In the interest of full disclosure, OMAAT earns a referral bonus for anyone that’s approved through some of the below links. Citi is an advertising partner of OMAAT. These are the best publicly available offers (terms apply) that we have found for each product or service. Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of the bank, credit card issuer, airline, hotel chain, or product manufacturer/service provider, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. Please check out our advertiser policy for further details about our partners, and thanks for your support!

I wanted to learn how to get to the Alaska Lounges. Alaska isn't one of the "big three" US airlines, but it still has a robust lounge network.

Alaska Airlines is the only major US airline that allows all first class passengers into its lounges. Alaska Lounge access is one of many ways to access the carrier's lounges.

Alaska Airlines Lounge locations

Alaska Airlines has a relatively small network of lounges compared to the other airlines. Alaska Airlines has lounges at several airports. There are Alaska lounges.

  • Anchorage (ANC), Concourse C
  • Los Angeles (LAX), Terminal 6
  • New York (JFK), Terminal 7
  • Portland (PDX), Concourse B and Concourse C
  • San Francisco (SFO), Terminal 2
  • Seattle (SEA), Concourse C, Concourse D, and the North Satellite

New and larger lounges are coming to both Portland and Seattle as Alaska Airlines expands its lounge capacity.

Alaska Lounge San Francisco (SFO)

Portland and Seattle have two and three Alaska Lounges, respectively, but all of the above airports have one.

How to access Alaska Lounges

There are a lot of different ways to get into the Alaska Lounges. First class tickets, a membership, a day pass, a priority pass, and oneworld elite status are some of the ways you can access Alaska Lounges.

Buy a first class ticket (with cash or miles)

Alaska Airlines is the only US airline that gives all passengers lounge access.

This applies to passengers who pay with cash or miles in fare classes C, D, E, J, and I, but excludes passengers who have upgraded. A codeshare flight on American Airlines wouldn't qualify because it's operated by Alaska Airlines.

If you have a first class ticket, you can't bring any guests with you.

Paying for an Alaska first class ticket gets you lounge access

Buy an Alaska Lounge membership

Alaska Airlines has different lounge membership plans at different prices. You can get access to just Alaska Lounges with an Alaska lounge membership.

  • $450 annually for Mileage Plan non-elite members
  • $350 annually for Mileage Plan MVP, MVP Gold, MVP Gold 75K, and MVP Gold 100K members

You can get access to Alaska Lounges, American Admirals Clubs, Qantas Clubs, and United Clubs with an Alaska Lounge+membership.

  • $600 annually for Mileage Plan non-elite members
  • $500 annually for Mileage Plan MVP, MVP Gold, MVP Gold 75K, and MVP Gold 100K members
Alaska Lounge membership types & costs

No matter which option you choose, it's still a membership.

  • You can access Alaska Lounges regardless of which airline you’re flying (American, Delta, and United, all only let members access their lounges when flying that airline or select partners the same day)
  • Alaska Lounge members can bring two guests or immediate family members (partners and children under 21) with them into Alaska Lounges

Buy an Admirals Club membership (with miles or cash)

You can purchase an American Airlines Admirals Club membership if you want to. Alaska Lounges can be accessed when you fly either Alaska or American.

The cash cost to join the Admirals Club is shown here.

American Admirals Club membership cost in cash

There is a cost to purchase an Admirals Club membership.

American Admirals Club membership cost in miles

You can bring two guests with you if you have an admirals club membership.

Get the Citi AAdvantage Executive Card

It's similar to the point about getting an admirals club membership.

The best credit card to get Alaska Lounge access is the Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard.

The card has an annual fee of $450 and allows the primary cardmember to access Alaska Lounges.

The icing on the cake is that those with the card can add up to 10 authorized users at no cost and each of them will get access to the Admirals Club when flying American Airlines. The authorized user and two guests don't have to be flying with the primary cardmember

The authorized user benefit only applies to the primary cardmember.

