A couple weeks ago, Mastercard announced that they will be switching their airport lounge access provider from LoungeKey to DragonPass and now Visa is partnering with Dragon Pass as well.
Beginning July 1, Visa will switch its business class airport lounge membership program from Priority Pass to DragonPass, which will give Canadian Visa cardholders access to the Plaza Premium Lounge for the first time since Priority Pass and LoungeKey lost access in 2021.
Now, exactly a year to the day that they lost access on July 1, 2021, Visa will be getting it back on July 1, 2022, thanks to Its newly announced partnership with DragonPass. Also, as a result of its departure from Priority Pass, Visa Canada’s new airport lounge program will be called Travel Companion (powered by DragonPass) starting on Canada Day as well.
With the switch, Canadian Visa cardholders will have access to over 1,200 airport lounges worldwide, including 20 in Canada. To gain access on July 1, all Canadians have to do is download the Visa Travel Companion app or visit the Visa Travel Companion website.
The reason for this change has to do with the fact that when Plaza Premium Lounge abandoned their partnership with Priority Pass in favour of DragonPass, they left a big hole in airport lounge access for Canadian cardholders.
This is due to the fact that the majority of airport lounges available in big Canadian cities, like Toronto and Vancouver, are Plaza Premium Lounges. Adding insult to injury, These cities have the most population when it comes to cardholders who have access to airport lounges, so both Visa and MasterCard had to do something to make Canadian cardholders happy and this switch does that.
So with your access to Plaza Premium Lounges restored, after a year of going without them, let’s remind you what you actually get with a Plaza Premium Lounge.
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What do Visa cardholders get in a Plaza Premium Lounge?
Though the amenities in plaza premium lounges vary depending on your location, generally, what you can expect to find is the following perks:
- food (including vegetarian options),
- alcoholic beverages,
- free telephone and WiFi access,
- charging stations,
- TV channels, and
- on-demand flight information, all in a very regal and upscale environment.
And when we say “upscale environment”, we are not messing around. Many plaza premium lounges look like the lobby of a five-star hotel when you walk in.
These lounges are available in several Canadian cities, including the following:
- Vancouver,
- Toronto,
- Montreal,
- Winnipeg, and
- Edmonton.
Visa cards that include access to a Plaza Premium Lounge
If you have an eligible Visa card, including some Gold, some Visa Infinite, and all Visa infinite Privilege cards, you will have free access to the Visa Travel Companion program (normally an airport lounge access program like this would come with an annual membership fee).
Visa also does better than Mastercard when it comes to offering members more free airport lounge passes per year because there are more credit cards under their label that have free passes.
These include the
Even though there are these Visa cards which offer a free annual membership to the Visa Travel Companion Program and certain of them offer a certain number of free access passes every year, ordinarily you do still have to pay to walk into an airport lounge, even if it’s a Plaza Premium Lounge. Sure, it’s a discounted rate of US$32 (the same rate Mastercards with airport access give their cardholders), but it’s still a fee nonetheless.
The best Visa cards with access to a Plaza Premium Lounge
Now that you know what you’re getting in a Plaza Premium Lounge and which Visa cards do offer access to these lounges, what are the best cards that you should go with that include them?
RBC Avion Visa Infinite Privilege
×1 Award winner 
The first card to recommend is the
The value continues while earning points because you can earn 1.25 points per $1 spent on all purchases and you can convert your points into miles at a ratio of 1:1 in 3 airline loyalty programs – British Airways Avios, American Airlines AAdvantage, and Asia Miles.
Once your points are converted into miles, they go even further. You can then access all the other partner airlines in the OneWorld Alliance. Plus, twice a year, you’ll be privy to a promo that RBC runs where you get 30% to 50% more miles if you transfer them to RBC’s Avios program, which means your miles value goes up even further.
If you redeem your points for flights directly, you can exploit this card’s maximum point value of $2.33 if you redeem for short haul flights priced up to $350 for 15,000 points, which is a 2.92% return on spending.
Finally, there’s 12 types of insurance, which complement the rewards you’re already getting. The only drawbacks would be the $399 and the fact that you need a household income of $200,000 or more in order to even sniff at this card, so only a select few can even put this card in their wallet.
Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card
GC: $100
$100 GeniusCash + Up to 45k bonus Scene+ points in year 1 + 6 free airport lounge passes.*
If you’re looking for a card that also offers 6 free airport lounge visits a year, has a much more palatable annual fee of $150, and cuts the
It also helps if you’re a fan of the movies or dine out a lot because the points you get with this card all come in the form of Scene+ Points.
Here’s how the rewards fully breakdown:
- 3 Scene+ points per $1 spent at Sobeys, Safeway, FreshCo and more
- 2 Scene+ points per $1 spent on groceries, restaurants, entertainment, and daily transit
- 1 Scene+ point per $1 on all other purchases
Other unique benefits include a 35,000 welcome bonus points, along with the added bonus that if you spend $40,000 per year on your card, you’ll receive 10,000 bonus Scene+ points. Furthermore, for each $10,000 above the $40,000 you spend in a year, you earn an additional 2,000 bonus Scene+ Points.
All of these points can be redeemed for merchandise, gift cards, travel, statement credits, or converted into Scene+ Points.
But even if you aren’t that interested in collecting or redeeming Scene+ Points, this card is one of the few in Canada that doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees on international purchases. There’s also 11 types of insurance, including rare emergency medical travel insurance for those over the age of 65.
Your turn
Are you excited about the news that Visa is switching from Priority Pass to DragonPass? Were you one of those people who missed access to a Plaza Premium Lounge and are happy for their return? Do you think you’ll take advantage either way?
Let us know in the comments below.
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