When you think of lounges, you might immediately think about airlines. Or if you’ve been around the miles and points world for a minute, you may have heard of things like Priority Pass or Plaza Premium.
But what about… credit card-specific lounges? 👀
This is becoming increasingly popular in the lounge space, and these credit card-specific lounges tend to be the gold standard for lounges.
Let’s talk about a little blue gem of a lounge brand: The Chase Sapphire Lounges.
What is a Sapphire Lounge?
Courtesy of Chase Sapphire Lounges
To start with the obvious, these are airport lounges owned by Chase bank. The interesting thing here is that these lounges were opened in partnership with The Club—we’ll get to why that’s interesting in a bit so hold that thought.
Sapphire Lounges are chic and modern in their design, truly a gem amidst airport chaos. Each lounge space is designed uniquely to the area with standout features, like the terrace at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.
Outside of a luxurious interior, you can expect to find complimentary food and beverages. They also boast rest and wellness areas to stay cool, calm, and collected during a travel day.
Sapphire Lounge locations
There are currently (drumroll, please…….) a few Sapphire Lounges + a bonus area 🤔 open. But more are coming (with a very exciting launch date of: coming soon).
Currently open:
Boston (BOS)
Hong Kong (HKG)
New York City (JFK)
New York City (LGA)
Austin-Bergstorm International Airport: The Chase Sapphire Terrace, which is different than the traditional lounge. It’s an indoor-outdoor space (more outdoor) with grab and go food. This space is only accessible by showing your Sapphire Reserve Card.
Coming Soon:
Las Vegas International Airport
Philadelphia International Airport
Phoenix International Airport
San Diego International Airport
How do I access a Sapphire Lounge?
Surprisingly, there are a handful of ways to get into these beautiful lounges.
The first and most obvious is by holding one of our favorite little blue gems of a card, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® card. Holders of the (now discontinued) Ritz Carlton card by Chase also receive complimentary access.
Remember that fact I told you to hang on to earlier? The interesting thing here is that these lounges were opened in partnership with The Club… 🤔
Any other Priority Pass members receive one complimentary Sapphire Lounge visit per year. Meaning if you have a card like the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card or the Platinum Card® from American Express (Rates & Fees), you can join the Sapphire Lounge fun!
After you use your one pass, you can also purchase a day pass at a “discounted” price of $75 if you just cannot live without an airport shower that day.
*The Austin Chase Terrace is an exception to this. Only Sapphire card holders are allowed access here.
While the main priority of the new Sapphire Lounges is to ensure that Sapphire Reserve members have access to the lounges, I think it’s pretty sweet that you can also access a bank-specific lounge as a cardholder of another bank!
If you don’t have any of these cards, you can buy your way in at the price tag of $100. A tad steep, in my humble opinion 😬
💡Pro tip: In order to enter the day of your travel, make sure you register your Priority Pass membership no matter what card you hold! You will need to show proof of membership along with a same day boarding pass.
Things to know
If you’re a Sapphire Reserve card holder, on top of unlimited complimentary visits, you are also able to bring in two guests per visit, free of charge 🤗
If you are a Ritz Carlton card holder, on top of unlimited complimentary visits, you are also able to bring in unlimited guests free of charge per visit!
Have another one of our favorite little blue gems? (e.g. the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card) Unfortunately, there is no access for holders of this card, nor is there any discount.
If Chase is looking for some random gal on the internet’s opinion on this, I think they should throw in a day pass for these card holders… But I don’t see that happening anytime soon.
However, if you want to upgrade your Preferred to a Reserve, you can do so by calling the number on the back of your card.
Keep in mind you will not receive a welcome offer for an upgrade. The Sapphire cards also have a 1/48 rule on receiving a welcome offer. This means it must be 48 months since receiving your last Sapphire welcome offer before you’re able to receive another.
Additionally, these lounges are pre-departure only meaning you cannot enter on arrival.
Prior to departure, they do have a rule similar to other bank lounges: It must be no more than three hours before your departure to gain entry.
However, you can enter on a long layover with no time limit. So if your layover is more than three hours (pending lounge availability) you should be able to get in 👌
Bottom Line
Although all of the locations aren’t open yet, I think the Sapphire Lounges will become some of the top ranked lounges out there! Between the amazing decor, delicious eats, and unique location amenities, it’s a traveler’s haven.
The addition of these lounges only boosts the value of the Sapphire Reserve card that also comes with tons of other valuable travel perks and benefits.
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