Why it’s getting even harder to get into airport lounges now

Airplane tickets are getting cheaper, but it’s getting more expensive to bring your family to an airport lounge.

Capital One is the latest company to limit access to booming airport lounges to combat overcrowding.

Starting Feb. 1, Venture X and Venture X Business cardholders will no longer be able to automatically take a guest into lounges or bring authorized second card users.

They will instead have to pay $125 annually for each additional cardholder to keep their lounge access, $45 per adult guest per visit and $25 per guest 17 or younger. The $125 fee also includes second cardholder access to a network of Priority Pass lounges.

“As airport lounges continue to grow in popularity across the industry, we’ve seen our customers increasingly encounter wait times to enter them,” Capital One said in a statement. “It is important to us that we maintain a great airport lounge experience for our Venture X and Venture X Business customers, while continuing to deliver best-in-class premium travel cards at an accessible price point.”

Primary cardholders will have to spend at least $75,000 per calendar year to bring up to two complimentary free guests to Capital One lounges and one guest to Capital One Landings, smaller lounges built for travelers who tend to spend less time at the airport, like those heading to short flights.

The $75,000 spending requirement for complimentary guests matches what American Express announced two years ago, also a measure to minimize crowding and keeping the clubs feeling exclusive.

Credit card companies have ramped up their airport lounge networks in recent years, opening new locations to handle demand. And airport lounge access has been a central perk attached to rewards cards, which generally come with an annual fee.

The Venture X card, which launched in 2021, is $395 a year, less than the $695 a year American Express charges for its Platinum card or the $550 JPMorgan Chase charges for the Chase Sapphire Reserve, both of which come with airport lounges.

“When it comes to lounges, Capital One is a challenger brand; they’re an underdog,” said Henry Harteveldt, founder of Atmosphere Research Group.

Capital One has lounges at Denver International Airport, Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport and Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas. It plans to open one this year at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and one of its Landings at LaGuardia Airport.

But the new restrictions show Capital One isn’t immune to its popularity leading to big crowds.

“Like Amex, like Chase, these lounges have become victims of their own success,” Harteveldt said. “No lounge operator wants them to be as overrun as the public areas of the airport.”

Airlines have also raised prices to access airport lounges and built larger ones to accommodate the influx.

Delta Air Lines, for example, has made sweeping changes to its lounge access policies, like getting rid of unlimited visits in favor of annual caps.

And last summer, Delta unveiled its first Delta One lounge, dedicated for customers in its highest class of cabin. It plans to open a new one in Seattle later this month.

American Airlines and United Airlines have also expanded their airport lounges and opened new top-tier ones for customers traveling in premium classes on long-haul flights.