Airport lounges: How Does the DragonPass Airport Lounge Program Work?

DragonPass is one of the largest airport lounge networks in the world with over 1,300 accessible lounge.

In Canada, DragonPass lounges can be found at the following airports:

• Montreal YUL
• Quebec YQB
• Toronto YYZ
• Vancouver YVR
• Winnipeg YWG
• Edmonton YEG
• Calgary YYC

For example, at Montreal-Trudeau International Airport, two airport lounge are linked to the DragonPass program:

• National Bank Lounge
• Air France/KLM lounge

There are three official levels of the DragonPass program:

• Classic $99 USD: the first visit is free, you will have to pay for your following visits and those of your guests.
• Standard Plus $219 USD: 8 visits are offered each year of membership, but you will have to pay for your guests’ access as well as any additional visits; beginning from your 9th visit.
• Prestige $399 USD: you have unlimited access to all lounges, but you will have to pay for your guests’ access.

Access to airport lounges is useful for frequent travelers who may not have status with their airline but want to be able to relax in the lounge before their flight.

In this case, it’s possible to subscribe directly to DragonPass.

However, we advise less frequent travelers to check out the free offers available with some credit cards!

Mastercard offers free DragonPass subscription to holders of World and World Elite credit cards such as the National Bank World Elite Mastercard^® or the HSBC World Elite^® Mastercard^®. However, you’ll have to pay for each entry.

The only Mastercard credit card in Canada to offer both a DragonPass subscription AND 4 free accesses per membership year is the BMO Ascend World Elite Mastercard^®*.

Eligible Visa credit cards must be enrolled through the DragonPass / Visa Airport Companion site.

Then, free visits are granted per year of membership.

For example, if you register your card on September 15, 2022, you will have until September 14, 2023 to use all your free visits. All additional visits will cost $32 USD. Then, from September 15, 2023, your free visits will reset. Please note that any unused visits do not carry over from year to year.

One free visit = one person (adult or child over 2, depending on the lounge) enters free of charge.

If the number of travellers exceeds the number of free visits on the credit card, you will have to pay for entry. For example, if the credit card offers 4 free visits and you’re a family of 5, the fifth person will cost $32 USD .

With Visa Infinite Privilege Credit Cards, such as the TD^® Aeroplan^® Visa Infinite Privilege* Card or the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege* Card, you get a free DragonPass membership as well as 6 free visits per membership year.

• BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege* Card
• ^{TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite Privilege* Card}
• CIBC Aeroplan^® Visa Infinite Privilege* Card
• CIBC Aventura^® Visa Infinite Privilege* Card
• Desjardins Odyssey^® Visa Infinite Privilege* Card
• RBC^® Avion^® Visa Infinite Privilege* Card
• RBC^® Avion^® Visa Infinite Privilege* for Private Banking
• Vancity enviro™ Visa Infinite Privilege* card

With the Scotiabank Passport™ Visa Infinite* Card, you get a free subscription to DragonPass and 6 free airport lounge visits per year.

We recommend this credit card for international travel: with this card, you will not pay any conversion fees for foreign currency transactions.

With the CIBC Aventura^® Visa Infinite* Card and CIBC Aventura^® Gold Visa* Card, you get the DragonPass membership plus 4 free annual lounge visits!

Here is a summary of the credit cards discussed in this article for access to DragonPass lounges:

Finally, don’t forget to download the DragonPass mobile app for iOS or DragonPass for Android. This will give you access to your DragonPass digital membership card with a QR code, which is very handy when traveling!

For DragonPass memberships obtained through Mastercard card, use the Mastercard Travel Experiences app with iOS or with Google Play.

You can view all the airports available to you on this Mastercard Travel Pass page.

Enter your credit card number to validate your access. Once at the airport and in the lounge linked to Mastercard Travel Experiences / DragonPass, show the person at the entrance to the airport lounge the QR code that will be displayed.

For DragonPass subscriptions obtained through a Visa card, the Visa Airport Companion app is available with iOS or with Google Play.

You can view all the airports available to you on this Visa Airport Companion page.

Enter your credit card number to validate your access. Once at the airport and in the lounge connected to Visa Airport Companion / DragonPass, show the person at the entrance to the airport lounge the QR code that will be displayed.

Airport lounge access can be redeemed for a restaurant credit associated with DragonPass, as in the Priority Pass program. However, the list of restaurants linked to DragonPass is more limited than with the Priority Pass.

Most of them are located in Beijing, Shanghai, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo (Haneda), Boston, San Francisco and New York (JFK).

While you’re waiting, you can take advantage of discounts of up to 20% off or offers from many airport restaurants.

It is always nice to spend time in a lounge rather than in the hectic atmosphere of the airport. We regularly use this advantage during our travels and you can find these experiences in some of our articles: