Lounges for families: where kids are welcome and where they aren't

Most lounges will let your kids in. What changes from one door to the next is what that costs you, whether anything in the room is built for children, and whether the lounge quietly bans them. I went through the lounge pages on this site and the operators' own rules to sort the welcoming rooms from the ones that would rather you didn't. The short version: bank lounges in the US charge for kids but increasingly build for them, Qantas is the most generous airline by a distance, and a handful of independent lounges set a minimum age and enforce it.

What a child costs, by card

Every card lounge treats a baby the same way: under 2 is free. Above that, the price depends on the card.

Amex Platinum. At US Centurion Lounges, Platinum and Business Platinum cardholders pay $50 per adult guest and $30 per child aged 2 to 17. Under-2s come in free with the cardholder. Spend $75,000 on the card in a calendar year and guests are free. A family of four with two school-age kids and one parent holding the card is therefore paying $110 a visit before that threshold, which is real money for a sandwich and a juice box. The Charlotte Centurion Lounge page also records that from July 2026 guests must be on the same flight as the cardholder.

Capital One Venture X. Since February 1, 2026, guests at Capital One Lounges and Landings cost $45 per adult and $25 per child aged 2 to 17, with under-2s free. The $75,000 spend threshold unlocks two free guests per Capital One Lounge visit. Children under 18 have to be with an adult cardholder.

Chase Sapphire Reserve. Still the friendliest card for families. Sapphire Lounge terms admit under-2s free, and cardholders bring up to two guests per visit at no charge, children included, so one parent with the card covers a family of three. Past two, the Boston and Dallas lounge pages list additional guests at $27 each. Everyone under 18 must be with an adult at all times. Our guest policy explainer has the adult side of all three.

The rooms actually built for kids

Centurion family rooms. I would treat older lists of Centurion family rooms with suspicion. Guides from a few years ago named family rooms at Dallas, Las Vegas, Houston, Los Angeles and others. When I checked the current official location pages, only Charlotte and Miami still list a family room as an amenity. That does not prove the others are gone, but it does mean you should not plan a layover around one without asking. Both Charlotte and Miami rate 4.6 on this site.

Sapphire Lounges. Chase has made families part of the design brief. Chase's own guides say Boston has a nursing room plus a family and kids' room, and Philadelphia has a nursing room, a family room and a play area, along with a game room with arcade machines that older kids will find on their own. Philadelphia rates 4.5 here, Boston 4.6.

Capital One Denver. The Denver Capital One Lounge has a parent's room with seating for feeding or nursing, a changing table stocked with wipes, diapers and a bottle warmer, and kid-sized tables and chairs. What it lacks, per The Points Guy's first look, is a real play space, so it works better for babies than for six-year-olds. It rates 4.7.

Admirals Clubs. American's own DFW page lists a Kids Room in the clubs in Terminals A, C and D. The Terminal D club is the one I would pick: it rates 4.8 here and has four showers. Members can bring immediate family instead of two guests, which is the cleanest family rule in US airline clubs. Miami is a cautionary tale: older guides credit both Miami clubs with children's rooms, but American's current Miami page lists none.

Qantas. Qantas does families better than anyone I looked at. In Qantas-operated lounges, an eligible member can bring children aged 0 to 3 without limit and up to two children aged 4 to 17, on top of the normal adult guest allowance, and Qantas says lounge managers will try to fit a larger brood if space allows. Its Joey Club kids' zones, with kid-sized furniture, toys and books, are in Qantas Clubs across Australia plus the Auckland and Hong Kong international lounges. The Sydney domestic Qantas Club, rated 4.7, has the LEGO-partnered zone with DUPLO pits and gaming stations, designed for ages 18 months up. The Auckland International Lounge reopened after a full redesign in December 2025 and appears on the Joey Club list. One trap: a single-use Qantas lounge invitation covers one person, not the kids with them. More in our Qantas lounge ranking.

Emirates in Dubai. Emirates says its first and business lounges in Concourse B have a play area with video games and toys. The Concourse B business lounge is open 24 hours and rates 4.6. Watch the guest rules if only one parent has status: Skywards Gold brings one adult or child, and Platinum brings one adult plus two children under 17.

Cathay Pacific. I wanted to include Cathay's Hong Kong lounges and could not confirm a dedicated children's area at The Pier, The Deck or The Wing from current sources, so I have left them off.

Where kids are not welcome

Clubrooms. The No1 Lounges premium brand sets the minimum age at 12. At Clubrooms Heathrow T3, rated 4.5, anyone 12 and over can get in regardless of airline or cabin, and No1 says younger children are admitted only rarely, with select airline partners. Clubrooms Gatwick South has the same 12-plus rule. If you hold Priority Pass and are travelling with an eight-year-old, these are not your lounges.

Sky Hub East, Incheon. Priority Pass's listing for Sky Hub Lounge East in Terminal 1 says plainly that children are not admitted. That is a shame, because at 4.8 it is one of the better-rated Priority Pass rooms at Incheon. Do not assume every Sky Hub room follows the same rule: the Terminal 2 West page on this site does not record an age limit, so check before you go.

The middle ground. Plenty of independent lounges admit children without building anything for them. Plaza Premium at Heathrow T5, the highest-rated lounge in this piece at 4.9, lets under-2s in free but caps Priority Pass stays at two hours. With a toddler, two hours in a quiet room is about the limit anyway.

How I would plan it

If you fly through the US with young children, the Sapphire Reserve's two free guests and Chase's nursing and family rooms are hard to beat, and Philadelphia is the room I would aim for. If you are in Australia, a Qantas Club member flying Qantas can bring a partner and two school-age kids without paying guest fees. For older kids, the Admirals Club's immediate-family rule is the simplest way to get everyone in. And before you promise anyone a lounge, open the lounge page: an age limit is printed on the door, not on your card's benefits page. Ratings follow our methodology.