The 28 Degrees Mastercard has added a unique new benefit for travellers. Cardholders are now entitled to complimentary airport lounge access for themself and up to 4 guests, where available, if their flight is delayed by at least 2 hours. There is no charge; you’ll just have to register each flight at least 6 hours in advance of the scheduled departure time.
The “Flight Delay Pass” is a MasterCard initiative available for free to all 28 Degrees MasterCard cardholders. The benefit is also being offered – but not actively promoted – with various other MasterCard credit cards.
Here’s how it works…
If you’ve registered for Flight Delay Pass and your flight is delayed by at least 2 hours, you’ll automatically receive an SMS and an email. This will occur as long as the delay is picked up by third party tracking service FlightStats. You can then show either the SMS or email at the lounge entrance to gain complimentary access. When registering, you can also list up to 4 travel companions.
The Flight Delay Pass benefit is available at most Priority Pass lounges, although the list of available lounges differs slightly. There are over 1,000 locations around the world. At selected airports where no lounge is available (such as Sydney Airport), you may be entitled to a $36 food & beverage credit if there is a Priority Pass affiliated restaurant. But you won’t be able to register flights departing at airports with no available lounges, such as Canberra or Perth.
The lounges are those available to LoungeKey, which is a version of.Priority Pass. You will find lounges are the same for the most part ( although there is a handful that don’t seem to be in LoungeKey )
Even if you already have lounge access most of the time, this could still be a worthwhile benefit as you can use it when flying with any airline (even Tigerair). It’s a nice little bit of insurance if you happen to be flying on an airline prone to delays and don’t otherwise have airport lounge access.
Flight Delay Pass is another useful benefit for what is a very good credit card. The 28 Degrees MasterCard already comes with free global wifi access, no annual fee and no foreign transaction fees.
This seems like a really cool benefit and thumbs up to 28 Degrees! (This comes on top of the Boingo free wi-fi which we got earlier this year and has been a real benefit at several airports so far this year where public wi-fi has been time limited or otherwise not available unless right inside the terminal).
If you have a 28 Degrees MasterCard, you can sign up for Flight Delay Pass at no cost on the credit card’s website.
Join the discussion on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum: 28 degree adds lounges
