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Gone are the lounge days…restaurant credits are the way to go. One of the benefits of holding a credit card that offers the Priority Pass as a benefit is using it at restaurants around the world for a full meal. In the past year I’ve gotten at least a couple hundred in benefit by using my Priority to enjoy $28 worth of free food at their membership restaurants around the world. My most recent visit was at the uber busy SFO airport, Terminal 3 at Yankee Pier. They even pro-actively asked me when my boarding time was so they could get my meal to me quickly.
Which credit cards offer a free Priority Pass?
Here’s a few:
Most of the cards listed below offer the membership with 2 guests.
- Citi Prestige
- Chase Sapphire Reserve
- American Express Platinum
- American Express Business Platinum
- American Express Hilton Honors Aspire
- American Express Hilton Honors Ascend ( 10 visits no guests )
- American Express Starwood Preferred Guest Luxury Card
- US Bank Altitude Reserve
Yankee Pier SFO Terminal 3, near gate 72
The Yankee Pier is a full service, sit down or at the bar, restaurant. When I visited, it was PACKED with Priority Pass members. How did I know? All the tables around me asked about the $28 per person benefit afforded them by the membership.
The Menu
My Meal: Tofu Scramble w/o tofu
The meal was delicious. Service was great, and if you’re transiting, whether it be domestically or internationally, it’s worth a visit.
TIP, TIP, TIP – I couldn’t stress this more. This is an incredible benefit, and if a tip isn’t included, please leave cash.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred is a great starter card that earns Premium Ultimate Rewards that can be transferred into over a dozen partners many of which are US based.
Welcome Offer
60k Points after $4k spend in 3 months
80k offer in branch currently – I think this should be online soon
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
Super solid welcome offer.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex℠and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash , Ink Business Unlimited you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
- 3x on dining
- including eligible delivery services for takeout
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards – Chase Travel Portal
- $50 Annual Credit on hotel stays purchased via Ultimate Rewards/Chase Travel
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred® continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel Portal and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including primary rental car insurance, purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 13 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in the Chase Travel center for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Primary rental car coverage is my favorite
There is currently an 80k offer after $4k spend in 3 months available in branch, and up to 90k after $6k spend in 6 months. I suspect some version of this will be online soon if you don’t want the hassle of going into a branch.
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 60k is a very, very good offer. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back. .
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
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