A Lounge Key and Priority Pass lounge for Istanbul airport

To the point Istanbul Airport has a new lounge accessible to Lounge Key and Priority Pass members! Find out about credit cards to access them.

Istanbul Airport IGA Lounge in Istanbul Credit cards offering Priority Pass Credit Cards offering Lounge Key access

Conclusion

Istanbul Airport

Istanbul’s new airport was inaugurated earlier this year. I recently had the opportunity to transit through this airport while travelling in business class on Turkish Airlines between Istanbul and Kuala Lumpur.

Because I was travelling in business class, I had access to Turkish Airlines lounges:

Turkish Airlines Business Lounge IST 43 — Turkish Airlines Business Lounge - Istanbul

However, passengers with access to Lounge Key and Priority Pass lounges had no option in Istanbul (IST) until now.

Check out our travel hacking strategy to get free access to airport lounges!

IGA Lounge in Istanbul

From now on, Lounge Key and Priority Pass members will be able to access the IGA Lounge.

This lounge was previously only available to passengers of specific airlines.

This lounge has a very large area (nearly 50,000 sq ft (4,645.15 m²)) and features:

An all-you-can-eat buffet
Showers
A children’s playroom
A pool table
Business center

Conditions

Priority Pass members can stay in that lounge for 3 hours.

Children under the age of 2 are admitted free of charge.

Check out our travel hacking strategy to get free access to airport lounges!

Credit cards offering Priority Pass

There are several credit cards offering Priority Pass memberships. However, the difference will be on the number of free passes included each year in addition to the subscription.

CIBC Aventura cards for example, offer four free annual passes.

At this annual fee level, the card with the most passes to airport lounges is the Scotiabank Passport™ Visa Infinite* card! With that card, you will get six free annual passes to Priority Pass airport lounges.

In addition, this card currently offers a great welcome bonus. And it’s one of the few cards that doesn’t charge any conversion fees for foreign currency transactions.

If you want more lounge passes, Scotiabank Platinum American Express^® Card offers ten free accesses to Priority Pass airport lounges each year.

This card currently offers a welcome bonus of 30,000 points and you can earn:

4 points per Dollar in Gas Station
4 points per Dollar in Grocery stores
4 points per Dollar in Restaurants
4 Points per Dollar in Entertainment

But if you’re a frequent flyer, it’s best to head to one of these cards offering free unlimited access to Priority Pass airport lounges!

the Platinum Card^® from American Express: Unlimited access for the cardholder AND a guest
Business Platinum Card^® from American Express: Unlimited access for the cardholder AND a guest

Our choice is the Platinum Card^® from American Express, which includes:

A 200 $ annual travel credit
Unlimited access to many airport lounges (Priority Pass, Centurion…)
3 Membership Rewards points per dollar in restaurants
2 Membership Rewards points per dollar for travel
Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite Status
Hilton Honors Gold Status

Credit Cards offering Lounge Key access

Lounge Key is an airport lounge program owned by Mastercard.

Most World Elite Level Mastercard cards therefore offer a Lounge Key membership. However, like Priority Pass, the difference will be the number of free passes you get per year.

For example, cards such as the HSBC World Elite^® Mastercard^® or theBMO^® CashBack^® World Elite^®* Mastercard^®* card offer a Lounge Key membership. But access to the lounges has to be paid.

So it’s better to get these cards instead: