Several months ago, Alaska Airlines announced that the cost of an Alaska Lounge membership will be increasing in early 2025. This will be the second year in a row that Alaska increases the cost of a lounge membership, and it will be the third increase that we’ve seen since 2022.
I want to recap the details of how pricing will change, for anyone who might want to lock in a membership before the changes kick in.
In this post:
Alaska hikes lounge membership fees
As of February 12, 2025, the cost to be an Alaska Lounge member will be increasing. As of then:
- An Alaska Lounge membership will cost $595; this offers access to nine Alaska Lounge locations
- An Alaska Lounge+ membership will cost $795; this offers access to nine Alaska Lounge locations, plus roughly 90 partner lounge locations, including all American Admirals Clubs, and select Qantas Clubs and United Clubs
Once these changes kick in, there will no longer be a built-in discount for elite members. However:
- The Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® credit card (review) and Alaska Airlines Visa® Business card (review) will continue to offer a $100 discount on an Alaska Lounge+ membership if paying with the card
- With the Alaska milestone perks program, those who pass 30,000 elite qualifying miles will be able to select a $100 discount on an Alaska Lounge or Alaska Lounge+ membership as a benefit
For context, here’s how the new pricing compares to the old pricing:
- The cost of an Alaska Lounge membership is currently $450 for elites or $550 for non-elites; prior to February 2024, the cost was $400 for elites or $500 for non-elites
- The cost of an Alaska Lounge+ membership is currently $650 for elites or $750 for non-elites; prior to February 2024, the cost was $550 for elites or $650 for non-elites
As it currently stands, all elite tiers — MVP Gold 100K, MVP Gold 75K, MVP Gold, and MVP members — receive the same elite discount.
With the 2024 changes, we saw new access restrictions added, whereby Alaska Lounge members are only able to use lounges when traveling on Alaska or a partner airline (including oneworld partners and non-oneworld partners). That means Alaska Lounge members are no longer able to visit lounges when traveling on non-partner airlines.
Alaska justifies this change by explaining that the airline has been investing in new lounges, in terms of renovating and expanding existing locations and opening new ones.
My take on these Alaska Lounge fee hikes
What stings with these lounge membership cost changes is that this is the third price hike that we’re seeing in a period of roughly three years — that’s pretty rough! Even if you get a $100 discount for having a co-branded credit card, you’re looking at paying $695 per year for an Alaska Lounge+ membership (or $595 for an Alaska Lounge membership, since there’s no discount), which is on the steep side.
I’d argue that the best value for accessing American Admirals Clubs and Alaska Lounges remains the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® (review). The card has a $550 annual fee, and offers an Admirals Club membership, plus a lot more.
Alaska Lounge members and American Admirals Club members have reciprocal lounge access perks, so if you typically use Alaska Lounges when traveling with Alaska or American, this is a great option. It’s cheaper than any membership fee being charged for an Alaska Lounge or American Admirals Club membership.
Bottom line
The cost of an Alaska Lounge membership will be increasing once again as of February 12, 2025, for the third time in the past few years. Once these changes kick in, an Alaska Lounge membership will cost $595, while an Alaska Lounge+ membership will cost $795 per year. There will no longer be an automatic elite discount, though co-branded cardmembers can receive a $100 discount on an Alaska Lounge+ membership, and elite Mileage Plan members can select a $100 discount as their milestone perks selection.
I could totally make sense of the previous price changes we’ve seen, which just got Alaska in line with the competition, and largely reflected that Alaska joined the oneworld alliance. But to see another price increase so soon is pretty rough.
What do you make of these Alaska Lounge membership fee changes?
It's all subsidizing Club 49. And soon to be Club 50.
So, a serious question since I cannot remember the answer:
(1) Where does this get you access at JFK? (JFK is weird because they ditched the formal Flagship Lounge in favor of those three "joint lounges" with BA.)
(2) Are there any goofy rules about where you need to credit your flights to use the Alaska lounge membership?
Honestly, who would find value on AS lounge membership other than those in SEA. AS has done an absolutely lousy job with the number of airports it serves.
But I guess there are enough people out there who think this "good value". I travel globally and I don't find any lounge run by the US carriers as Anything good (including Soho Lounge where the menu food was very limited and unedible for lunch). I stopped going to AS Boardrooms 15 years ago.
I mean, it really depends on your travel situation. If you're connecting a lot, given airport meal prices you can come out ahead there.
