UOB Tightens Lounge Access Rules, Clarifies Airport Transfer Terms, and More

We are now in August 2026, the card-nerf season of the year, and UOB has just announced a series of changes that look pretty major at first glance. You can find the full updates here.

UOB cards like UOB PRVI Miles Elite (PME) and UOB Visa Infinite (VI), are used by many members of in the BolehMiles community. So whenever UOB announces major announcements, there is always a moment of collective panic.

Thankfully, we can breathe easy this time. This is not an MPR devaluation. The updates mainly affect lounge access and airport transfers only, and all changes are effective 1 September 2026.

Lounge Access

1. Only one principal card per lounge visit (you can’t use another principal card of yours to admit others)

Cards Affected: All UOB Cards

By right, lounge access is only meant for the cardholder. As a best practice, the lounge concierge should match the name on your boarding pass with the name on your card. This is strictly enforced at overseas airports like Changi.

In Malaysia, however, it is a known secret that some lounges, especially Plaza Premium Lounges, are less strict. Cardholders can use multiple cards under their name to bring in their spouse or family members, and the concierge usually won’t bat an eye.

Sadly, UOB is now closing this loophole. From 1 September 2026, it may claw back the lounge fee for such entries. You’d pay the full entrance fee – with 50% discount in Malaysia and 20% overseas. At Plaza Premium Lounge KLIA Terminal 1, that means paying a RM115 for each person that you bring in.

There are workarounds for this. You can use cards from other banks, especially those with supplementary-cardholder or guest access. Here are some of the popular cards in the market that still offer supplementary-cardholder or guest access:

³ Unlimited access to Centurion Lounge, unlimited access using Priority Pass, and 12x access to PPF, PPL, and Travel Club Lounge

2. Physical UOB card must now be used to enter Plaza Premium Lounges in Malaysia instead of Dragonpass

Cards Affected: UOB VI Metal, UOB VI Privilege, UOB VI

UOB VI cardholders usually access lounges worldwide, including Plaza Premium Lounges in Malaysia, through DragonPass.

Perhaps to fully close the Plaza Premium loophole, UOB will now require cardholders to present their physical card instead of using Dragonpass to enter Plaza Premium Lounge in Malaysia.

The Smart Traveller app should work in place of the physical card too, since other UOB cards are already supported on the platform, though we need some data point to confirm this.

This is not a big deal. DragonPass visits are precious, so you should avoid wasting them at Plaza Premium Lounges in Malaysia anyway. We recommend to save them for more interesting lounges, especially overseas.

Airport Transfer

1. Improved Coverage for Home-to-Airport Rides (Up to 70km)

Cards Affected: UOB VI, UOB VI Privilege

Previously, pickups were limited to Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya, Ampang, Cyberjaya and Putrajaya. These location restrictions will now be removed. As long as your home is within 70km from KLIA, you are good to go. So now you can enjoy this benefit even if you live in places like Port Dickson or Klang.

Note that if you want an MPV though, you will have to pay extra for the upgrade.

2. You do not need to spend all RM5,000 on travel spend categories to qualify for the airport transfer

Cards Affected: UOB VI, UOB VI Privilege

Members of BolehMiles community have long known that you do not need to spend the full RM5,000 for UOB VI on airlines, hotels and travel agencies (all three) to qualify for the limo. Just one transaction under any of the travel MCCs would do.

We are not sure if UOB has been keeping an eye on the BolehMiles Telegram group, but it has also fixed the poorly worded clause that created this ambiguity. The change was even made to the old 18 May version of the T&Cs, and it is a good and welcome clarification.

Before	After
Spend a minimum of RM5,000 includes airlines, hotels and travel agencies within the last 30 days, prior to the ride to be eligible	The Principal Cardmembers must meet the minimum spend of Ringgit Malaysia Five Thousand (RM5,000) that includes the Spend Category in airlines, hotels and/or travel agencies

3. One Grab Ride for every 3 overseas transactions

Cards Affected: UOB PME, UOB Zenith

This is not an actual change, but a wording update to remove any ambiguity. Some may interpret the old wording as “2-Grab rides for every 3 overseas transactions” in the past 45 days.

The revised wording now makes the monthly cap clear: a maximum of 4 Grab rides after 6 qualifying transactions in the past 45 days.

Other changes

1. Annual fee waiver calculation for supplementary cardholders

Cards Affected: All UOB cards (except UOB VI Privilege and UOB Metal)

UOB made it clearer on how annual fee waivers work for supplementary cards. Unfortunately, the mechanics is a bit like rocket science.

Basically, the same spending counts towards both principal and supplementary cards, but each card is assessed on its own anniversary date, and the timing determines which fees get waived.

But look, supplementary card fees are not that high. In fact, it’s free for the UOB PME and UOB VI Privilege, and RM150 for the UOB World. If optimizing is too difficult, you may be better off just paying the fee.

Conclusion

There are only two headline changes to note: tighter lounge access rules and changes to the airport transfer benefit.

The lounge access changes may frustrate families who rely on multiple UOB cards to enter together. If you are affected, it is time to start looking for alternatives from other banks.

The airport transfer update, however, is slightly positive, so no complaints there.

Overall, nothing too shocking. Life goes on.