Amex Platinum's Priority Pass cap from 2028How visits and guests are counted, what extra visits may cost, and whether £30,000 of spending is worth it

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Nothing changes in 2026 or 2027. But the spending that decides your 2028 access starts counting on 1 January 2027, so it is worth checking now whether the cap affects you.

What we'd check first: your own Priority Pass visit history, counting every guest. Most solo travellers will stay under 20. Couples who share one card, people who connect through hubs, and anyone who lends a Supplementary card to a son or daughter are the ones likely to pay. For most of them, a free Supplementary card and choosing uncapped lounges will save more than chasing £30,000 of spend. The spend route only makes sense if that much of your normal spending already goes on Amex. If Amex's final terms say guests don't count, most couples won't need to do anything.

What exactly changes, card by card

The cap covers only one part of Platinum's lounge benefit: Priority Pass, the independent lounge network you enter with a Priority Pass membership card or app. Amex's terms say the change applies "only... to Main and Supplementary Platinum Cardmembers with Cards issued in the UK and do not apply to Business Platinum Cardmembers", and that "access to all other lounges within the Global Lounge Collection remains unlimited" (Amex UK terms).

Three details from that table matter most:

• Calendar year, not card year. Platinum's allowance and the £30,000 count both reset on 1 January, whenever your card renews. Gold's four visits run by "membership year" instead (Gold lounge terms).
• The threshold is per account, the allowance is per person. The £30,000 is "eligible spend on your Platinum Account", so a Supplementary card's spending should count towards it. The 20 and 10 visits belong to each named cardmember and can't be pooled into one membership.
• What counts as spend. Amex's public page only says "eligible spend". According to Smart With Points' summary of the cardholder email, interest, the annual fee, other fees and cash-equivalent transactions are excluded, and refunds are deducted (Smart With Points). Treat this as reported until Amex publishes full terms.

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How visits are counted when you bring a guest

Today (2026 and 2027, published rules): the Main and each Platinum Supplementary cardholder can bring one guest into a Priority Pass lounge free. Each additional guest costs £24, charged to the cardmember (Priority Pass Amex UK pre-book page, checked 13 Nov 2026; Amex's own terms call this "the prevailing rate").

From 2028 (as reported, not yet in Amex terms): Amex told Head for Points and Smart With Points that the free guest still gets in but uses one of your visits. So you and a partner walking into one lounge together would use two visits. Once the allowance runs out, each person would pay the guest rate, which Amex described as "currently £24". That matches today's extra-guest fee, but Amex hasn't fixed the 2028 rate.

Assuming one Priority Pass lounge stop in each direction of a return trip, and that guests count (as reported), here is how far the free visits go:

The couple row works because the two memberships are separate. Each of you shows your own Priority Pass, so each entry costs your own allowance one visit. Only when the Supplementary's 10 run out does the partner go in as a guest, which (as reported) costs the Main card two visits per lounge.

Connections multiply this. A London–Bangkok return via Doha with a lounge at Heathrow, Doha (both ways) and Bangkok is four lounge stops, or eight visits for a couple if guests count.

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The lounges that don't count towards the cap

Amex lets you into several lounge networks by showing your Platinum card at the desk instead of Priority Pass. These are your main way round the cap, because they don't use a Priority Pass visit:

See also: every way into a Heathrow lounge without a business class ticket.

Two practical points. First, at a Plaza Premium lounge that is also in Priority Pass, hand over your Amex card, not your Priority Pass card. Head for Points makes the same point (Head for Points). If the desk scans your Priority Pass by habit, you may lose a visit. Second, the Centurion "same flight" rule means a friend on a different flight can't use your free guest place there.

Worked examples: what the cap could cost in 2028

All three examples are hypothetical. They use Amex's published allowances, one Priority Pass lounge at each stop, and two reported details that aren't in Amex's terms yet: guests count as visits, and over-cap visits cost £24 per person (the rate Amex gave as "currently £24"). If either changes, so do the totals.

Example A: a couple taking five trips a year, partner on one card

Four short European returns (2 lounge stops × 2 people × 4 trips = 16 visits) plus one long-haul return with a connection each way (4 stops × 2 people = 8 visits) = 24 visits, if guests count.

• Main card only: 24 − 20 = 4 over, so 4 × £24 = £96 a year (reported rate).
• Add the free first Platinum Supplementary card for the partner. The partner enters on their own card 10 times. On the other 2 stops they go in as the Main cardmember's guest, so the Main card uses 12 + 2 = 14 of its 20. Cost: £0.
• Or fly out from Heathrow T5 and use Plaza Premium on the four short trips. That moves 8 visits off Priority Pass, leaving 16 on the Main card. Cost: £0.

