Priority Pass has made two recent changes to their lounge line up. They have added one lounge and removed one lounge.
House Spirits Distillery Addition
They have added the house spirits distillery (Concourse C at PDX), cardholders and accompanying guests receive $28 off the final bill per person per visit. I wasn’t able to find an online menu, so I’m unsure exactly how much drinks cost. This Yelp photo states the following prices:
- $15 for a flight of 4 cocktails or $5 each
- $10 for a spirits flight
- $20 for whiskey flight (four different types) thanks to reader B
Hat tip to OMaaT
Sofitel Heathrow Club Millesime Removal
This was added last year and is located in London Heathrow’s terminal 5. Apparently it officially left the program on June 6th. People have been given a number of different reasons as to why it was removed including:
- Overcrowding
- Security concerns
- Airport staff and locals abusing the perks
Hat tip to View From The Wing
Our Verdict
Seems like Priority Pass is having more success adding restaurants and bars than they are keeping traditional airport lounges in the program. I think the restaurants/bars are better value and more interesting in terms of food and drink but one of the main reasons I visit a lounge is to get some work done and I can find that difficult in a traditional bar/restaurant. You can read our post comparing the different priority pass memberships credit cards offer by going here.
Looks like PDX has 2 new priority pass locations now. Them being Capers Market and Capers Cafe Le Bar.
I visited the House Spirits location yesterday. In addition to the above options outlined they also have a whisky flight where you get 4 different pours, that retails for $20. This is the option I ordered. You don’t get a whole lot per pour but the whisky was pretty tasty. They swiped my PP card when I ordered, the bartender brought me the glasses and when I was finished she told me I was settled up and good to go. It was a good experience and contrasted starkly with the Alaska lounge that was turning away PP members.
Thanks, added that to the post
Visited PDX Alaska Lounge with PP July 3rd and it was practically empty.
Ladies we very nice and welcoming. I’m sure it would have been different if they were full, but it was one the nicer AL experiences I’ve had.
hell yeah! PDX is my home.
Now I can get tanked at the airport before getting more tanked on the flight.
…the fruits of the churn!
in future news… all lounges limit PP Select holders to one visit per week with no guest privileges…
I mean, to me, it’s totally justifiable if they had to put even more limits to guest privileges. It’s a great perk that I’ve used myself, but it comes with too many cons and isn’t fair to other members.
I’ve been to lounges that you had to wait on line or couldn’t get into due to overcrowding. That’s really not fair to members that don’t have guests and yet you have people bringing in entire families.
It’s a simple supply and demand issue. There just isn’t enough space and now demand is so high with so many credit cards having PP. They need to devise a newer pricing strategy because this model is just unsustainable. It also sounds like they are missing out on additional revenue opportunity themselves because there are people willing to pay more (ex: charge extra for guests or peak hours). For instance, I would have totally paid more for the lounge I wanted to stay at instead of walking across the airport to find a less crowded lounge.
yes. banks need to stop giving that crap out like candy.
btw. let me translate why Sofitel Heathrow Club was removed:
– Overcrowding (the only reason)
– Security concerns (aka overcrowding)
– Airport staff and locals abusing the perks (aka overcrowding)
Priority Pass is loosing its value, too many out there.
Priority Pass was a welcome discovery on our CSP cards…. especially when we enjoyed a leisurely hour+ at the Atlanta airport lounge for breakfast and more…. an awesome experience. (truly — with all sorts of surprises, comforts & yes, room to work.) Now find myself actively scoping out which airports have which PP locations, and the various rules for each. (thanks for the .pdx tip) Will likely be a factor for me to keep CSP going forward.
welcome to the game…
btw you should look at your CC a little bit closer…