance into Chase Sapphire Lounges or other airline-specific clubs.
If you want to stay within the Chase family of cards and you’re looking for lounge access, you’ll need the Chase Sapphire Reserve® card instead.
But don’t write off getting the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. It still has some good benefits.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card includes one complimentary lounge visit, with strings attached
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card holders are allowed one complimentary access to the Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club annually, if they have a Priority Pass membership that they’ve purchased separately.
Priority Pass members can then buy additional passes to the Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club for $75 a pop, if they are available.
Otherwise, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card does not inherently include airport lounge access.
What to do instead
Purchase lounge membership
Cardholders can pay out-of-pocket for a membership to a qualifying airline lounge program, including:
Priority Pass for $99-$469 annually, depending on your membership tier.
Delta Sky Club for $695 or 69,500 miles per year.
American Airlines’ Admirals Club individual annual memberships cost between $750-$850, depending on your elite status level.
United Club for $550-$650, or 75,000 miles to 85,000 miles. Prices are also dependent on your elite status level. Membership is included for United Club℠ Infinite Cardholders.
Cardholders can also buy day passes at eligible lounges.
Purchasing Priority Pass or an airline-branded lounge membership does not qualify as a travel category expense on the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, so you will not earn 2x points.
Upgrade your card to the Chase Sapphire Reserve®
If you want included lounge access in the Sapphire family of cards, you’ll need to upgrade to the Chase Sapphire Reserve® card.
Because the Chase Sapphire Reserve® is a premium card, the annual fee is higher at $550 (and $75 for each authorized user), but many additional benefits help offset the cost.
First, there is the $300 annual travel credit that reimburses you for travel purchases.
Then there are the increased points bonuses in certain spending categories:
5x points on flights purchased through the Chase's travel portal.
10x points on hotels and car rentals purchased through Chase's portal.
3x points on dining.
A 50% increased value when redeeming points through the portal.
Lounge access is included as part of the Priority Pass Select membership; Chase Sapphire Lounges are included as well. Currently, there are lounges in Boston, Hong Kong and at New York’s LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy International airports. More clubs are on the way.
» Learn more: How Chase Sapphire Reserve lounge access works
The card also includes:
$100 in Global Entry or TSA PreCheck or Nexus fee every four years.
Two-year Lyft Pink All Access membership.
A DoorDash subscription.
One year of complimentary Instacart+.
» Learn more: The best airline credit cards right now
An overview of the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
The annual fee for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is $95 with no additional fee for authorized users.
Spending on the card earns Chase Ultimate Rewards® points, flexible points you can redeem for travel or other things like cash back or purchases.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card earns 1 point per dollar on most purchases, but there are ways to earn additional points.
2x points on travel purchases or 5x points on purchases made through Chase's travel portal.
3x points on dining.
3x points on online grocery shopping.
3x points on select streaming services.
You can then use those points in several ways, including transferring them to partners or redeeming them through Chase's travel portal.
For redemptions in Chase's portal, Chase Sapphire Preferred® Cardholders get 25% more value per point than they would if they didn’t have the card.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card also includes several travel insurance benefits:
Trip cancellation and interruption insurance.
Baggage delay insurance.
Trip delay reimbursement.
Primary car rental collision damage waiver.
Services for travel and emergency assistance.
» Learn more: Chase Ultimate Rewards®: How the program works
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card lounge access, recapped
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card does not include any airport lounge benefits as a perk of having the card, but it does have other travel benefits for a $95 annual fee.
If lounge access is your goal and you think you will get enough out of this benefit and others to justify the higher annual fee of $550, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® card may be your best bet.
$95
$550 plus $75 for each authorized user.
• 5 points per $1 on travel booked through Chase.
• 3 points per $1 on dining (including eligible delivery services and takeout), select streaming services and online grocery purchases (not including Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs).
• 2 points per $1 on other travel.
• 1 point per $1 on other purchases.
• 10 points per $1 on Chase Dining, hotel stays and car rentals purchased through Chase.
• 5 points per $1 on air travel purchased through Chase.
• 3 points per $1 on other travel and dining not booked with Chase.
• 1 point per $1 on other purchases.
Points worth 25% more when redeemed for travel booked through Chase.
Points worth 50% more when redeemed for travel booked through Chase.
10% of your total purchases in the previous year.
None.
$50 in statement credits toward hotel stays purchased through Chase's travel portal.
$300 annual travel credit.
Travel protections, including auto rental collision damage waiver and baggage delay insurance.
No foreign transaction fees.
Priority Pass Select lounge access.
Statement credit for Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS application fee every four years.
Access to Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection.
Complimentary Lyft Pink membership for two years.
Travel protections, including auto rental collision damage waiver and baggage delay insurance.
No foreign transaction fees.
Complimentary DashPass for at least one year through Dec. 31, 2024.
Complimentary DashPass for at least one year through Dec. 31, 2024.
How to maximize your rewards
You want a travel credit card that prioritizes what’s important to you. Here are some of the best travel credit cards of 2024:
Flexibility, point transfers and a large bonus: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
No annual fee: Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card
Flat-rate travel rewards: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
Bonus travel rewards and high-end perks: Chase Sapphire Reserve®
Luxury perks: The Platinum Card® from American Express
Business travelers: Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
