For many of us, the dream of complimentary airport lounge access was one of the main reasons we got into the world of points and miles in the first place.

Complimentary Priority Pass Select membership is a perk offered by multiple premium travel credit cards which makes that dream a reality.

However, there’s much more to Priority Pass membership than just its 1,400+ global lounges.

With a wallet full of credit cards, it's best practice to commonly assess your credit card portfolio to ensure that the benefits you receive from the cards outweigh the annual fees that you pay. If not, it's time to close that card or cards in most cases.

Priority Pass recently added the Turkish Airlines Lounge at Washington Dulles (IAD) to its network.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve®, Citi Prestige, and all American Express Platinum cards offer free Priority Pass Select membership, emphasis on "Select."

Last month I got this email from a vexed reader:
So here is my experience with the highly touted Chase SAPPHIRE Reserve card and its Select Priority Pass allegedly good for getting into 500+ airport lounges.

Newark Airport, Oct. 13, 2016, flying United Airlines Newark to Geneva: "Sorry, don't take the Priority Pass card in THIS (United) lounge.

Priority Pass--the free lounge access you get with many premium credit cards--has a rule: no card, no lounge access.

Credit card links have been removed from posts and added to the menu bar at the top of every page of MileValue under the heading Top Travel Credit Cards.

There's a way around that: you can turn your phone into your membership card in just a few steps.

Download the Priority Pass app.

2. Open the menu and click Log In.

3.

In May, I visited the Sala VIP Pau Casals at Barcelona Airport. In August, I visited the very similar Sala VIP Miro. Here's what you can expect from these Priority Pass lounges that you can enter for free with a Chase Sapphire Reserve®, Citi Prestige, or American Express Platinum Card.

The Sala VIP Pau Casals is available to passengers flying within the Schengen Area, and the Sala VIP Miro is after passport control for passengers leaving the Schengen Area.

Both offer a comfortable place to sit, free wifi, enough food for a meal, and free alcohol.

Priority Pass is the world's largest independent lounge access program, and now has 900+ member lounges in 400+ cities in 120+ countries.

I fly into and out of some pretty obscure airports worldwide, and I almost always have access to a Priority Pass lounge as I wait for my flight, usually with some good options for free food and drink, comfortable seating, and free wifi.

You can get Priority Pass membership for free and get lounge access for yourself and two guests for free no matter what airline you're flying by getting the Citi Prestige® Card.
How Priority Pass Works

Almost every time I fly, I get free lounge access one of three ways:

International Business and First Class passengers get lounge access throughout the journey, and I fly a lot of international premium cabin awards.
Most airports have one or more lounges affiliated with Priority Pass.