Access All the (US) Lounges with Just Two Cards

Tl;dr: You can access Amex, Priority Pass, AA, Delta, and United lounges with just the Amex Platinum and United Explorer cards.

Plenty of credit cards offer lounge access. The Venture X, for example, is one of our favorites, offering Priority Pass lounge access for a net-zero fee card. While we’ve had very good luck using our Priority Pass in most airports most of the time, sometimes there isn’t a Priority Pass lounge available.

American, Delta, and United all sell lounge memberships and AA and United even sell day passes, but if you want to get into those clubs in a pinch, you can visit them all with just two cards: the Amex Platinum and the United Explorer.

The Amex Platinum comes with Priority Pass access plus its own Amex-branded lounge network. Platinum Card holders can also access Delta lounges when flying with Delta. The Platinum Card also comes with $200 annually toward airline incidental fees. You have to pick the airline in advance, but if you choose AA, you can buy day passes to the Admiral’s Club; the $200 credit will get you three passes. The Explorer, meanwhile, comes with two United Club passes.

In sum, if you want to make sure you can hop into a lounge in a pinch without breaking the bank or investing in multiple high-fee cards for lounge access, these two cards will give you great coverage when traveling for more moderate net fees.