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A few weeks ago I did a guest post for 
Today, I want to describe one of the great benefits it offers, which is what helped convince my wife that the credit card is actually worth it: The Priority Pass Airport Lounge. With the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, it gets you their highest tier membership. This basically means that any guests with you can enter into the club for free.
Ok, so let me walk you through how it actually happened this past Christmas. We were in Miami, Florida for Christmas break. As we prepared to fly back home where we live, I looked up the Priority Pass clubs at the Miami International Airport. They actually have four of them:
I had been told that their Corona Beach location is actually like a restaurant. You can order up to $30 worth of food per person. My plan was to arrive at the airport by 5 am for a 7:30 am flight. I figured that would give us enough time to go through the security lines, grab a quick bite, and then board the plane.
Unfortunately, the lines were quite long, so we had to go straight to the gate. I failed the first part of the mission. :(
I still had another chance to try out Priority Pass, though, because our flight had a two-hour layover in Atlanta. As soon as we arrived at the Atlanta airport, I checked the time. Perfect. The flight had been on time and we had a full two hours.
With much anticipation, we made our way to The Club at ATL.
I'm not gonna lie.
I was a little giddy. I had never been in one of those airport lounges before. I tried to play it cool as I entered, as if I had been there a million times before, but I couldn't. I was smiling and trying to stifle a giggle the entire time.
As I entered, I made my confession to the attendant: "I've never been here before. How does it work?" as I handed her my Priority pass card.
As mentioned above, when you get the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, you get a free membership into Priority Pass, which includes a Priority Pass card.
"Welcome, we're glad you're here. May I see your boarding pass, please?"
Apparently, they need to verify that you will be boarding a flight that day sometime. Makes sense.
She basically said that I have free access to anything I would like inside.
What's inside?
-Showers
-Nice wifi—You need to pay for most wifi at airports these days. But here, we'd have access to a strong signal for free.
-A full bar. I'm a pastor and I don't think alcohol, so this didn't entice me.
-Nice chairs, tables, magazines, and newspapers
But do you know the main thing I was looking for?
Food.
We hadn't had time to eat breakfast at Miami International, so this was our chance.
On the website, it just lists the Atlanta club as having "refreshments." But, it was much more than that. Depending on the time of day you arrive, they change the kind of food. We arrived around 9 am, so it was still breakfast time.
I would describe what they have as a continental breakfast. Similar to what you'd find in a nicer hotel.
They had different kinds of fruit (pineapple, blueberries, strawberries), a nice variety of oatmeals, bagels, croissants, English muffins, juices, hot drinks (coffee, lattes, hot chocolate), a variety of granolas, and a variety of different cereals. They also had different kinds of yogurts and snacks.
We each loaded up our plates and had our fill. And I have to say, the snacks they have are really nice. They have Miss Vickie's Chips, Pepperidge Farm Milano Cookies, Oreos—that sort of thing.
If you've ever eaten anything at an airport, you know that food is really expensive. You can pay $10 for a sandwich and a drink.
"Honey," I began asking my wife. "How much do you think all this food that we just ate would have cost out there?"
"Um...at least $40," she responded.
Now check this out. We normally fly twice a year as a family. And though we try to avoid it, we usually end up having to buy some food at an airport.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve card, in essence, just costs $150 per year, if you factor in the $300 travel credit they give you. Which means that by having this card and eating at one of the airport lounges, we're saving around $80 per year, and that's just in this one area.
When my wife realized how much we saved and how much we'd be saving in the future, she relented. She realized it was more than worth it.
Overall, I had a wonderful experience at this airport lounge. We took our time. Had a nice slow breakfast. Watched some tv. And then when the time came, made our way to our gate to board our flight.
You can get started and help me out in the process by using my referral link.
So what do you think? Any questions? Have you ever been in a Priority Pass lounge before? What was your experience like? Let me know in the comments below.
[image by Lisa Fotios]
