Ritz-Carlton Card Lounge Access: What Do I Get?

The Ritz-Carlton Rewards credit card is one of the top premium credit cards. It offers a $300 travel credit, Club level upgrades, a Global Entry credit, and a $100 discount on roundtrip flights. But until recently when the Hilton Aspire came out, it was also one of the only premium hotel credit cards that offered lounge access. But what exactly do you get with Ritz-Carlton card lounge access? 

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Ritz-Carlton Card Lounge Access

The Ritz-Carlton Card offers unlimited Priority Pass access to Priority Pass lounges, which number over 1,000 all around the world. An annual membership for these lounges would cost $399 and wouldn’t even come with guest access (you’d have to pay $27). Thus, there’s a lot of value potential with the Ritz-Carlton credit card.

Guest lounge access with the Ritz-Carlton Card

The official terms and conditions state the following:

Certain terms, conditions and exclusions apply. Priority Pass^™ Select membership includes access to airport lounges participating in the Priority Pass Select network. Participating lounges are owned and operated by independent third parties and their participation and/or facilities may change. To access a lounge, member must show his/her valid Priority Pass Select membership card. Priority Pass Select membership is subject to the Priority Pass Select Terms and Conditions. The Ritz-Carlton Rewards^® is not responsible for offer fulfillment or the provision of or a failure to provide the stated benefits and services. For complete Priority Pass Select Terms and Conditions and a listing of participating lounges, please visit www.prioritypass.com/selectOpens Overlay.

These terms aren’t very helpful when it comes to understanding guest access, though.

However, if you call the number on the back your Ritz-Carlton credit card and ask them about the lounge access, they’ll tell you that you can bring in all guests flying with you subjection to the discretion of the Priority Pass lounge. This is the same type of lounge access that the Sapphire Reserve offers.

This means that you can bring multiple guests and/or your family with you into the lounge. But note that this is subject to the discretion of the lounge. Some lounges have special restrictions on guests and some lounges limit access to all Priority Pass members at certain times of the day. Thus, you might want to do some research ahead of time to ensure that all of your guests will be allowed in.

Remember to call in to activate your Priority Pass

You’ll need to call in to get your Priority Pass membership benefit — it does not automatically activate upon credit card approval. 

Lounge Club?

Note that the Ritz-Carlton card used to offer a different type of lounge membership known as “Lounge Club.” This changed when the Ritz-Carlton card was transitioned from a Visa Signature Card into a Visa Infinite Card (this was a positive change). So if you come across information regarding Lounge Club and the Ritz-Carlton card, the information may not be up to date.

Final word

Ritz-Carlton card lounge access allows you unlimited visits to Priority Pass lounges for free and allows you to bring in as many guests as you are traveling with, subject to the discretion of the lounge. If you’re thinking about applying for this card, remember to check out the latest Chase application rule.