Here's How You Can Get Free Airport Lounge Passes

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Mastercard has just launched a promotion rewarding eligible card holders with 2 free lounge passes when flights are delayed. The marketing initiative is called Mastercard Flight Delay Pass.

Whilst the promotion is intended for those who purchased a ticket with their Mastercard, in reality this won’t be enforceable by Mastercard. Essentially allowing anyone with the following cards to take advantage of the promotion: Qantas Cash, Cash Passport, Bankwest Mastercard World, Commonwealth Bank Diamond Awards Mastercard, 28 Degrees Card, Coles No Annual Fee Mastercard Platinum, Coles Prepaid Reloadable Platinum MasterCard

The promo pages states that: Should you encounter a delay lasting 2 hours or more, Mastercard Flight Delay Pass grants you complimentary access to over 850 airport lounges in more than 100 countries. You can find participating lounges here:

https://loungefinder.loungekey.com/Pass

Things to keep in mind:

Maximum 2 registrations per card until November 15, 2018. This means every flight you register for, even if not delayed, counts toward your total tally.
The lounge pass will be texted to you with PDF attached in an MMS
Should you change your mind, you may deregister your flight up to 6 hours ahead of its scheduled departure. This cancelled registration will be reinstated to your entitlement.
Should you change your mind, you may deregister your flight up to 6 hours ahead of its scheduled departure. This cancelled registration will be reinstated to your entitlement
This exclusive service is complimentary for World and World Elite Mastercard® Credit, Debit and Commercial card holders, and you are entitled to register for up to 2 flights before 15 November 2018. In addition, you may invite up to 3 guests also travelling on the same flight — friends, family or business associates — to join you in the lounge.

How to take advantage?

In Australia we have it pretty good and flight delays aren’t as common as they might be in different countries. Since there’s no way for Mastercard to know which flight you’ll be on, you could look at other flights around the world that are delayed or have a higher chance of being delayed. According to certain websites, Jakarta International Airport is the worst globally when it comes to delays. https://www.jakartaairportonline.com/flight-status-arrivals-departures/

Keep in mind you need to register the flight number no later than 6h before the scheduled departure. Essentially you have to gamble on which flight will be delayed…

To increase your chances, look for weather events around the world that are likely to impact airports and cause delays. The promotional website doesn’t state how long the passes will be valid for, we can assume it’s for the day of departure.

Is it worth the hassle?

Personally I have unlimited Priority Pass (lounges are the same as Lounge Key) and Virgin Australia lounge access thanks to the Amex Platinum Charge card so I won’t be testing my luck. If you’re flying economy with no lounge access thanks to status or credit cards on the other hand…5 minutes of your time could be worth the it.

For more info you can check out the registration page here: https://flightdelaypass.mastercard.com

Tip of the hat to Neil from OzBargain

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William Finn

Hi Immanuel,
Following up on your suggestion that you ought to register for a different flight at an airport more likely to experience delays. I assume your implying that the lounge invite texted to us will be a one time use code for any Lounge Key establishment? I assumed we’d just receive a code for one lounge in the terminal where our flight departs?

Author

Immanuel

Hi William, correct. It’s my assumption the lounge pass send out will be valid for any of the Lounge Key network lounges. The reason I think this is the case is because some airports have multiple lounges or multiple dining option available, it would be to difficult to issue a specific lounge pass.

Jase Rodley

Do you have to book the flight with the card to use this? Or does simply having the card in your possession allow you to get entry?

Hi Jase, simply having the card would make you eligible. They’ve recently updated the terms to allow for unlimited use (not just 2) so I will update this post soon to reflect these (positive) changes. Cheers

Karen

Perhaps the rules have changed since you wrote your article, but the Terms of Use say that a valid boarding pass is required – “Lounge access shall be processed using visual authentication. Each Customer who wishes to enter a Lounge must show their valid pass, a valid boarding pass and personal identification.” You need to update your article to remove the section about taking advantage, because it won’t work.

I was assuming that the boarding pass would need to match the flight you register. Does it not matter?

Hi Karen, I just realised I was replying to a different article!! Duhhh my bad. Ignore what I said; for some reason my comment system was showing this under the Amex Platinum card post which offers lounge access benefits.

So the article just talks about the registration part. If your flight does end up being delayed then yes, you would need to show your boarding pass etc at the lounge to gain access (provided you got issued a lounge pass). https://flightdelaypass.mastercard.com/termsAndConditions

But the Flight Delay Pass Terms and Conditions say you have to register your flight, no later than six hours prior to the flight’s scheduled departure. Conditions 2 & 3 are all about registration.

Here’s how you can get free lounge access

Things to keep in mind:

How to take advantage?

Is it worth the hassle?