February 22, 2025 • 4 mins
Everyone loves a good airport lounge experience, but it's not always a given for every airline - even if you're a Star Alliance loyalist.
Enter Priority Pass - Megan Singleton's newest hack to experiencing airport luxury.
Megan reveals how she found out about this - and details her experiences here.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudgin
from News Talks.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
EDB and it's time to talk travel now and I'm
joined by Meghan Singleton. Good morning, Megan.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Good morning from Sunny Hawk's Bay. Ah.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Wonderful. Did you have to use a priority pass to
get there?
Speaker 3 (00:25):
No, sadly we drove. We drove late on Friday night
down for a quick weading. We hear for thirty six hours.
It's quite a long drive, but anyway, we're going to
keep back shortly. And I'm standing on the side of
a road with all sorts of traffic and cicadas. I
tried to find a quiet spot, but anyway, you know the.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Sound of summer cicadas. We accept the cicadas. Tell us
about though, this priority pass because this is a way
that people can still enjoy the lounge as they travel
around the country if you don't have Star Alliance access.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Yeah, well more around the world, so priority pass. I
came upon it a few years ago when I met
some other bloggers and poquet and they were able to
guest us in with their priority passes. So seventeen hundred
loud just around the world. So if you're not like
I'm Air New Zealand KORU. And that's great if you're
(01:12):
on an Air New Zealand ticket, but if you're not,
or you're not on a Star Alliance flight that we're
off to the US on Thursday and we're going to
be on Southwest, We're going to be flying American airlines
through the US, So I don't have any priority or
any access to lounges or those airlines. So the Priority
Pass is something you pay for annually and then and
if there's three different price points, so you need to
(01:33):
work out if it's worth it to you. But you
pay for that and then you just get a reduced
discount price to enter the lounges at each airport, so
you know, you can have a shower, or you can
have food and drinks and what have you. Some of
the airports don't necessarily have a dedicated lounge for Priority
pass users, so you can have a little spa treatment
with your membership. So I've been doing a little bit
(01:54):
of investigation about that to use Priority Pass, particularly through
the States or through Europe where you'd happily skippitying and
Air New Zealand is not in sight. It might be
worth looking out looking at some people.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Okay, so the costs start from US ninety nine dollars
and then the most expensive is US four hundred and
sixty nine dollars, so I suppose.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
It's so that's for a year, that's for your year's membership. Yeah,
so you need to go all right, well, I pay
that much because some of the lounges you can buy
a day past two. So at Auckland Airport, Priority Pass
gives you access to the Strata Lounge. But you can
actually buy that a Strata Lounge entry for I think
it's like seventy New Zealand dollars so, which is forty US.
(02:37):
So you know you'd need to be probably using it
ten or plus times a year. So it's not for everyone,
but it's perhaps some busy travelers, business travelers who are
zipping through Asia or whatever and on different airlines depending
that the company might put them on one that is
just the cheapest option and so be worth looking act
serity pass. But yeah, done some comparisons that people work
(02:59):
it out.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Yeah, really good idea. I do say that they said
a pre booky lounge though, because of course the lounde
is going to be subject to space availability exactly.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
And at Auckland Airports, Strata lounges air New Zealand's carrier,
you know, like when they get too full, they'll send
people from Korriy to the Strata lounge. So yeah, you
would need to book your spot because you might be
left sitting outside drinking a coke out of a paper
cup if you don't prebook.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Well, there's nothing wrong with that. Lots of us do that,
Megan when we travel, you know, don't spend our time
in lounges drinking champagne, drink champ Are the lounges nice?
Have you been in any of them?
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Yes? Yes, yes, well they are off. They are the
airline lounges as well. So in JFK Airport, for example,
you can use a number of lounges Luftwansa, Turkish air
Lines a bunch of them. So they are general regular
lounges that you get access to through this priority pass
and sometimes they stand alone. And you can't buy any
lounge passes in JFK for what I've read, just one
(03:58):
off like a one day use, So you do need
to be a member to access any lounges and some
of them you need to check our land side, which
you go, oh, all right, I've still got to allow
time to get through security. So there's still a lot
for people to look at. But if you haven't heard
of Priority Parts, have a look at it before your
next big trip and it might be worth that.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Ye. No, really interesting, Thank you so much. Meghan blogger
at large dot com is where you find Meghan Singleton,
and next week she's going to be joining us, probably
from afloat at the New Orleans Mardi Grass, So that's
going to be very interesting. Cross looking forward to that.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks it'd be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudgin
from News Talks.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
EDB and it's time to talk travel now and I'm
joined by Meghan Singleton. Good morning, Megan.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Good morning from Sunny Hawk's Bay. Ah.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Wonderful. Did you have to use a priority pass to
get there?
