Priority Pass Airport Lounge Reviews
09 May, 2024
Eva Mitchell
At the beginning of 2023, we applied for the Australian AMEX Platinum Card which came with a plethora of benefits including worldwide Priority Pass Airport Lounge Access and AMEX Centurion Lounge Access. And boy have we made use of our airport lounge access over the past year!
Disclaimer: This post contains links to our preferred travel products and services. When you purchase through these links, your purchases can generate a small profit for us, without any added cost to you. This helps us to continue offering top-notch travel advice and savvy savings tips on how you can make cents of travel. Rest assured, we only share links to products and services that we personally love to use.
Chapters
Tim and I have visited 13 lounges from Perth to Madrid to Osaka as we travelled the world for an entire year. If you are a frequent traveller like us, the value and comfort you can experience from visiting Priority Pass Lounges is unbeatable. Priority pass membership is hands-down one of the best perks of signing up to the Australian AMEX platinum card.
So let’s get into it, here is our honest Priority Pass Airport Lounge reviews and our one Centurion Lounge review.
Our Two Cents Newsletter
Australia
Melbourne Centurion Lounge Review
The first lounge we experienced thanks to the Australian AMEX Platinum Card was the Melbourne Centurion Lounge. This is the only Centurion lounge we visited in the year we had the AMEX platinum card as there aren’t many Centurion lounges in Europe or Asia. Tim and I were departing Melbourne on different days which meant Tim was able to enjoy a complimentary breakfast and I indulged in a free dinner and a few glasses of wine because wine not?!
The Melbourne Centurion lounge is on the smaller side but wasn’t crowded during the times each of us visited. They had a good but limited selection of food and drinks. I liked the single booths that provided privacy for solo travellers and the staff were friendly.
Perth International Aspire Lounge Review
Our first Priority Pass lounge experience was at the International Aspire Lounge at the Perth international airport. This lounge made the best cocktails! We sipped away on our espresso martinis and negronis while looking out over the runway from our private booth. The plane we were taking was parked directly in front of the lounge which meant our boarding process was quick. There is also a cool area at the end of the lounge where you get a 180° view of the runway. The Perth Aspire Lounge was very quiet when we were there. We enjoyed a buffet dinner, the food was good but nothing to rave about.
Singapore
Singapore Lounge Review
OMG the laksa here is amazing! This laksa was our favourite airport lounge food of the year. Make sure you blanch your noodles first though because I made that mistake the first time. Oops! Singapore lounge also ended up being one of our favourite lounges overall! In addition to the laksa, there was a good selection of buffet food and alcoholic drinks available. And there were MASSAGE CHAIRS! Of course we made use of the massage chairs before our long-haul flight to Dubai.
Dubai
Dubai International Airport Lounge Reviews
In Dubai, we visited three different lounges and weren’t very impressed by any of them. We settled on Marhaba Lounge for the majority of our stopover in Dubai. We were really hoping for a lounge that offered a complimentary shower as Dubai was our halfway stop on a long-haul flight from Singapore to Europe but despite showing on the website to have showers, none of the lounges did. We also found all the lounges to be quite crowded, making it hard to find a spot.
We did eventually score some comfy seats in the Marhaba lounge and filled up on the buffet food and complimentary drinks during our visit.
One of the lounges didn’t have a bathroom, so you had to go back to the airport terminal to use the public bathrooms. Many of the power sockets weren’t working or in awkward places to access. For one of the biggest layover airports in the world, we were surprised at how bad the lounges were here.
Italy
Naples Pearl Lounge Review
Naples Pearl Lounge had a barista whipping up amazing coffees as soon as we stepped into the lounge. We only had a brief 30 minute visit at the Naples Pearl Airport Lounge which was enough time to charge our phones quickly and enjoy a cooked buffet breakfast that was absolutely delicious! There were perfectly cooked scrambled eggs, bacon, tomatoes, bread, croissants and so much more. This lounge is worth calling into!
Turkey
Istanbul domestic
The Istanbul domestic airport lounge exceeded our expectations. We thought it being a domestic lounge that it would be seen as an afterthought, but we were wrong! There was literally a masseuse in the lounge offering free ten minute massages. We visited the Istanbul domestic lounge late morning when breakfast was being served. The breakfast buffet options were just fine, however when we were leaving, the lunch food was being put out and it did look much nicer than breakfast. There was free wine, beer and non-alcoholic beverages. This lounge unfortunately didn’t have toilets in the lounge, so we did have to go into the terminal when we needed to use the bathroom.