This is why I gave up my Alaska+ Lounge Membership and instead got a Citi American Airlines AAdvantage Executive card. It's cheaper than a membership in either AS or AA lounges and gets me into both.
I find it so silly that US airlines don’t give you lounge access with a First class ticket. Why do you people put up with being treated like that?
Actuall Alaska does give you lounge access for paid first class (not upgraded tickets) of the flight is over 2000 miles. American gives lounge access for Flagship domestic routes in business and first class such as Transcon flights (lax/jfk/bos or sna/jfk)
Well, let's look at some global domestic markets, shall we?
In Canada or AU, a domestic J ticket is probably twice or even three times as expensive.
In Europe you have shitty Euro-biz (and equally expensive tickets).
In China you have an oppressive authoritarian government that decides when you get to travel.
So pick your poison. I choose the USA.
Given that most flights within Europe are about one hour when connecting through a hub, the “Euro-biz” is quite good overall. Often only a modest surcharge when booked in advance, it offers food and drinks on board, free checked bags and -to the topic of this article- free access to the business class lounges. These tend to be a notch above most US lounges too.
@Watson and in the U.S. the president apparently knows what happened with the terrible tragedy between a commercial airliner and a black hawk because he has common sense and in the U.S. the overturn of Roe v Wade. Everywhere has its positives and negatives.
I guess what JJ is saying is that a domestic business class ticket anywhere else will get you lounge access. I flew from Seoul to Jeju and Taipei to Kaohsiung many...
@Watson and in the U.S. the president apparently knows what happened with the terrible tragedy between a commercial airliner and a black hawk because he has common sense and in the U.S. the overturn of Roe v Wade. Everywhere has its positives and negatives.
I guess what JJ is saying is that a domestic business class ticket anywhere else will get you lounge access. I flew from Seoul to Jeju and Taipei to Kaohsiung many years ago in business or because of elite status and it got me lounge access. JJ should add why is it that Asian carriers often can offer better interiors and services when compared to U.S. airlines.
@Stanley my point was literally that everywhere has its own drawbacks, in response to JJ's incorrect assertion that Americans are being treated worse than everywhere else in the world and are somehow too dumb to realize.
Unless I'm drinking high-end wine in a world-class F lounge, I'm not generally excited to be in airport lounges. I'd prefer to arrive at the airport as close to departure as possible. Therefore I'd rather emphasize comfort on board,...
@Stanley my point was literally that everywhere has its own drawbacks, in response to JJ's incorrect assertion that Americans are being treated worse than everywhere else in the world and are somehow too dumb to realize.
Unless I'm drinking high-end wine in a world-class F lounge, I'm not generally excited to be in airport lounges. I'd prefer to arrive at the airport as close to departure as possible. Therefore I'd rather emphasize comfort on board, however mediocre the improvement may be.
(fwiw elite status gets you lounge access for domestic flights in foreign countries in most programs)
I’d say on balance, I often prefer Euro-biz to domestic US first. Sure, the seat is crappy (though US domestic first seats aren’t anything to get excited about) but pretty much everything else is better. The quality does vary depending on the European airline but all generally get you lounge access, priority checkin / security / boarding, meal with decent wine and better service then you’ll find on any US airline. Oh, and the overhead...
I’d say on balance, I often prefer Euro-biz to domestic US first. Sure, the seat is crappy (though US domestic first seats aren’t anything to get excited about) but pretty much everything else is better. The quality does vary depending on the European airline but all generally get you lounge access, priority checkin / security / boarding, meal with decent wine and better service then you’ll find on any US airline. Oh, and the overhead bins aren't filled with the crews bags so you can actually store your bags above your seat instead of having to walk down to coach to find space.
Purchased memberships tend to not make sense.
Minor correction: AF for AA Exec card is $595, not $550.
Apparently a single entry ticket is $60 , given that they have sufficient capacity. So in that case you'll need 10+ visits before the membership starts returning value. Given the state of most 'regular' lounges in the US, with tons of lines to get in, all overcrowded and usually a very limited selection of food and drinks (excluding the super exclusive lounges that Ben sometimes reviews, of course), I think the conclusion is clear: definitely...
Apparently a single entry ticket is $60 , given that they have sufficient capacity. So in that case you'll need 10+ visits before the membership starts returning value. Given the state of most 'regular' lounges in the US, with tons of lines to get in, all overcrowded and usually a very limited selection of food and drinks (excluding the super exclusive lounges that Ben sometimes reviews, of course), I think the conclusion is clear: definitely not worth it.
