5 Things to Know About Chase Sapphire Reserve Lounge Access

Chase Sapphire Reserve® is a premium rewards card for avid travelers. It comes with useful travel perks, such as a Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or Nexus enrollment fee credit, an auto rental collision damage waiver, as well as trip interruption and cancellation insurance.

But what about Chase Sapphire Reserve® lounge access? There’s good news on that front. The card already gives cardholders unlimited access to Priority Pass lounges. Chase is also planning to open the Sapphire Reserve Lounges, more formally known as Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club. These lounges are expected to compete with AmEx Centurion lounges and Capital One lounges.

Here’s everything we know about these upcoming Chase airport lounges:

» Learn more: Is the Chase Sapphire Reserve card worth its annual fee?

Since launch, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® has offered its cardholders a complimentary Priority Pass Select membership, which provides access to more than 1,300 airport lounges and restaurants worldwide. You and up to two guests are able to access any of the lounges in the Priority Pass network.

To increase its offerings, Chase is partnering with Airport Dimensions, a global airport lounge operator, to build and operate its own lounges for cardmembers. The Sapphire-branded airport lounges are called the Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club.

The Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club has opened in Hong Kong. Then there's also a quasi-lounge owned by Chase called the Sapphire Terrace, which opened on March 20, 2023 at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. That said, Chase doesn't refer to it as a lounge but rather an "experience" with complementary alcohol and some light snacks.

Additional Sapphire lounges are slated to open in 2023. We don’t know the exact opening dates for all of the forthcoming lounges, but we do know their locations. You’ll be able to find the first set of Sapphire lounges at the following airports:

1. Boston (BOS - now open).

2. Las Vegas (LAS).

3. New York-La Guardia (LGA).

4. Phoenix (PHX).

5. San Diego (SAN).

If you hold the Chase Sapphire Reserve® card or another credit card with Priority Pass Select membership, such as The Platinum Card® from American Express (enrollment required) or the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, you’ll get complimentary access to the Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club. Terms apply.

At the moment, no other credit card-affiliated lounges, such as The Centurion Lounge or the Capital One Lounge, grant Priority Pass Select members access. This could increase crowding at the Chase lounge — the very thing many airport lounges try to curb.

At the moment, it’s unclear whether Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card customers would get any access, full or discounted, to the lounges.

To get Chase Sapphire Reserve Lounge access, you’ll simply show your card and a boarding pass at the check-in desk, and you should be able to use all the amenities that a lounge offers while waiting for your flight.

Because Priority Pass Select members will be able to access the new Chase Sapphire Lounges, you don’t have to pay the $550 fee on the Chase Sapphire Reserve® card to get the perk.

The following cards offer their members Priority Pass membership, and for a lower annual fee:

• Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card: $395 annual fee.

• Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card: $95 annual fee. 10 complimentary visits per year. Enrollment required.

• Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card: $650 annual fee. Enrollment required.

• The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card: $95 annual fee. 10 complimentary visits per year. Enrollment required.

• U.S. Bank Altitude™ Reserve Visa Infinite® Card: $400 annual fee.

Terms apply.

Although the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card and The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card boast the lowest annual fees of the bunch, they both come with limited access to Priority Pass lounges. You’ll get up to 10 complimentary lounge visits per year, after which you have to pay for every visit. Terms apply.

All other cards on the list provide unlimited access to the Priority Pass network of lounges. So if you want to be able to visit Chase Sapphire lounges as often as you want, the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card offers the least expensive path to membership.

Two other credit card issuers have built airport lounges specifically for their own cardholders: American Express and Capital One.

American Express

American Express runs The Centurion Lounge network of lounges for people with the following cards:

• The Platinum Card® from American Express.

• The Centurion Card.

• Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card.

• The Business Platinum Card® from American Express.

• Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card.

Terms apply.

However — effective Feb. 1, 2023 — only cardholders will be able to enter the lounges for free, and guests will be charged $50 per adult and $30 per child.

The Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card holder can enter all U.S. lounges as well as the lounges in Hong Kong and London. Access is limited to the primary cardholder flying on a same-day Delta Air Lines ticket. Up to two additional guests flying Delta can pay for entrance at a rate of $50 per person.

You can find the Centurion Lounges at the following U.S. airports:

International locations with American Express lounges include:

Capital One

If you hold the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, you and up to two guests get access to the Capital One Lounge. Additional guests are charged $45. The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card and Spark Miles cardmembers receive two complimentary visits per calendar year.

Non-cardholders can pay $65 per visit to enter the Capital One Lounge, which is not offered at The Centurion Lounge locations.

The only Capital One Lounge that is currently open is at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. Two more locations are set to open at Denver International Airport and at Dulles International Airport in 2023.

Although the first official Sapphire Reserve Lounge has yet to open in U.S., the new haven in the purgatory that is the airport terminal is welcome. We have yet to see what the lounge will offer and how busy it’ll be so as to assess whether it’s a worthy competitor of the Centurion and the Capital One lounges.