National Bank YUL Lounge

Airport lounges: How does the DragonPass airport lounge program work?

To the point Here's how the DragonPass program works, allowing access to airport lounges with your credit card .

How does the DragonPass program work?

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

In Canada, DragonPass lounge are present at the airport of :

  • 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:

DragonPass membership levels

There are 3 official levels of the DragonPass program:

  • Classic $99 USD: the first visit is free and then you have to pay for each of your 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 for the 9th visit.
  • Prestige $399 USD: you have unlimited access to all lounge, but you will have to pay for your guests’ access.
DragonPass Membership

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

It is therefore possible to subscribe directly to DragonPass.

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

The membership offered to DragonPass by credit card

DragonPass and Mastercard Credit Cards

Mastercard offers free DragonPass subscription to holders of World and World Elite credit cards such as the National Bank’s World Elite Mastercard® or the HSBC World EliteMD MastercardMD. However, you 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®*.

DragonPass and Visa Credit Cards

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 your free visits to zero. All additional visits cost $32 USD. Then, from September 15, 2023, you will again find your free visits. Please note that visits do not carry over from year to year, if you have any left.

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

If the number of free visits on the credit card exceeds the number of people, you have to pay. So if the credit card gives 4 free visits and you’re a family of 5, the fifth person will cost $32 USD .

Visa Infinite Privilege Credit Cards

With Visa Infinite Privilege Credit Cards, such as the TDMD Visa Infinite Privilege* Card AéroplanMD or the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege* Card, you get free DragonPass membership as well as 6 free visits per membership year.

Scotiabank Passport™ Visa Infinite* Card

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

This is a credit card that we recommend you to have if you travel internationally: with this card, you will not pay any conversion fees for foreign currency transactions.

CIBC Aventura Cards

With the CIBC AventuraMD Visa Infinite* Card and CIBC AventuraMD Gold Visa* Card, you get DragonPass membership plus 4 free annual lounge accesses!

DragonPass Code QR

Summary

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

Number of annual visits Annual fee Comments
Scotiabank Passport™ Visa Infinite* Card 6 $139 The annual fee may be free for the first year, during a promotion

CIBC Aventura® Visa Infinite* Card

CIBC Aventura® Gold Visa* Card

4

$139

$139

The annual fee may be free for the first year, during a promotion
TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite Privilege* Credit Card 6 $599 Also offers unlimited access to select Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounges
BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege* Card 6 $499 Add an authorized user ($99) and they will also get six free visits

Mobile application

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!

DragonPass App

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

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

Access to airport restaurants with DragonPass

In addition, 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 much less extensive than Priority Pass.

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

In the meantime, you can take advantage of discounts of up to 20% or offers at many airport restaurants.

Bottom Line

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:

Come to discuss that topic in our Facebook Group!
Jean-Maximilien
Jean-Maximilien is an expert in Canada and France about Loyalty programs, Credit cards and Travel. He is the Founding President of Milesopedia.

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