Timberline Steaks and Grill, Priority Pass, Denver Airport
For the longest time after United Airlines stopped allowing cardholder access, Denver was left without any Priority Pass lounge options. If you had a layover, or if you were traveling out of Denver airport, you were kinda stuck. Luckily, the airport was large enough with tons of food options, so it never felt like you were too terribly crowded.
A few months back, Priority Pass partnered with Timberline Steaks and Grill, offering their members access to eat and drink at the restaurant, considering other lounge options were not available. The one problem? Word spreads fast, and this lounge was filling up with hungry Priority Pass holders just as quickly as they could clean the tables and move to the next customers.
Timberline Bar and Grill Denver
The restaurant is located in the C concourse, home to Alaska and Southwest. If you’re flying anyone else, you’ll have to take the train over. Luckily it’s only a quick 2-3 minutes between terminals, so it shouldn’t be too much of an inconvenience.
We arrived around 5:30pm to find a short line waiting outside. The PP logo was displayed at the check in desk, and when the passenger in front of me flashed his card, he got an evil side eye from the woman at counter. Suffice it to say that when it became time for our check in, I didn’t mention that I had a card until we were seated.
Timberline Steaks and Grill Denver
The rules are simple: each person is considered a visit, and each visit is worth $28. This means, theoretically, that if your card allows you for one guest, you can have $56 in food/drinks for free. If you don’t use the full $28 you don’t get any change back, and if you use more than the $28, you’ll have to pay the difference. Make sure to tip on the pre discounted amount always, ya cheapskates… you know who you are!
Here’s a look at the food and drinks menus:
Ben went with the buffalo burger, and I chose the Elk medallions. There was still a little bit left over for dessert, so we opted for the banana nutella. I’ll let you be the judge. But we left full, and happy!
Elk Medallions
Buffalo Burger
NUTELLA!!!
As you can see, we came in at JUST under $56 (55.08) and we tipped on the pre-tax amount ($9).
Always Tip Pre Discount!
Discount Applied – and tip!
As we were leaving, the line was even longer, again a sign that perhaps this was becoming the new hotspot.
I can imagine that this is very profitable for the restaurant. I’m sure that Priority pass is giving them somewhere in the neighborhood of $20-25 per visit, so it’s a win for PP (making customers happy) and a win for Timberline (selling food!).
I’m also very happy to see Priority Pass thinking more outside of the box with locations such as this. It’s a lot easier to create a partnership with an already existing location than it is to create a new lounge from scratch. The food was great, and I can see myself visiting here again on my next trip. Heck, I’ll probably even make sure to give myself enough of a layover to enjoy it.
