One Mile at a Time reports on an exciting development: Priority Pass holders can now access the VIPOne landside lounge at New York JFK Terminal 1 and get access to VIPOne’s “Fast Track Security Lane” service for the cardholder and guests. This terminal is served by a number of foreign carriers, including Turkish, Lufthansa, Air France, Brussels Airlines, ITA Airways, and quite a few more. I could see this benefit being quite useful for many Priority Pass cardholders.
The Deal
- VIPOne Lounge at New York JFK Terminal 1 is now available to Priority Pass cardholders and their guests (as per guest access on your chosen card). Complimentary access to their dedicated security lane service is included.
Key Terms
- Landside
- International flights only
- Maximum 3 hour stay
- Must show same-day boarding pass for entry
- Children under 2 years old are admitted for free
- Priority Pass access includes both the landside lounge and dedicated security lane service
Quick Thoughts
Apparently VIPOne has been offering paid access to its security fast track lane for some time, with packages ranging from $45 (basic access) to $200 (which includes curbside assistance as well as guidance through check-in and being escorted to the lounge / gate depending on the package purchased). I could actually see their Silver ($45) or Gold ($100) packages being appealing to certain travelers, but the exciting development here is that they now have a lounge landside and you can use Priority Pass for access to the lounge and complimentary dedicated security lane service.
The rules for entry indicate that you can have a maximum stay of 3 hours and cardholders and guests need to show a boarding pass with confirmed same-day travel to access the lounge, but that’s all fairly standard operating procedure. You’ll want to be sure to use a Priority Pass from a credit card that includes guest access if you’re traveling with others.
According to Wikipedia, Terminal 1 is served by:
- Air France
- China Eastern Airlines
- ITA Airways
- Korean Air
- Saudia
- Air China
- Air New Zealand
- Asiana Airlines
- Austrian Airlines
- Brussels Airlines
- Egyptair
- EVA Air
- Lufthansa
- Swiss International Air Lines
- TAP Air Portugal
- Turkish Airlines
- Royal Air Maroc
- Air Senegal
- Air Serbia
- Azores Airlines
- Cayman Airways
- Flair Airlines
- Neos
- Philippine Airlines
- VivaAerobús
- Volaris
The lounge is open 8am to midnight daily and is located behind counters E and F next to the TSA Check point.
I have not been to VIPOne Lounge, but pictures in the Priority Pass app look nice. Still, I would be surprised if they offer both good food and drink and access to a dedicated security lane, so I’d probably set expectations that the star of the show is a (hopefully) shorter security line. I don’t imagine that their security lane will be shorter than TSA PreCheck given the fact that more cards give access to Priority Pass than to reimbursements for those paid services, but time will tell. Hopefully it’ll make for a shorter security wait and a place to relax in a lounge before heading through security — or a shorter trip through security so you can get to the lounge you want to visit rather than spend an hour standing in line. Either way, I could see this being popular…..until it becomes too popular.
I actually have a trip in a few weeks where we are scheduled to depart from Terminal 1. We have CLEAR thanks to credits from Amex cards, but I might consider checking this lounge out in order to be able to report back on the experience and to maybe compare with the time it takes for someone else in my party to clear CLEAR. As pointed out by Azee in the comments, Terminal 1 does not have CLEAR, so we’ll definitely be testing out this lounge.
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