In July I signed up for the no annual fee US Bank Altitude Card with no annual fee and it includes Priority Pass Select with 4 free visits annual then $37 per visit which is worth it. It also comes with $100 credit for TSA Pre check and I paid $25 for Global Entry every 4 years and I got my statement credit right away.
I don't mind paying $37 for the lounge especially with showers and food as well as drinks. At around $12 per hour its not bad even with a 3 hour limit.
I have had a number of cards over the years with Priority pass lounge access, and I found I rarely used it. Take a look for the airports you fly through and see what is available, contracts change all the time. Most often they will be third party lounges like Escape (21 across the world) and Plaza Premium (maybe a 100 airports) In the US, you won't get into Delta, American, or United lounges, and if in some airport they do contract with one of the airline lounges, you are on the bottom of the pecking order to get into what are getting to be packed lounges.
You may have better luck overseas Lufthansa, Air France, Virgin and others do allow access based on availability, and foreign airports seem to have more third party lounge options.
I do pay way too much for a card with Delta lounge access. The total benefits work out for me in gaining status, baggage, companion tickets, rental insurance, etc. And in my estimation, lounge access is well worth about $50-75 per person for a few hours, given the price of airport meals and drinks, plus the seating is much more comfortable, free fast wi-fi, clean bathrooms, maybe a shower. It is especially valuable for me due to the crazy flight schedules I have to get when flying to Europe from a regional airport, I can count on a 4 to 9 hour layover at an airport.
