Update 8/1/19: This restriction is now in place. Remember not to use your American Express Priority Pass membership for these non lounge options otherwise you will be charged.
Update 7/11/19: Priority Pass now has a F.A.Q for these changes. Originally some people took this to mean it was being extended to Chase, Citi & U.S. Bank but we can confirm this is not the case and this will only be affecting American Express cardholders. It also looks like the early enforcement being mentioned below is not correct and shouldn’t have happened.
Update 7/7/19: Reader @matt_crumb was denied use of American Express Priority Pass at Timberline DEN, returned at access denied message for two different cards. I suspect this is just a temp issue and will be fixed given that we were previously told the August 1st end date. Would be nice to hear from other readers, has anybody use Timberline DEN recently?
Update 6/18/19: Keen eyed reader – – has noticed that the American Express app is already no longer showing the restaurant options, even though they are still accessible until August 1st, 2019. Just a word of warning for anybody that relies on the American Express app to double check, as a restaurant option might be available. Again, these restaurant options are still available until August 1st.
Original Post: Earlier today we reported that American Express cardholders in Hong Kong with Priority Pass access would lose access to non-lounge options. American Express has now confirmed that U.S. cardholders will also lose access starting from August 1st, 2019. Non-lounge airport experiences are defined as restaurants, cafes and bars where a food/beverage credit is offered instead of entrance into a traditional airport lounge.
This is huge news and a very big devaluation. Fingers crossed that other card issuers that offer Priority Pass do not follow suit. If Chase and other card issuers do keep access to these non-lounge options then American Express could lose it’s status as the best card for lounge access (as American Express also provides access to Centurion lounges) depending on your home airport. We will need to update our priority pass comparison tables to take into account this new change. I wonder if American Express is planning something else with the acquisition of LoungeBuddy as well?
