Buy Emirates Lounge Access: How Much Does It Cost, And Is It Worth It?

Emirates has one of the world’s largest global network of lounges, as the airline is hyper-focused on offering a consistent experience throughout its network. What many people don’t realize is that the airline also sells access to its lounges, so in this post, I’d like to take a closer look at that — how much does it cost to buy Emirates lounge access, and is it worth it?

Cost to buy Emirates lounge access

Lounge access is a standard feature for Emirates first class and Emirates business class passengers. However, even Emirates economy passengers can buy access to lounges (and for that matter, business class passengers can upgrade their lounge experience).

Below I’ll cover the policies for buying access to the Emirates First Class Lounge Dubai, Emirates Business Class Lounge Dubai, and then Emirates’ network of outstation lounges (all around the globe).

Before I get into the details of each, let me cover some of the basics:

• In each case, lounge access can be purchased directly at the lounge, and not in advance
• All lounge prices are for one-time access — in Dubai you can access lounges up to four hours before departure, and at all other airports up to three hours before departure
• Only Emirates passengers are eligible to buy lounge access, so you can’t buy lounge access if flying with another airline; however, it doesn’t matter if another airline issued your ticket
• You must pay for lounge access by credit or debit card; you can’t pay with cash or with Emirates Skywards miles
• There are potentially lounge capacity constraints, so this may not be available during peak periods
• Children below the age of 12 can receive lounge access for half the cost of an adult, assuming they’re accompanied; infants younger than two can be brought in for free with an adult
• The cost to access lounges doesn’t include VAT, so that’s on top of the published cost; the VAT amount can be up to 20%, and varies by airport
• Emirates has separate lounge pricing for Skywards and non-Skywards members; since it’s free to join the Skywards program, you’ll definitely want to join if you’re going to buy access

With that out of the way, let’s get into the details.

Emirates First Class Lounge Dubai access cost

The cost to buy access to the Emirates First Class Lounge Dubai depends on whether you’re traveling in economy class or business class:

• If traveling in economy, access costs $250 for Skywards members or $300 for non-Skywards members
• If traveling in business, upgraded access costs $150 for Skywards members or $175 for non-Skywards members

Emirates Business Class Lounge Dubai access cost

The cost to buy access to the Emirates Business Class Lounge Dubai is $150 for Skywards members and $175 for non-Skywards members.

Outstation Emirates Lounge access cost

The cost to buy access to any outstation Emirates Lounge is $125 for Skywards members and $155 for non-Skywards members.

All Emirates outstation lounges are shared first and business class lounges, so there’s no separate area for first class passengers. Emirates sells access to its lounges in Auckland, Bangkok, Birmingham, Boston, Brisbane, Cape Town, Colombo, Dubai, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Glasgow, Hamburg, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, London Gatwick, London Heathrow, London Stansted, Los Angeles, Manchester, Melbourne, Milan, Munich, New York Kennedy, Perth, Rome, San Francisco, Sydney, Tokyo Narita, and Zürich.

Note that for Bangkok and Hong Kong, lounge access has to be purchased in advance via the Emirates website, rather than at the airport. Meanwhile the airline doesn’t sell access to its lounges in Beijing, Cairo (fabulous airport, by the way!), Shanghai, and Singapore.

Is buying Emirates lounge access worth it?

Let me cut to the chase — the cost to buy access to Emirates lounges is steep, and under a vast majority of circumstances I don’t think it’s worth it:

• It’s one thing if this cost covered a very long stay, but you can only access lounges three to four hours ahead of departure, so when you factor in heading to the gate an hour before departure, that’s like two to three hours in the lounge
• Personally if I didn’t otherwise have lounge access, I’d rather spend that money on a nice restaurant in the terminal, or on a room in a transit hotel
• While Emirates has solid lounges for business class passengers, there’s nothing about them that’s going to totally wow you, so spending $125-150 for a buffet meal and drinks, plus somewhere comfortable to sit, is more than I’d want to spend
• I think it’s only worth upgrading from the business class lounge to the first class lounge if you really value a much quieter environment, and if you care about a la carte dining and a higher end alcohol selection, but even then, the difference isn’t that huge (though the first class lounge has some pretty incredible wines)

At least that’s my take. Let me of course acknowledge that if you’re really well off and you wouldn’t think twice about dropping that kind of money on something, then it could be worth it. Furthermore, if you’re celebrating a special occasion, it could be worth the splurge. But I think the pricing is beyond what I’d consider to be a value.

Skywards+ also offers Emirates lounge access

While the above are the ways to directly buy Emirates lounge access, it’s also worth mentioning the Emirates Skywards+ subscription service. Essentially this is an annual membership you can purchase, which offers a slew of benefits, and each tier also offers lounge passes:

• A $399 per year Skywards+ Classic subscription offers two business lounge passes
• A $699 per year Skywards+ Advanced subscription offers five business lounge passes
• A $999 per year Skywards+ Premium subscription offers 10 business lounge passes

This is part of a larger suite of benefits (like award ticket discounts and more), so if you are thinking of buying lounge access, this is worth considering. The lounge passes must be used by the primary member, though if you’re traveling with others, you can also use multiple passes to bring in multiple guests.

Bottom line

Emirates sells access to its global network of lounges. You can buy access to the carrier’s first and business class lounges in Dubai, as well as all the carrier’s outstation lounges. For Skywards members, the cost of lounge access varies anywhere from $125 to $250, and I’d say that’s very steep, given that you’re limited to accessing lounges three to four hours before departure.

So this option is something to be aware of, and maybe it’s worth it for a special occasion, but otherwise I’d say it’s not a great value. Another good option is to get a Skywards+ subscription, which offers lounge passes, in addition to several other perks. For many, that will be much easier to justify.

Would you consider buying access to an Emirates lounge?