PGA MSP Lounge and AE Gold Delta SkyMiles card.

Updated: Feb, 2020

I recently returned from a trip to see my brother and sister in law in Salt Lake City, Utah (SLC). I flew from Cedar Rapids, Iowa (CID), had a stop in Minneapolis St. Paul and was able to visit the PGA MSP Lounge.

I was traveling with my parents, who they let go through TSA Precheck even though they didn't sign up for it or pay the $85 fee. My wife and I both got TSA Precheck even though I am the only one who has it.

On our return trip we had 3 hours layover in Minneapolis, so we used Priority Pass Select which is a benefit of the Chase Saphire Reserve card to visit the PGA MSP Lounge. The Lounge is at the North end of the Sky Mall and is accessed by either taking an elevator just inside of Ike's restaurant or a wide set of stairs. You check in at the desk in the PGA store and then tucked away to your left is a door to the actual lounge. Each guest gets a $15 voucher good for either food and drink or a golf experience. Normally lounges will have food an drinks, but they only had limited drinks in the lounge. We chose food over golf. They give you a few options for food, which include a bar within the PGA store, Ike's, French Meadow and Rock Bottom. An employee tipped us off that Rock Bottom had lower prices than the restaurant underneath the Lounge.

After a nice hamburger and beer, we went up to check out the Lounge. Soft drinks, water, coffee and snacks (think airline snacks) were free in the lounge, but it was staffed by only one person, who took peoples orders, went downstairs and returned with food from the restaurant below. On the plus side, the lounge was nearly empty. There was however only one restroom. There were also two small strange rooms commemorating two golfing legends. I think they should add toilets to them as they are just wasted space as is.

Overall I was satisfied with he experience even though the $15 is less than the $28 allowed at restaurants who accept Priority Pass. This is made up by the fact that you also have lounge access. Lounges do not usually have as much food options as a restaurant so this was a good mix of both worlds.

One last note about the trip. I signed up for the Gold Delta SkyMiles American Express card and was instantly approved. It was only a 30,000 mile bonus after spending $1000 in the first three months, and a $50 statement credit after using it for a Delta purchase within three months. The miles don't expire and the $95 annual fee is waived the first year. You and up to 6 people also get your first checked bag free on Delta Flights as long as you booked the flights together. They have a referral program as well, so you can earn an extra 12,500 miles for getting someone to sign up for the card using your referral. This and the above link are my referral links. (This offer is now only 5,000 for a referral.)

I may get my wife to sign up for one as well and then see if I can use the miles with Virgin Australia.

Update Feb 2020:
I got my wife and mom to use my referral links and they got 50,000 point (current offer is 40,000) bonuses while I received 25,000 points for the referrals. We used 40,000 points each to fly from Darwin, Australia to Indianapolis.

I also downgraded the card to the Blue Delta SkyMiles American Express card to avoid the annual fee. I then realized I would be flying on Delta soon after and upgraded to the Gold the day before the flight. The Delta gate agent allowed my wife and I the checked bag waiver even though it had not updated in their system that I had the Gold card. I will also get a 15,000 point bonus for upgrading the card after a minimum spend and my annual fee will not be charged until next January. I had heard about these kinds of offers for card upgrades in the past, but was pleasantly surprised that I would get one when I had just downgraded from the Gold a few month prior.

All for now,

Mike