Skip the Line: Capital One Now Offers a Digital Waitlist for Airport Lounges

Travelers love a good airport lounge, but waiting in line for them diminishes its value. The increased popularity of premium travel rewards credit cards has come at the expense of sometimes overcrowded lounges.

Capital One is now making it easier for cardholders to access its lounges when crowding becomes an issue — all without having to wait in line.

Details of Capital One’s New Mobile Lounge Waitlist

Starting today, Capital One mobile app users will be able to view the capacity of Capital One Lounges in real time.

In addition, travelers who are accessing the lounge with a Capital One Venture X Credit Card or Capital One Venture X Business Credit Card will now be able to virtually join the waitlist when a lounge is at capacity.

Here are the step-by-step instructions:

• Step 1: Open Capital One mobile app, select “Travel”
• Step 2: Select “Lounges”
• Step 3: Click into the lounge details page
• Step 4: View real-time lounge capacity, select “Join Waitlist”

Throughout the process, Capital One says cardholders will receive a text about when to check in with a lounge agent. When it’s your turn to enter the lounge, you’ll have 15 minutes to arrive. You’ll also have the ability to let the lounge know whether you’re on the way, running late, or no longer coming.

How to Access Capital One Lounges

The easiest way to gain regular access to Capital One Lounges — and to be able to use the waitlist feature — is to have a Capital One Venture X card or a Capital One Venture X Business Card.

Those with these cards receive unlimited complimentary access to 1,300-plus lounges, including Capital One Lounges and the Partner Lounge Network, plus you can bring 2 guests in with you each time you visit. If you’d like to add any guests beyond that, it will cost you $45 per person to do so, with the exception of children under 2 years of age who can enter free of charge.

Final Thoughts

Capital One is in a battle for lounge supremacy amongst credit card issuers, with both Amex’s Centurion Lounges and, most recently, Chase Sapphire Lounges coming onto the scene. While Amex has a decade-long head start building out these spaces, Capital One and Chase are debuting impressive lounges in their own right.

Now, Capital One has a leg up on its competitors from a user experience standpoint with the ability to join a digital waitlist when lounges are at capacity.