Speaker 3 (00:25):
No, sadly we drove. We drove late on Friday night
down for a quick weading. We hear for thirty six hours.
It's quite a long drive, but anyway, we're going to
keep back shortly. And I'm standing on the side of
a road with all sorts of traffic and cicadas. I
tried to find a quiet spot, but anyway, you know the.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Sound of summer cicadas. We accept the cicadas. Tell us
about though, this priority pass because this is a way
that people can still enjoy the lounge as they travel
around the country if you don't have Star Alliance access.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Yeah, well more around the world, so priority pass. I
came upon it a few years ago when I met
some other bloggers and poquet and they were able to
guest us in with their priority passes. So seventeen hundred
loud just around the world. So if you're not like
I'm Air New Zealand KORU. And that's great if you're
(01:12):
on an Air New Zealand ticket, but if you're not,
or you're not on a Star Alliance flight that we're
off to the US on Thursday and we're going to
be on Southwest, We're going to be flying American airlines
through the US, So I don't have any priority or
any access to lounges or those airlines. So the Priority
Pass is something you pay for annually and then and
if there's three different price points, so you need to
(01:33):
work out if it's worth it to you. But you
pay for that and then you just get a reduced
discount price to enter the lounges at each airport, so
you know, you can have a shower, or you can
have food and drinks and what have you. Some of
the airports don't necessarily have a dedicated lounge for Priority
pass users, so you can have a little spa treatment
with your membership. So I've been doing a little bit
(01:54):
of investigation about that to use Priority Pass, particularly through
the States or through Europe where you'd happily skippitying and
Air New Zealand is not in sight. It might be
worth looking out looking at some people.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Okay, so the costs start from US ninety nine dollars
and then the most expensive is US four hundred and
sixty nine dollars, so I suppose.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
It's so that's for a year, that's for your year's membership. Yeah,
so you need to go all right, well, I pay
that much because some of the lounges you can buy
a day past two. So at Auckland Airport, Priority Pass
gives you access to the Strata Lounge. But you can
actually buy that a Strata Lounge entry for I think
it's like seventy New Zealand dollars so, which is forty US.
(02:37):
So you know you'd need to be probably using it
ten or plus times a year. So it's not for everyone,
but it's perhaps some busy travelers, business travelers who are
zipping through Asia or whatever and on different airlines depending
that the company might put them on one that is
just the cheapest option and so be worth looking act
serity pass. But yeah, done some comparisons that people work
(02:59):
it out.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Yeah, really good idea. I do say that they said
a pre booky lounge though, because of course the lounde
is going to be subject to space availability exactly.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
And at Auckland Airports, Strata lounges air New Zealand's carrier,
you know, like when they get too full, they'll send
people from Korriy to the Strata lounge. So yeah, you
would need to book your spot because you might be
left sitting outside drinking a coke out of a paper
cup if you don't prebook.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Well, there's nothing wrong with that. Lots of us do that,
Megan when we travel, you know, don't spend our time
in lounges drinking champagne, drink champ Are the lounges nice?
Have you been in any of them?
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Yes? Yes, yes, well they are off. They are the
airline lounges as well. So in JFK Airport, for example,
you can use a number of lounges Luftwansa, Turkish air
Lines a bunch of them. So they are general regular
lounges that you get access to through this priority pass
and sometimes they stand alone. And you can't buy any
lounge passes in JFK for what I've read, just one
(03:58):
off like a one day use, So you do need
to be a member to access any lounges and some
of them you need to check our land side, which
you go, oh, all right, I've still got to allow
time to get through security. So there's still a lot
for people to look at. But if you haven't heard
of Priority Parts, have a look at it before your
next big trip and it might be worth that.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Ye. No, really interesting, Thank you so much. Meghan blogger
at large dot com is where you find Meghan Singleton,
and next week she's going to be joining us, probably
from afloat at the New Orleans Mardi Grass, So that's
going to be very interesting. Cross looking forward to that.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks it'd be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
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