Roundup
What a $795 annual fee actually buys you in lounge access
Cost-per-visit math for the Sapphire Reserve and seven rival cards, set against the day-pass prices our lounge data actually records.
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Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club
LGA · Terminal B · New York
4.8/5 overallReserve cardholders bring 2 guests free, then $27 each. Other Priority Pass members get one visit a year. Overall 4.8.
Opened 2024. Rated 4.8/5 across 14 measures. 2 showers. Eligible Chase cardholders retain complimentary lounge access and their card's guest allowance.
Get in with: Sapphire Lounge by The Club
4.7/5 overallUnlimited visits with the Reserve. Other Priority Pass members: one free visit a year, then $75 a visit. Overall 4.7.
Opened 2024. Rated 4.7/5 across 14 measures. 4 showers. Eligible Chase cardholders retain complimentary lounge access and their card's guest allowance.
Temporarily closed. Check before you go.
The Centurion Lounge
DFW · Terminal D · Dallas
4.9/5 overallPlatinum guests $50 each unless you spend $75,000 a year. No day pass. Overall 4.9.
Opened 2013. Rated 4.9/5 across 14 measures. 4 showers. Platinum and Business Platinum cardholders: guests $50 each (children 2-17 $30), or free with $75,000 annual spend.
Get in with: Centurion Lounge
Capital One Lounge
DFW · Terminal D · Dallas
4.7/5 overallVenture X guests $45; day passes sold when space allows, price not recorded. Overall 4.7.
Opened 2021. Rated 4.7/5 across 14 measures. 2 showers. Venture X and Venture X Business cardholders: guests $45 each (children $25), free with $75,000 annual spend.
Get in with: Capital One Lounge
Capital One Lounge
JFK · Terminal 4 · New York
4.7/5 overallOpen 24/7. Venture X guests $45, free with $75,000 spend. Overall 4.7.
Capital One's flagship lounge opened in the Terminal 4 retail hall on June 19, 2025. At 13,500 sq ft it is the bank's largest, and it was the first Capital One Lounge to stay open around the clock.
Get in with: Capital One Lounge
The Club LAS (E)
LAS · Terminal 3 · Las Vegas
4.8/5 overallWalk-up day pass $60, showers $20 extra, access may be limited 16:00-22:00. Overall 4.8.
Rated 4.8/5 across 14 measures. 2 showers. Priority Pass, LoungeKey and DragonPass members: guests per the card's allowance; infants under 2 free.
Get in with: DragonPass, LoungeKey, Priority Pass, The Club
The Club ATL
ATL · Concourse F · Atlanta
4.7/5 overallClub Pass day pass $50 per person, entry up to 3 hours before departure. Overall 4.7.
Opened 2013. Rated 4.7/5 across 14 measures. 2 showers. Priority Pass and LoungeKey members: entry up to 2.5 hours before departure, guests per card allowance; access may be…
Get in with: DragonPass, LoungeKey, Priority Pass, The Club
Escape Lounge
PDX · Concourse D · Portland
4.4/5 overallWalk-up from about $30-45; Priority Pass by pre-booking; Platinum free on applicable flights. Overall 4.4.
Opened 2025. Rated 4.4/5 across 15 measures. 2 showers. Open to anyone: walk-up entry from about $30-45 per person, pre-booking available.
Get in with: Escape Lounges, LoungeKey, Priority Pass
Escape Lounge
MSP · Terminal 1 · Minneapolis
4.0/5 overall$45 pre-booked or $60 at the door; Platinum free only on a Delta-marketed flight. Overall 4.0.
Opened 2015. Rated 4.0/5 across 13 measures. Amex Platinum and Delta SkyMiles Reserve cardholders: complimentary entry (guests per card terms) only when flying a…
Get in with: Escape Lounges, LoungeKey, Priority Pass
The Chase Sapphire Reserve now carries a USD 795 annual fee. That number gets quoted a lot and explained rarely. So here is the explanation, done the dull way: divide the fee by the visits you will honestly make, then compare that figure with what a lounge charges at the door. Everything below comes from our card and lounge records, and the gaps in that data are called out rather than papered over.