However, taken from their websites lounge policy, OneWorld Emerald and Sapphire elite status members other than Alaska/American members will have access to the lounge and all other requirements (like membership passes, minimum flight lengths and eligible destinations) are waived, as long as their frequent flyer number is on the reservation. To me that sounds like an incentive for frequent flyers to just fly elsewhere and use Alaskan when they've earned elite status there, or to fly Alaskan and not use their ffp but that of a competitor instead. In other words, it seems to me that Alaska is partially chasing away its own potentially most valuable customers by setting the by far toughest requirements for them... They must be really confident about their position here, otherwise they'd act more competitive. Anyway, anyone interested in checking out the requirements at Finnair Plus or Royal Club, for example? ;)
Honestly, who would find value on AS lounge membership other than those in SEA. AS has done an absolutely lousy job with the number of airports it serves.
But I guess there are enough people out there who think this "good value". I travel globally and I don't find any lounge run by the US carriers as Anything good (including Soho Lounge where the menu food was very limited and unedible for lunch). I stopped going to AS Boardrooms 15 years ago.
Everyone should just get One World Sapphire on a non-US airline and quit their complaining. Too much energy on to small of a topic. Let's move on.
Well, a lot of us /were/ doing that with BA...
I think the Alaska lounges are worth thousands a year in annual dues
They are giving it away right now and have to keep the riff raff out
Their premium high end offerings and sit down dinners with vip service and luxury seating are unsurpassed like their lie flat seats in first class
They make Emirates lounges look pitiful abroad
Why is my nose growing like Pinocchio?
Hard pass Alaska!
Plus the luxurious showers.
The firm pays for my airline club membership and whether it's $400 or $600 is immaterial when our profits per equity partner are north of $8MM.
Bottom line, I seriously doubt anything more than a handful of people are incurring out of pocket cost on Alaska memberships.
Wait you claim to make $8MM and you clients don't fly you on their jets?
You're a disgrace to the profession.
Real partners only have clients with corporate jets.
Bottom line, stop fooling around. Your school bus is waiting to take you home.
Schoolboy comments abound, it must be a boring day in the asylum for inmates and fanboys.
I'm one of the "handful" of folks incurring out of pocket costs for this.
The cost increase is rough. And makes me debate whether this is the right way forward. The AA card is not currently an option as I had it and closed it when the authorized user fees went up last year.
It's cute that you're still flying commerical for your domestic travel, though. Keep working hard, you'll make the big league some day!
Adding to the limited amenities in AS lounges, their complimentary alcohol selection is worst in the industry by a long shot. Like the stuff you keep in the cupboard below the bottom shelf. Holy next day hangover Batman! I just don't get why anyone would pay for their membership when every one of their locations (apart from ANC) has a better option.
Except for the draft beer part. The SEA N lounge's beer options are very, very good.
Maybe the reason for this cost increase is to make room for Hawaiian Airlines passengers.. HA passengers will soon get access to Alaska lounges, then it'll be even more crowded.
Alaska lounges have legit some of the worst food, while now having among the highest cost for a lounge membership at this point. I don't know why anyone would renew at this point.
UA/AA have credit cards that offer lounge membership at a much lower cost, while offering other decent perks. I'm pretty sure the paid memberships only exist to prop up the value of their co-branded credit cards.
Maybe Alaska saw Delta destroy their...
Alaska lounges have legit some of the worst food, while now having among the highest cost for a lounge membership at this point. I don't know why anyone would renew at this point.
UA/AA have credit cards that offer lounge membership at a much lower cost, while offering other decent perks. I'm pretty sure the paid memberships only exist to prop up the value of their co-branded credit cards.
Maybe Alaska saw Delta destroy their lounge access via Amex and saw an opportunity to squeeze their customers for more.
Their tasty mac & cheese is legit.
Alaska has the lamest lounges in the industry. No showers, no hot food, limited food spread, not worth it.
When's the last time you were in an AL? They have had hot food in them for several years now.
By hot food you mean oatmeal for breakfast and two kinds of soup for lunch and dinner. That is all the hot food their lounges serve, even the flagship one in SEA.
Wow, are you serious? No showers nor hot food? And they have the least amount of lounges compared to AA, UA & DL and now the most expensive price, No thanks