Factz

EXCLUSIVE

Scam Alert: Priority Pass Airport Lounges Dirty, Overrun

There are a few things we will always cherish about COVID-times. One undoubtedly was the plentiful supply of overarching, unqualified credit users that have proliferated American society thanks to inflation. Experiences that were once only available to those who could truly afford them — such as airline status and airport lounges — have been handed out to the masses as signing bonuses.

The FACTZ team travels frequently and over the course of the last year we have noticed that many airport lounges have reached a Fyre Festival level of dystopian nightmare — cheese sandwiches and all. Gone are the days of free booze, warm nuts, clean restrooms and working electrical outlets. The most egregious offender is the Priority Pass network, which comes with an American Platinum card membership.

Let’s rename this benefit “NOT Priority Pass.”

Supposedly it grants access to 1,300 lounges in 600 cities across 148 countries. That is if you can get in among the hordes of people who all apparently have memberships now.

The last handful of times we have tried to access these Priority Pass lounges across the world, we have been put on hours-long waiting lists by staff members who run their door tighter than Mila during Art Basel Miami Beach. If and when we have been granted access, inside the lounges are filthy, unkempt and far worse than public airport offerings.

The lounge furniture in San Juan, Puerto Rico airport was so stained we didn’t dare sit on it without a hazmat suit on — you guessed it, all sorts of foreign human matter. In the airport in the Bahamas, we uncovered the famed Fyre Fest cheese sandwiches, which are apparently an island delicacy. That particular lounge was serving water from a cooler and Dixie cups. And don’t even think about free alcohol — even at the new United Club Lounges at O’Hare anything better than well Chardonnay carries a two-digit price tag.

One bright note, American Express Centurion lounges, recently eliminated their guest policy to free up space in their overcrowded VIP and now they have seating exclusive to Black Card members They still serve free booze and something that resembles gourmet food.

Time to level up, team.