Buy a day pass for $60

The Alaska Lounge day pass can be purchased for $60. Due to crowding issues, these can only be purchased in Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco. You can't visit multiple lounges the same day with the passes because they're only valid for the lounges at which they're purchased.

You can purchase a day pass directly at some Alaska Lounges

Free passes as an MVP Gold 75K & 100K member

Four Alaska Lounge day passes are given to the members of Alaska Airlines. Every year, these are deposited into members' Mileage Plan accounts and can be shared with friends and family.

Give them a voucher code if you share them with other people.

Have a Priority Pass membership

Alaska Airlines and Priority Pass seem to have differing opinions on certain things. Some Alaska Lounges are included in the 1,300+ lounges that a Priority Pass membership provides access to.

Only the JFK location of the Alaska Lounge is currently a priority pass location. If you find that there are capacity controls, don't take this as a sure bet.

Priority Pass memberships are included with some of the most popular credit cards in the US.

2 guests, plus authorized users $0 per authorized user Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit CardCapital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card 2 guests, plus authorized users $75 per authorized user Chase Sapphire Reserve®Chase Sapphire Reserve® 2 guests, plus authorized users $175 For Up To 3 People, $175 For Each Additional (Rates & Fees) The Platinum Card® from American ExpressThe Platinum Card® from American Express 2 guests, plus authorized users $300 per authorized user (Rates & Fees) The Business Platinum Card® from American ExpressThe Business Platinum Card® from American Express 2 guests No authorized user access Hilton Honors American Express Aspire CardHilton Honors American Express Aspire Card 2 guests No authorized user access Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® CardMarriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card

Have oneworld Sapphire or Emerald status

There is a new way to get to Alaska Lounges based on oneworld status.

  • Those with oneworld Sapphire or Emerald status in any program other than Alaska Mileage Plan or American AAdvantage can access Alaska Lounges when flying any oneworld flight the same day, even if it’s domestic
  • Those with oneworld Sapphire or Emerald status in the Alaska Mileage Plan or American AAdvantage program can access Alaska Lounges when flying any oneworld flight the same day that includes travel outside of North America

When flying exclusively within the United States, a oneworld Emerald member through British Airways Executive Club can access the Alaska Lounges, while a oneworld Emerald member through Alaska Mileage Plan can't.

Oneworld members can bring a guest into the lounge.

Those with status in a oneworld program can access Alaska Lounges

Fly oneworld long haul first or business class

You can get into Alaska Lounges if you have oneworld elite status and a oneworld long haul ticket. Alaska Lounges can be accessed at your gateway airport or at a connecting airport if you travel on a oneworld premium cabin ticket.

Alaska Lounges can be used if you are flying from Seattle to London or New York to London.

A oneworld premium cabin ticket gets you access to Alaska Lounges

Have (non-oneworld) partner elite status

When flying with Alaska Airlines, select partner elite members can access the lounge. This is a niche outside of oneworld. It's for example:

  • Hainan Airlines Fortune Wings Platinum & Gold members can access Alaska Lounges when flying Alaska same day
  • Icelandair Saga Club Gold members can access Alaska Lounges when flying Alaska same day
Select partner elite members can access Alaska Lounges

Be an active duty military member

Military personnel who are on orders can get a complimentary Alaska Lounge day pass. To fly on an Alaska Airlines flight within three hours, you need to be able to verify your active status, provide orders, and be booked.

There are many ways to get into the Alaska Lounges, from a paid first class ticket, to a lounge membership, to having partner airline elite status.

First class passengers lounge access is offered by Alaska. The airline has among the most reasonable membership costs for lounges, as well as allowing people to access lounges on other airlines.

Everything you need to know about Alaska Lounge access can be found in the above. Let me know if I didn't see anything.

The rates and fees can be found in the links. The Platinum Card from American Express has rates and fees.

exp-player-logo