What the fee unlocks on paper#
Our record for the Sapphire Reserve lists three things: Priority Pass, the Sapphire Lounge by The Club network, and the Chase Sapphire Terrace. That is the whole lounge case for the card. Travel credits and points are a separate argument and not one this piece makes.
The rivals, by fee: Amex Platinum at USD 895 unlocks Priority Pass, Centurion, Plaza Premium, Escape Lounges and Delta Sky Club when flying Delta that day. Capital One Venture X at USD 395 gives Priority Pass, Capital One Lounges and Plaza Premium. Citi Strata Elite at USD 595 pairs Priority Pass with a limited number of Admirals Club passes a year. The U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve at USD 400 gives Priority Pass with limited visits. Three airline cards round it out: Delta Reserve at USD 650, United Club Infinite at USD 525 and the Citi AAdvantage Executive at USD 595, each tied to one airline's clubs.
The division, in full#
Fee divided by visits, rounded to the dollar:
- Sapphire Reserve, USD 795: 5 visits is $159 each; 10 is $80; 20 is $40; 40 is $20.
- Amex Platinum, USD 895: $179, $90, $45, $22.
- Venture X, USD 395: $79, $40, $20, $10.
- Strata Elite and AAdvantage Executive, USD 595: $119, $60, $30, $15.
- Altitude Reserve, USD 400: $80, $40, $20, $10.
- Delta Reserve, USD 650: $130, $65, $33, $16.
- United Club Infinite, USD 525: $105, $53, $26, $13.
Two notes on honesty. A card that caps visits, as the Altitude Reserve and Strata Elite records do, cannot be stretched to 40. And a guest is a separate line: at the DFW Centurion Lounge a Platinum cardholder pays $50 per adult guest unless they spend $75,000 a year. Capital One at DFW and at JFK charge Venture X holders $45 a guest on the same spend condition. The Sapphire Reserve's own lounges are more generous: LaGuardia and JFK admit up to two guests free.
What the door charges instead#
This is where the data earns its keep. Several lounges in our records publish a walk-up price, and they cluster tightly.
The Club LAS in Terminal 3 sells day passes for $60, with showers $20 extra, and the room rates 4.8 overall. The Club ATL on Concourse F charges $50. The Escape Lounge at MSP is $45 pre-booked or $60 at the door. The newer Escape Lounge at PDX runs about $30 to $45 and rates 4.4. On the airline side, the Admirals Club in DFW Terminal D sells a one-day pass for $79 or 7,900 miles, and the United Club mezzanine at Newark sells one-time passes for $59.
Then there is the odd case of Chase's own network. At the JFK Sapphire Lounge, a Priority Pass member without a Reserve card gets one free visit a year and then pays $75 a visit. At LaGuardia the same visitor pays $27 per guest. Those are the closest things to a published price for the Sapphire product itself.
The break-even, plainly#
Take $60, the most common door price above. The Sapphire Reserve's $795 fee equals just over 13 of those passes. Against the $50 ATL pass it is about 16 visits; against the $79 Admirals pass, about 10. Below that line you were better off paying at the door, assuming the lounge had space, which the ATL and LAS records both say is not guaranteed at busy times.
The Venture X clears the same hurdle at seven $60 passes. That gap is the whole reason the Venture X versus Sapphire Reserve comparison exists. The Platinum versus Reserve page is the other one worth reading, because the Platinum's extra $100 buys the Centurion network, which no day pass can.
What we could not price#
None of the standalone networks in our records list a membership fee. Priority Pass, The Club, Admirals Club, United Club, Delta Sky Club and Escape Lounges all show no annual price in the data, so there is no direct-membership column in the math above. I'd confirm current membership and guest terms with each program before you count on them. Our scoring is explained at /methodology.
Related reading#
Cite this article
“What a $795 annual fee actually buys you in lounge access.” Lounge Frog. Updated 2026-10-14. https://www.loungefrog.com/news/what-a-795-annual-fee-buys-in-lounge-access
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Quick answers
Which lounge networks get you into these lounges?
LoungeKey opens 4 of the 9; Priority Pass opens 4 of the 9; Sapphire Lounge by The Club opens 2 of the 9. Each lounge's page lists every program and card that admits you.
Built from our directory and checked to our editorial standards. Scores follow our methodology. Join the discussion below.
