Flight deal
Priority Pass airport lounge access for £12 a visit with Groupon
If you haven't tried one, you really should. Airport lounges take much of the stress out of airports. OK, so you still have to negotiate security, but once through you can relax in the comfortable lounge chairs, eating and drinking complimentary food, and charging your phone while reading the morning paper.
A few lounges are reserved for first and business class passengers, but there are also lounge clubs, which allow you to use their airport facilities for a membership fee. Once such provider is Priority Pass. A member will enjoy:
- Access to over 1000 airport lounges worldwide regardless of the airline you fly or ticket you hold
- Drinks, refreshments and pre-flight bites including alcohol in most lounges
- Wi-Fi in most lounges
- The latest magazines and newspapers
- Power sockets
- Conference rooms, showers, beds and spa facilities in selected lounges
All sounds pretty good, eh? The normal price of lounge access ranges from £25 to £30 per visit person, but you can currently slash that fee to £12 if you take advantage of a current Groupon deal. They're offering half price Priority Pass membership. Effectively, you buy a 50% discount code from Groupon for £6, which you then use on the Priority Pass website to reduce your annual fee by 50%. Still with me?
Groupon are offering three options:
- Option 1: £6 for a 50% discount on Standard Membership - £15 per person per visit
- Option 2: £6 for a 50% discount on Standard Membership with the first visit included then £15 per person per visit
- Option 3: £6 for a 25% discount on Standard Plus Membership with 10 visits included (guests £15 per visit)
Both Groupon and Priority Pass are terrible at explaining exactly what Option 2 will cost you. It seems that you'll need to buy the discount code before you can see what you're going to be charged for membership. That's pretty poor, so I'm ignoring it as an option!
Let's take a look at what the other two choices will cost you:
- Option 1: £69 annual fee - 50% Groupon discount + £6 Groupon fee = £40.50
- Option 3: £159 annual fee - 25% Groupon discount + £6 Groupon fee = £125.25
With option 1, if you used the lounge five times, the cost per visit would be £23 (because 5 x £15 visits = £75, plus the £40.50 membership fee). Ten visits would bring the cost per visit down to £19.05. Not great value.
Option 2 is better. Your 10 included visits will cost you £12.52 each. That's five flights per year, outbound and inbound journeys, where you can enjoy the lounge. It's worth remembering that guests still need to pay £15 per visit.
The deal is a mixed bag, and certainly only worth it for more frequent flyers. In addition, Priority Pass membership is increasingly seen bundled with credit card or business banking membership, which might prove a more cost effective route.
Important: Prices are correct at the time of publishing, however they are subject to change at any time depending on availability. Some promotional prices will be strictly limited by tour operators or airlines. Special terms and conditions may apply.
