Chase Will Cut Priority Pass Lounge Access — and I’m For It

SOME CARD INFO MAY BE OUTDATED This page includes information about these cards, currently unavailable on NerdWallet. The information has been collected by NerdWallet and has not been provided or reviewed by the card issuer.Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club locations are about to get more exclusive.Starting Aug. 15, 2026, members of Priority Pass and the smaller lounge network LoungeKey will lose access to Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club locations. But if you have an eligible card, like the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, you still have access to the same lounge benefits. You’ll also be able to check into Chase Sapphire Lounges earlier on connecting flights for same-day layovers, a change that could be useful for some travelers.My husband carries the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, and I’m often his guest in the lounges. We’ve personally experienced lines twice — once in Phoenix and then San Diego — and complaints online indicate that lounge lines are common across the whole network.This change makes sense to me. Here's why, and what it means for your next trip.What's changing about Chase’s lounge access rulesIf you’re a Priority Pass or LoungeKey member (without an eligible Chase card)The collection of Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club locations — which span nine U.S. airports — will no longer be part of the Priority Pass and LoungeKey networks. Right now, Priority Pass and LoungeKey members get:One complimentary visit per calendar year to a Chase Sapphire Lounge, subject to availability.A $75 pay-as-you-go rate for additional visits.After Aug. 15, both of those go away.But Priority Pass and LoungeKey members will still have access to more than 1,900 other lounges and travel experiences worldwide. According to Chase, that includes up to 49 other options at the same airports where Chase lounges are pulling out — so members will still have plenty of options.If you hold a premium Chase cardIf you carry the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, Sapphire Reserve for Business℠, J.P. Morgan Reserve or The Ritz-Carlton Card, you keep unlimited complimentary access to the Chase lounges. You'll also continue to have Priority Pass access. Basically, nothing changes.Your benefits are even getting a little better. Effective Aug. 15, access to Chase Sapphire Lounges on same-day layovers will open up to five hours before a connecting flight departs, up from three hours. Originating flights still use the three-hour window. That policy is in line with what American Express offers to cardholders at Centurion Lounges.This is a good change — if you're an eligible Chase cardholder A "premium" perk stops feeling premium when it’s too crowded to actually use.I've sat on the waitlist at both the Phoenix and San Diego Chase Sapphire Lounges. At San Diego, even after getting in, there wasn't an open seat for a facial treatment, one of the lounge's signature perks.My hot take: If you're paying the $795 annual fee for the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, you shouldn't be fighting for a chair (either in the spa or in the lounge) with a Priority Pass walk-in. I feel the same way about lounge guest policies, which American Express also tightened up on back in 2023. My even hotter take (which, to be clear, many of my colleagues disagree with): If overcrowding remains an issue even after this change, I wouldn't be mad if Chase tightened guest rules next. And I say this as someone who enters as a guest on my husband’s card.The information related to the J.P. Morgan Reserve and The Ritz-Carlton™ Credit Card has been collected by NerdWallet and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of this card.How to maximize your rewards