A few years ago, Chase first dipped its toe into the model of offering a dedicated airport lounge for ultra-premium cardholders with the Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club. While not offering as robust a network as we see with Amex Centurion Lounges, Chase has nonetheless expanded its offering several times and has plans to continue to do so into the future. This post will track available locations / new Chase Sapphire lounge openings and how to access these lounges — whether or not you’re a Sapphire Reserve cardholder.
What is the Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club?
Chase offers a number of premium airport lounges where cardholders can be “treated to locally inspired menus, a curated selection of beverages and an atmosphere to remember”. Essentially, these are meant to be higher-end lounges that offer more premium food and drink than an average domestic airline lounge.
Sapphire Lounge locations feature self-serve and/or made-to-order food options, signature cocktails and comfortable seating. Once admitted, there is no additional charge for use of the amenities except for the Reserve Suites at the LGA location. In other words, food and drink is complimentary within the lounge.
The first Chase Sapphire Lounge opened to rave reviews at Boston’s Logan International Airport a few years ago and we’ve since seen the network expand to a handful of major domestic airports. We’ve even seen an international location with the Chase Sapphire Lounge Hong Kong, which the Frequent Miler team visited during our Party of Five challenge in 2023.
Chase Sapphire Lounge Locations
United States
Open
- Boston (BOS) Logan International Airport
- New York (LGA) LaGuardia International Airport
- New York (JFK) International Airport
- Austin (AUS) Bergstrom International Airport*
*Note that the AUS location is a “Sapphire Terrace” with “local beverages”, and grab-and-go food items, games, and indoor-outdoor seating only
“Coming Soon”
- Las Vegas (LAS) International Airport
- Philadelphia (PHL) International Airport
- Phoenix (PHX) Sky Harbor International Airport
- San Diego (SAN) International Airport
International
- Hong Kong (HKG) International Airport
How to access Chase Sapphire Lounge locations
There are a couple of ways to access Chase Sapphire lounges. Those with qualifying credit cards can visit again and again, but even those with a Priority Pass from another card (even from another bank) can access Sapphire Lounges at least once a year.
Qualifying cardholders
Chase Sapphire Reserve, J.P. Morgan Reserve and Ritz-Carlton Credit Card holders, whether primary cardmembers or authorized users, have Chase Sapphire lounge access by virtue of their complimentary Priority Pass membership. Note that you do need to show the Priority Pass membership that is associated with your qualifying card to gain access.
Sapphire Reserve and J.P. Morgan Reserve cardmembers may bring up to two guests per visit for free, but additional guests cost $27 for Sapphire Reserve and J.P. Morgan Reserve cardmembers. Children under two years old are welcomed free of charge in addition to your two guests.
Interestingly, Ritz-Carlton cardmembers may bring unlimited guests at no charge. It’s great to see that policy applied here given that the Priority Pass offered by the Ritz-Carlton Visa Infinite card allows for unlimited guests during lounge visits.
We’ve often said that the Ritz-Carlton card, which is no longer available to new applicants but is available as a product change from another Chase Marriott consumer card, is the best card for Priority Pass access. That’s both because of the unlimited guests and because each authorized user can get their own Priority Pass membership with unlimited guests. This is obviously the ideal card for someone looking to visit the Sapphire Lounge with a family of more than 3 people.
Anyone with a Priority Pass membership
If you don’t have one of the qualifying Chase cards but you do have a Priority Pass membership, you’re in luck: those with a Priority Pass membership from another card (perhaps from a Capital One Venture X card or U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve card, etc) can get one complimentary visit per year to a Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club. You will still need to show your Priority Pass card to gain entry to the lounge.
Note that the Chase Sapphire Lounge at Hong Kong International Airport can be accessed with Priority Pass (from any card offering membership) without the once-per-year limitation.
How to access Chase Sapphire Lounges without your physical Priority Pass card
You need to show the Priority Pass membership associated with your qualifying card to gain entry to a Chase Sapphire lounge.
However, if you are a Chase Sapphire Reserve, J.P. Morgan Reserve or Ritz-Carlton cardholder and you do not have your Priority Pass card on you, you can generate a pass in the Chase app.
Assuming you have activated your associated Priority Pass membership, you can simply log in to the Chase mobile app, go to “Benefits & Travel”, and scroll to the “Explore lounges” section. Select a Sapphire lounge location and you will be able to generate a digital membership card using the button at the bottom.
After generating my digital membership card, I was prompted to save it to my phone. I was able to add that digital Priority Pass to my Google Wallet. That may come in handy at some point if I can’t find my physical card. Interestingly, even though I have a Ritz card, my Priority Pass shows up branded with “Sapphire” on the digital card.
Bottom line
While Chase still lags behind Amex in terms of quantity of lounges, they have an edge on Capital One’s lounge network in terms of size. Keep in mind that you do not necessarily need a Sapphire Reserve card to visit a Chase Sapphire lounge location — even those without a Chase card can still access a Sapphire lounge once a year using a Priority Pass membership from any card that offers one. Still, the best card for access to a Chase Sapphire lounge is actually the Chase Ritz-Carlton card since both the primary cardholder and authorized users get Priority Pass memberships and can bring unlimited guests with them to a Sapphire Lounge location.
As future lounges open and/or are announced, we will update this post.
The post Chase Sapphire Lounges: Locations and how to access them appeared first on Frequent Miler. Frequent Miler may receive compensation from CHASE. American Express, Capital One, or other partners.