There’s nothing better than starting a holiday with a little bit of luxury in an airport lounge. Fortunately, it’s easy to book one online by using a dedicated service such as Dragon Pass.
Founded in 2005, Dragon Pass is a service that enables travellers to book access to airport lounges across the globe. The company offers access to more than 1,300 airport lounges in over 700 airports across more than 140 countries. Additional benefits include dining, limousine and meet-and-greet services.
Signing up for a Dragon Pass membership also gives you exclusive discounts of up to 25% at airport restaurants around the world, and you can receive personalised recommendations on which lounges and restaurants to visit based on your preferences and current location.
Facilities within each airport lounge vary but often include refreshments, TV, complimentary internet access, showers and flight status updates. Each lounge will also have its own policy on whether it allows children into the lounge.
You can either buy single lounge passes for certain airport lounges or sign up for an annual membership. There are 3 different membership options to choose from, depending on how often you travel. Each one offers a certain number of free airport lounge visits, plus selected discounts and preferential rates on airport transfers.
Once you’ve chosen which membership you want, simply click through to buy it. You’ll need to present your membership at the airport lounge to be granted access. If you’ve used up all your free visits, you can purchase a single lounge pass or add additional visits to your membership in the app or via the website to access the lounge.
If you’re buying single lounge passes rather than a membership, you’ll need to create an account with Dragon Pass, select your chosen airport and airport lounge, select how many passes you want, enter some personal details and then click through to pay. Your pass will be accessible by clicking the order in “My order history”, and it will be valid for 90 days. If you don’t use it, you can cancel your order and get a refund.
There are 3 membership options to choose from with Dragon Pass:
All memberships also offer:
The Barclaycard Avios Plus credit card gives you access to over 1,000 airport lounges at a discounted rate of £18.50 per person, with Dragon Pass Premier +. Note that the credit card has a £20 annual fee.
You can either just turn up and show your membership at the lounge or pre-book via the app to ensure you get a space – this costs £5 per person.
You can also get access to Dragon Pass Premier + if you have a NatWest Premier Reward Black current account. To be a NatWest Reward Black customer, you will need to already have a NatWest current account and meet one of the following criteria:
There’s a £31 monthly fee for the account.
With Dragon Pass, you can access more than 1,300 airport lounges in over 700 airports across more than 140 countries.
Make sure you weigh up the pros and cons below to help you decide whether Dragon Pass is worth it.
Anyone who is happy to pay a membership fee or for a single airport lounge pass can use Dragon Pass.
If you’re not sure whether Dragon Pass is right for you, you can also buy airport lounge passes through sites such as Holiday Extras, Loungebuddy or Lounge Pass, as well as operators like No.1 Lounges. These effectively let you pay as you go, so you only buy passes when you need them – there’s no need to sign up for an annual membership.
You could also look into other packaged bank accounts or reward credit cards that offer access to airport lounges as one of their perks. The Amex Preferred Rewards Gold card, for example, offers 4 complimentary Priority Pass airport lounge visits each year.
Lounge access with Priority Pass
Dragon Pass does not score well on review site Trustpilot. It currently has a score of 1.2 out of 5 from just over 200 reviews (updated July 2023), giving it a “bad” rating.
Many reviewers have said they always get turned away from lounges or their bookings have been cancelled, while others say the customer service is poor. However, others have said they’ve had no problems using the service.
If you need to contact Dragon Pass, you can phone the customer services team on 0161 929 8844 between 9am and 5pm Monday to Thursday and between 9am and 4.30pm on Fridays. You can also email enquiries@dragonpassuk.com.
If you’re a frequent flyer, signing up for a Dragon Pass membership enables you to enjoy some peace and quiet in an airport lounge before you jet off. However, it’s crucial to consider whether you’ll make full use of your annual membership before forking out a lot of money or whether you’d be better off using a pay-as-you-go option instead. It’s also worth factoring in customer reviews and looking at some competitors before deciding.
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