Istanbul International Lounge
Before jetting off to Budapest, we called by the Istanbul International Lounge. After our experience with the domestic lounge, we were excited to experience the International lounge. This lounge is very spacious and like the domestic lounge, had a masseuse at the ready. The food at this lounge was tasty and there were plenty of drinks on offer.
Czech Republic
Prague Erste Premier Lounge Review
We called into the Prague Erste Premier Lounge on the way to Spain. We enjoyed a free lunch however the hot food options were limited. There was free beer and wine available and the wifi was strong. It was a nice touch in the bathrooms to offer complimentary cotton pads and buds, and a shower is available however we didn’t need to use it. Unfortunately, because we were flying with a budget airline, bag check in wasn’t open until two hours prior to the flight departure time. This meant we only had about one hour of access to the Prague Erste Premier Lounge.
Spain
Madrid International
The Madrid International lounge was one of our favourite Priority Pass airport lounges! The food here was beautifully presented, abundant and absolutely delicious! Visiting the Madrid lounge was just like a continuation of our Madrid experience. We can’t wait to visit again someday! The lounge is spacious with free Wi-fi, plenty of power plugs and Tim even indulged in a complementary massage from the lounge masseuse. If you get the opportunity to visit the Madrid lounge, I would highly recommend it!
Morocco
Marrakesh Pearl Lounge Review
The worst lounge yet! The food & drinks were bad quality and there was a very limited selection of food available. Another negative was that you had to ask the waiter for every single piece of food or drink you wanted as opposed to it being self-service like most other lounges. There were no alcoholic drinks available despite the lounge description on AMEX saying alcoholic drinks are available. This may be different if you visit later on in the day, but I cannot confirm that.
It was essentially just a comfy enough place to charge your phones and wait for the flight. I would never pay to access this lounge however because it was free for us, we were still able to fill up for breakfast before boarding our flight to the UK.
Germany
Frankfurt International Primeclass Lounge
The Frankfurt Primeclass Lounge was reasonably quiet when we arrived in the morning. There was a selection of food that was just okay. We took advantage of the standard selection of free beer and wine. If you do fancy premium alcohol, there is a bar within the lounge where you can pay for premium alcoholic beverages. Nothing too special to report about this lounge, it was reasonably standard with no extra perks.
Taiwan
Taipei Plaza Premium Lounge Review
We loved the Taipei Plaza Premium Lounge! This was the ideal layover lounge. There were free showers for us to freshen up after our 12 hour flight from Frankfurt. The food was delicious, there was a generous buffet selection and a handful of dishes you could request to be cooked on demand. We each enjoyed a cheeky wine and beer while waiting for our flight to Tokyo. The lounge was extremely spacious and even had meeting rooms that you must be able to hire out in advance.
Japan
Osaka International Lounge Review
The Osaka International Lounge was one of the busiest ones we visited. We were lucky enough to snag a couple free comfy chairs to settle in for a few hours. The food was good especially the snacks but the selection was pretty limited. The liquor selection on the other hand was very generous. There were many spirits to choose from including whiskey, ume, gin and there was a selection of wine, beer and many non-alcoholic drinks to choose from also.
The Best of Lounge Awards
Best Lounge Overall: Singapore
Best Food: Singapore closely followed by Madrid
Best coffee: Naples Lounge barista coffee
Best perks: Free Massage at the Istanbul Lounges
Best alcoholic drinks: Perth – The espresso martinis were on point!
Best Bathroom: Taipei Lounge was our stopover location, so it was ideal that they had a free shower available for us to refresh. The bathroom was well stocked with additional amenities such as a toothbrush and toothpaste, razors, body wash and more.
The Worst Lounge
Marrakesh: The limited food & drink offerings were of bad quality and there were no additional amenities available. This is an airport lounge we would never pay for!
Our Wrap Up
Prior to signing up to the AMEX Platinum Card that granted us Priority lounge access, we wanted to make sure that the substantial sign-up cost for the AMEX Platinum Card was worth it for us.
Getting access to a FREE Priority Pass Card with the American Express Platinum Card is one of the best perks. Lounge access has made our travels so much more comfortable and added that little bit of luxury when we have been travelling on a budget. But it is not the only reason to sign up to the AMEX Platinum Card. Find out more about why the AMEX Platinum Card was worth it for us and how to decide whether it makes sense for you or not!
Which airport lounge would you love to visit?
About Us
Hello, Hola, Ciao! We are Tim & Eva, a couple of kiwis who have spent the last few years saving for and planning our epic year-long adventure around the world. Our goal is to inspire fellow wanderlust souls (just like you!) to Make Cents Of Travel by sharing our experiences and strategies we used to turn our dream of long-term travel into a reality.
