How to get into an airport lounge without a fancy credit card

• Premium travel credit cards and first-class tickets are the most reliable ways to get into an airport lounge.
• Lounge overcrowding has made it harder for travelers without premium access to get in.
• Some airlines and independent lounges sell day passes, but availability is often limited due to capacity constraints.

It’s easier than ever to get into an airport lounge – for some travelers. 

As lounges become more popular and more travelers vie for a spot in one of their comfy chairs, lounge operators have to do more to control the flow. That means if you’re not a big spender with a fancy credit card or premium airline ticket, you may not be able to secure a slot behind the frosted glass doors. 

“The good news is there are more of them, and there are still relatively easy ways to get into them, assuming you’re willing to spend money either on a lounge membership or a premium travel credit card that can get you in,” Kyle Potter, editor of Thrifty Traveler, a travel and flight deal website, told USA TODAY. “The problem is: there is not – nor will there ever be – enough lounge space for the amount of people who want to spend their time at the airport inside of these spaces.” 

What are the best ways to access an airport lounge? 

Travel-focused credit cards and premium airline tickets on long-haul routes are the most reliable methods of gaining lounge access. 

“Easily the most popular one and really, not just the main culprit, arguably the only culprit for lounge overcrowding, are premium travel credit cards,” Potter said. 

Cards like the American Express Platinum, the Chase Sapphire Reserve and the Capital One Venture X have all grown in popularity in recent years according to Potter, and lounge access is one of their main selling points for many travelers. 

Most airlines also give passengers with business- or first-class tickets on long-haul flights access to a lounge, though you should check with your carrier on the specific policies. 

Many airlines with large lounge networks also offer an annual membership to their lounges for sale, or as a perk for top-tier frequent flyers.  

Potter warned that could be pricey. He said an annual lounge membership can cost more than the high annual fees on premium credit cards, but lounge memberships typically come with fewer restrictions than credit card access. 

Can you get into a lounge without a premium credit card? 

The popularity of premium credit cards has pushed out other travelers from the lounges, according to Potter. While some airlines like American and United bothsell day passes to some of their lounges on paper, the availability can be limited, especially on peak travel days. 

The same goes for facilities like Escape Lounges, which may cut off access, add a waitlist or stop selling day passes based on real-time crowd conditions. Escape Lounges recommend prebooking to avoid being denied access due to capacity constraints on the day of travel. 

“There are more cardholders getting into these lounges than they have square footage to accommodate. When they’re at capacity, they all unilaterally basically make the same decision, which is we’re restricting this to cardmembers only,” Potter said. 

American Airlines sells a day pass to its Admirals Clubs for $79. Passengers must have a same-day ticket on an American Airlines flight, and the company notes that “clubs that are currently closed, under construction or where space is limited,” can be excluded. 

United Airlines, which sells day passes to its United Clubs for $59, similarly warns that passengers can only purchase a pass for entry within three hours of their departure, and that “access is subject to space availability.” 

Many premium credit cards provide lounge access by including a Priority Pass membership as a perk. For those who don’t want to pay the whole annual fee for a premium credit card, or pay as you go by buying a day pass or premium cabin airline ticket, you can also purchase an annual Priority Pass membership individually. 

Subscriptions to the company’s global lounge network start at $99 per year. 

How can you decide if a premium credit card is worth it? 

You have to run the numbers for yourself to determine if the high cost of a premium credit card is worth it to access an airport lounge once or twice a year. 

“There are certainly tradeoffs there. If you’re planning to travel twice a year, is it worth paying $900 for a credit card that gets you into lounges? Probably not,” Potter said. “It just comes down to a really utilitarian calculation: am I going to be able to visit these lounges often enough in order to offset the cost I’m paying to get in?”

This story was updated to refresh headlines.

Zach Wichter is a travel reporter and writes the Cruising Altitude column for USA TODAY. He is based in New York, and you can reach him at [email protected].