Example B: a frequent couple who already have a Supplementary card

Eight short returns (8 × 4 = 32) plus three long-haul connecting returns (3 × 8 = 24) = 56 visits against an allowance of 20 + 10 = 30, if guests count.

• No changes: 26 over, so 26 × £24 = £624 (reported rate).
• Use Plaza Premium or Centurion on 8 of the 11 UK departures: 16 visits fewer, so 40 − 30 = 10 over, or £240.
• Put £30,000 of eligible spend through the Platinum account in 2027: £0 in 2028. On Platinum's standard 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 (Amex), that spend earns 30,000 points.

Example C: a solo traveller with 15 returns a year

30 visits − 20 = 10 over, so £240 a year at the reported £24. (No guest assumption here.) Paying for Priority Pass Prestige separately (£419 a year, unlimited member visits; Priority Pass, checked 13 Nov 2026) would cost more. Plaza Premium or Centurion on outbound flights from Heathrow or Gatwick could cut the bill to zero.

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Is £30,000 of spending worth it?

£30,000 a year is £2,500 a month on one American Express account. Do the sum with your own numbers:

Worth chasing if: (visits you'd go over × the over-cap rate, reported as £24) is more than (points you'd give up by moving spend from your current card to Platinum × what you value each point at). See moving Amex points to Avios and other UK transfer partners.

Hypothetical illustration for Example B, after using Plaza Premium: going over would cost £240 at the reported rate. If your current card earns 1.5 points per £1 and Platinum earns 1, moving £30,000 costs you 15,000 points. At an assumed 1p a point, that's £150, so the spend route comes out £90 ahead. For how we value Avios, see when paying cash beats spending Avios. If your current card earns 2 points per £1, you'd give up 30,000 points (£300 at the same assumption). Paying the £240 is then cheaper. At Example B's untouched £624, the spend route wins either way.

The things that would change our view:

• Amex's final terms. If Amex confirms that guests don't count, or sets a different over-cap rate, redo the sum before moving any spending.
• Acceptance. Large bills such as council tax or some utilities may not take Amex, or may add a fee. Spend that costs you a fee is not "normal spend".
• Timing. Spend after 31 December 2027 doesn't help 2028. Each year's count starts from zero on 1 January.
• Part-year cardholders. Amex hasn't said how someone who opens a Platinum card in, say, September 2027 will be treated. Don't assume a pro-rata threshold.
• Never overspend to hit a target. Lounge visits worth a few hundred pounds don't justify extra spending or carrying a balance on the credit version of the card.

What to do now, step by step

1. Count your real visits. Log in to the Priority Pass app or website with the membership Amex gave you and look at your visit history. Add up member and guest entries separately for the Main card and each Supplementary card. You can also search your Amex statements for Priority Pass guest charges.
2. Map your usual airports. If you regularly fly from Heathrow (T2, T3, T4 or T5) or Gatwick North, check Plaza Premium and Centurion first. From regional airports such as Manchester or Edinburgh, you'll mostly depend on Priority Pass, so the cap matters more.
3. Add the free Supplementary card for a travelling partner. The first Platinum Supplementary card has no fee (Amex). Make sure it is a Platinum Supplementary: Gold Supplementary cards on a Platinum account don't get Priority Pass.
4. Decide on the £30,000 route before 1 January 2027, using the sum above. If you go for it, track progress in the Amex app each month, and remember refunds reduce the total (as reported).
5. Use your pre-book entitlements while they last. Primary cardmembers get eight free Priority Pass pre-bookings at participating UK lounges per calendar year until 31 December 2027. Each person in the booking uses one, and cancelling less than 48 hours ahead forfeits them (Amex terms). Nothing has been confirmed for 2028.
6. Watch for Amex's 2027 update. Amex is reported to be writing to cardholders again during 2027. Check the Global Lounge Collection terms for the guest rule and the over-cap rate then.
7. If you go over the cap in 2028: expect to pay the guest rate, reported as £24 per person per visit. Before paying, check whether a Plaza Premium or Centurion lounge is in the same terminal.

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If Platinum no longer fits

• You run a business: Business Platinum's Priority Pass isn't capped, and it carries the same £650 fee (Amex). It's only worth it if the card makes sense for the business. Don't open it just for lounges.
• You only use lounges a few times a year: Preferred Rewards Gold gives four Priority Pass visits a year for a £195 fee (free in year one), and guests use those visits (Amex). See Amex Gold or Platinum: which to get first.
• You'd rather pay as you go: Priority Pass Standard costs £69 a year plus £24 per member or guest visit (Priority Pass, checked 13 Nov 2026).

UK cap FAQs not covered above

US readers: lounge guest rules on Amex Platinum, Sapphire Reserve and Venture X