Lounges are no longer for everyone: new rules on supplementary cards and guests

A premium credit card, with the primary cardholder, a supplementary cardholder and a travelling friend all walking into an airport lounge together: that picture is fading from the terms of several issuers. As of October 2026, supplementary cards are losing eligibility, free guest places are being cut, and some memberships already have an end date.

According to the Australian points website Pointhacks, from 1 October 2026 only primary cardholders of the American Express Australia Platinum card keep Priority Pass. In the United States, Capital One has since 1 February 2026 stopped most Venture X cardholders from bringing guests free. In Hong Kong, the Priority Pass terms for the CCB (Asia) Visa Infinite card state that from 1 January 2027 cardholders can no longer use that membership to enter airport lounges.

American Express Australia: supplementary cards out, guest places halved

A Pointhacks report published on 31 March 2026 and updated on 2 April says that from 1 October 2026, supplementary and employee card members on the Australian Platinum card will lose Priority Pass eligibility entirely. Only primary card members keep it.

Guests are affected too. According to the same report, free guest places on the Platinum and Platinum Business cards fall from two to one. At Plaza Premium lounges the allowance also drops to one from 1 October 2026, although the guest does not need to be on the same flight as the cardholder.

American Express's own Centurion Lounge tightened earlier. Pointhacks reports that from 8 July 2026 guests must travel on the same flight as the cardholder, and transit passengers can enter only within five hours before departure.

Note that the primary-card-only rule above applies to cards issued in Australia. Whether the same cards issued in New Zealand, Hong Kong or Singapore are treated the same way could not be verified by this publication as of October 2026.

Capital One: free guests become a paid extra

According to the travel magazine Afar and The Points Guy, from 1 February 2026 Capital One no longer lets most Venture X and Venture X Business cardholders bring guests into lounges for free.

Guests now pay. The fees listed by The Points Guy are US$45 per adult and US$25 per child aged 2 to 17 at Capital One lounges, with children under 2 free. At Priority Pass lounges, guests cost US$35 each.

There are exceptions. Afar reports that Venture X Business cardholders can still bring two free guests to Priority Pass lounges, but not to Capital One lounges or Landings. In addition, a cardholder who spends US$75,000 in a calendar year can bring two free guests to Capital One lounges, and one to Landings, for the rest of that year and the following year.

Authorised users also lose free lounge access. The primary cardholder can add it back for a fee; The Points Guy reports the price as US$125 a year, for up to four people.

Hong Kong: CCB (Asia) sets a spending threshold and an end date

The Priority Pass terms for the CCB (Asia) Visa Infinite card show that the scheme is available only to the primary cardholder. Lounge fees for accompanying guests, including supplementary cardholders, are charged to the credit card account at the rate Priority Pass applies at the time.

Free use also comes with conditions. From the second card year, cardholders must accumulate HK$60,000 in spending within that card year or by 31 December 2026, whichever is earlier. From 1 January 2027, cardholders will no longer be able to use that membership for Priority Pass airport lounge services.

When rereading your terms, start with these five points

As of October 2026, this publication could not find a verifiable tightening announcement from a Singapore issuer. That does not mean nothing has changed, and the issuer's latest terms always prevail. When you open your terms, check each of the following.

1. Whether supplementary cards are still covered by the lounge programme, or whether it is limited to the primary card.
2. How many free guests are allowed, and whether guests must be on the same flight as the cardholder.
3. Whether free use depends on a spending threshold, and when the measurement period starts and ends.
4. Whether the membership states an end date.
5. How guests beyond the allowance are charged, and whether the fee goes straight onto the credit card account.

Paying to get in: work out the cost first

When free places are cut, guest fees become a real cost. At the US$35 per guest Priority Pass fee cited above, taking two friends in once costs US$70. Taking two adults into a Capital One lounge costs US$90.

As for buying a Priority Pass membership yourself, or paying for single entry at lounges such as Plaza Premium, this publication could not verify current prices from official sources as of October 2026. Before weighing those options, ask the operator directly for current fees and conditions, then compare them with the card's annual fee and spending requirements.

For some cardholders, a lounge is no longer a free extra on a credit card but a choice whose cost has to be worked out. Rereading your terms before you travel can spare you from finding out at the lounge door that you must pay separately.

Prices and details correct as of October 2026

Compiled by the F50 Editorial Team from public sources, for general reference only and not professional advice. Details are correct as of the publication date and may change.