Tag Archives: Priority Pass

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Keep, Cancel or Convert? American Express Business Platinum Charge Card ($595 Annual Fee)

Good afternoon everyone.  As part of my “Keep, Cancel or Convert?” series, I like to evaluate and reevaluate credit (and charge) cards to make sure they still deserve a spot in my wallet.  Last month, the $595 annual fee posted on my American Express Business Platinum Charge Card.  I have read a few recent blog posts about whether to keep or cancel the AMEX Platinum Card (from Frequent Miler and Your Mileage May Vary), so I wanted to share my view on this card.

First things first, I added my brother as an authorized user so he could access the Centurion Lounges, Escape Lounges, and Priority Pass Lounges (no more restaurants).  He used the card a few times, but he decided that the $300 annual fee was not worth it to him.  My statement closed on December 2, I called AMEX on December 2 or 3, and said I would like to downgrade my brother’s AMEX Business Platinum to a no annual fee AMEX Business Green (which comes with no perks, other than the $100 Global Entry credit).  AMEX processed the downgrade request right away, but did not provide a full refund (I was charged $1.64 for those 2 days).  Seems kind of petty to me, but let’s see if I decided to keep, cancel, or convert my AMEX Business Platinum.

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Why Did I Upgrade my Chase Marriott Bonvoy to JPMorgan Chase Ritz Carlton?

Good morning everyone.  With last week’s news about the demise of the City National Bank CNB Crystal Visa Infinite Credit Card, I needed to find a replacement credit card that offered the $100 Visa Infinite Discount Air Benefit.  With this benefit, you get $100 off roundtrip, domestic flights for 2 or more passengers on select airlines (excludes low cost airlines).  This benefit can be used an unlimited amount of times.  I used to have this benefit when I had the JPMorgan Chase Ritz Carlton Visa Infinite Credit Card, but I downgraded to the Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Visa Signature Credit Card a few years ago.  The good news is that the JPMorgan Chase Ritz Carlton Visa Infinite Credit Card is still available, but only as an upgrade option from the Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Visa Signature Credit Card.

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$100 off 2 roundtrip domestic tickets with the Visa Infinite Discount Air Benefit

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American Express Hilton Honors Business Credit Card Spend Trackers, Referrals & Benefits

Good morning everyone, happy first day of August!  I hope you are not sick of American Express Hilton Honors Business Credit Card posts, since I have 1 more post for you today.  As a refresher, I shared how I got this credit card in my Mini July App-O-Rama and shared the Welcome Letter & Card Art.  In today’s post, I am going to show you the spend trackers (yes, there are 2 spend trackers!), the referral program (and how to get a better offer), and show you all the benefits of this credit card.  Let’s start with the spend trackers.  When you sign into your American Express online account and go to your American Express Hilton Honors Business Credit Card, click the View Weekend Night Rewards link.

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Priority Pass Restaurant Review: The Pasta House & Schlafly Beer at St. Louis Airport (STL)

I’ve been traveling internationally for the past couple of months while Priority Pass was busy adding restaurants to their lounge network, but I finally had a chance to visit one of their new partner restaurants on my way back to Colorado after the holidays! Flights were much cheaper flying through St. Louis than directly from Detroit to Denver, and with a three hour layover, I was pretty confident that I would have enough time to visit The Pasta House and Schlafly Beer at St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL) even with a winter flight delay.

For those with a Priority Pass card, included with a number of premium credit cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve, a visit to partner lounges is free and restaurants offer up to $56 off your meal and drinks (if you bring a guest; solo travelers only get $28 off).

Since this was my first Priority Pass restaurant visit, I don’t have much to compare it to other than Priority Pass lounges, and let me tell you – I would rather go to a restaurant any day! My boyfriend and I were both able to order off of a fairly large list of food options and he got red wine while I drank a local brew. Between the two of us, we ordered a salad and pasta. Neither were anything to write home about, but were better than most domestic U.S. lounge offerings I’ve seen.

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Intro to Priority Pass Lounge Access

The Priority Pass program has been getting a lot of good press lately due to their expansion of both their lounges and airport restaurants. A fellow traveler recently asked me about the lounges and how to get access to them. I was boarding a plane so didn’t have time to explain it, so I sent them to our website to read up on the Priority Pass program. Well, the next email I got from them was rather surprising. There wasn’t anything recent on TWG for them to read about Priority Pass (Grant did write about using the Priority Pass app back in October 2015).  So here’s one for you, fellow traveler, and I’m sorry I sent you on a wild goose chase.

What Is Priority Pass?

Priority Pass is a program with more than one thousand airport lounges all over the world. More often than not, people pay a yearly membership fee for unlimited Priority Pass lounge access. But there are credit cards that come with free Priority Pass lounge access as one of their benefits.

And this benefit can be tricky because depending on which credit card you have, the rules and benefits are different. Costs (if not free) vary as do the number of guests you can bring into the lounge with you.

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