LoungeBuddy Alternatives: Where to Buy Lounge Passes Now

LoungeBuddy is gone. The app and website that many travelers used to look up lounges and buy an airport lounge day pass closed in January 2025, after American Express wound the service down. If you relied on it, you still have straightforward ways to book one-time lounge access without a membership. This guide explains what happened to LoungeBuddy and where to book lounge passes now.

What happened to LoungeBuddy?

LoungeBuddy started as an independent app for finding airport lounges and buying single visits. American Express announced it was buying the company in 2018, and over the following years the service became closely tied to Amex cardholders. The shutdown happened in stages:

• July 1, 2024: the LoungeBuddy iOS app stopped working, and bookings moved to the website.
• January 13, 2025: the last day to buy passes. The Amex Green Card's annual LoungeBuddy credit ended on the same date.
• January 30, 2025: the LoungeBuddy website and all its services were discontinued.

Search results for "LoungeBuddy" still show old pages and reviews, but there is no longer a LoungeBuddy service to book with.

The simplest LoungeBuddy alternative: book single visits on LoungEasy

LoungEasy does what most travelers used LoungeBuddy for: you search for your departure airport, compare the lounges that sell access to passengers of any airline and book a pass for the one you want. There is no membership and no card requirement, and the price per person is shown before you pay. You can browse all 1,285 lounges at 662 airports or start with a few popular US options:

• New York JFK: the Primeclass Lounge in Terminal 1, one of several JFK lounges you can book
• San Francisco: the Golden Gate Lounge in International Terminal A, first left after the TSA checkpoint
• Sacramento: the Escape Lounge at Sacramento International, on level 2

Passes are non-refundable unless they are marked as refundable when you buy them. LoungEasy guarantees that the lounge will accept you during its opening hours: if a lounge refuses entry even though your pass is valid, you are refunded to your original payment method once the refusal is confirmed with the operator.

What to look for in a LoungeBuddy replacement

Whichever way you book, a good replacement should make four things easy:

• Coverage where you fly. Check that the airports you use most have lounges you can book. LoungEasy lists lounges in 129 countries, from UK regional airports to long-haul hubs such as Dubai and Doha.
• A clear price per person. You should see the total for your group before you pay, not at the lounge desk.
• Clear rules on refunds. Know whether your pass is refundable and what happens if the lounge refuses entry. On LoungEasy, a refundable pass may be offered at checkout, and a valid pass that is refused at the lounge is refunded once the refusal is confirmed.
• Help when you need it. Travel rarely goes exactly to plan, so check how to reach support. LoungEasy can be contacted by email and WhatsApp.

If you used LoungeBuddy with an Amex card

Many LoungeBuddy users were American Express cardholders. With the service gone, check what your card includes today: some premium cards come with their own lounge network or partner lounges. In the US, for example, the Platinum Card from American Express includes access to the Escape Lounges network at its US locations. When your card doesn't cover the lounge in your terminal, a single-visit pass fills the gap.

Other ways to replace LoungeBuddy

• A lounge membership: programs such as Priority Pass and DragonPass can make sense if you use lounges many times a year. Count your likely visits before paying an annual fee.
• Your ticket or status: business-class tickets and top-tier airline status often include lounge access with that airline and its partners.
• Single visits when you need them: if you fly a few times a year, booking a pass per trip keeps things simple.

If price was the reason you used LoungeBuddy, our guide to airport lounge deals covers the practical ways to keep the cost down.

How to find a lounge at your airport now

LoungeBuddy's most useful feature was its lounge search. To do the same now:

1. Look up your departure airport on LoungEasy and check which lounges are in your terminal.
2. Check whether each lounge is airside or landside, and whether it serves domestic or international departures.
3. Compare opening hours, amenities and the price per person, then book the lounge that fits your flight time.