American Express’ Centurion Lounges are some of the most popular airport lounges in the country. They also have an expanding international presence with their Hong Kong lounge that opened in 2017. The Points Guy (H/T) reported that American Express announced dates for the new Centurion Lounge openings in 2019. Fortunately, they have been updating their reports as new lounges have opened since then.
Access to the American Express Centurion Lounges is available to Centurion and Platinum cardholders. Primary cardholders can bring up to two guests each for no extra cost.
What’s Going On?
Scheduled Openings
The second international Centurion Lounge will be at Heathrow Airport in London. Fortunately, American Express is increasing their international presence with this lounge. Many Platinum and Centurion cardholders are international travelers. Therefore, having access to more lounges will increase the value of American Express’ top charge cards
Under Construction
Lucky from One Mile At A Time (H/T) reported that the Las Vegas lounge is being expanded and remodeled. Construction is scheduled to be completed in 2021.
Furthermore, the new Las Vegas lounge is expected to be 13,400 square feet, which is 50% larger than the old lounge. It will include many multi-purpose areas for work, phone calls, and business, as well as a new reception area.
Plus, the LaGuardia Lounge (in New York City) is expected to double in size. It will be also relocated to a new space after security in Terminal B. This lounge is expected to open in 2021 after its revamp is finished.
The Points Guy (H/T) also reported that a brand new lounge is coming to the Seattle Tacoma International Airport in 2021. The previous Centurion lounge was much smaller than the one that is currently being constructed.
The Centurion Lounge Commitment: COVID-19 Changes
Miles to Memories (H/T) also reported that American Express announced a new COVID-19 initiative called The Centurion Lounge Commitment. This initiative is intended to keep lounge-goers safe and healthy in light of the pandemic.
Furthermore, the Centurion Lounge experience will be a little different than before the pandemic. Some of the new changes from the Centurion Lounge Commitment include the following:
- Socially distanced seating
- Required face coverings upon entry
- Reduced capacity
- Served food (in lieu of buffets)
- Contactless check-in (via the Amex mobile app)
Final Draw
American Express will have 15 Centurion lounges once they all open. There are currently Centurion lounges at the following airports:
- Charlotte – Douglas (CLT)
- Dallas – Fort Worth (DFW)
- Denver (DEN)
- Hong Kong (HKG)
- Houston (IAH)
- Las Vegas (LAS) – currently under construction until 2021
- London – Heathrow (LHR) – expected to open in late 2021
- Los Angeles (LAX)
- Miami (MIA)
- New York – JFK (JFK)
- New York – LaGuardia (LGA) – currently under construction until 2021
- Philadelphia (PHL)
- Phoenix (PHX)
- San Francisco (SFO)
- Seattle – Tacoma (SEA) – currently under construction
Overall, I am delighted to see that American Express is expanding their lounge network. Hopefully, the new lounges will add value to the Platinum and Centurion Cards.
I’m planning two trips for September and would like to know something about actual reopening dates. My dates are open ended so airports, connections, and airlines are involved.
Hi Kathleen,
Thanks for reading! I apologize for the extremely late response, but I just now received updated information from Amex and other sources about the actual reopening dates.
Anthony
The article doesn’t say the actual dates, just the estimated time periods which has been known for a while now.
I no longer use the centurion lounges after the birth of my second child. I remember they charged me something like $27 or $51 (I don’t remember) to bring in a 1 yr old baby in addition to my wife and 4 y/o daughter. I now use priority pass lounges or the lounges from the airline carriers we fly with. We mostly fly business on long haul.
The lounges sound great in theory, but most of them get overcrowded and in a large airport, hard to get to the lounges if its located in a different terminal. At SFO, only makes sense for example if you are flying United. In Dallas, unless you have lots of time or happen to be in the right terminal, their smallish lounge makes no sense. I can still remember when going to an American Express office abroad was really useful and travelers checks were widely used. I actually made use of the old AmEx offices in London, Rome, Geneva and Paris at times. But those days are over. I appreciate AmEx trying to be relevant to travelers with these lounges, but the real solution for travelers is for your primary airline (such as AA or United) to step up there game and improve airline lounges. On the few occasions when an AmEx lounge is convenient, not sure the cost of a Plat card really justifies it. May be better just to pay the entrance fee? If AmEx wants to be a name in travel, they need bigger lounges and more lounges. They may also want to re-instate their city lounges. Would be great to create an AmEx oasis in large cities with travel services, clean restrooms, beverage, computer terminals etc. Membership may mean something again if AmEx provides something that makes people feel special and is really useful. I think I recall the old AmEx office near the Spanish Steps in Rome. Would be get to have a city lounge for travelers.
I do remember the Amex office in Paris near the Opera house
Dallas post renovation is the biggest Centurion Lounge; it’s been at least a year now so you might be thinking of the old lounge. Also in SFO, if you travel out of G international, there is a walking path airside to the United terminal where that Centurion Lounge is located.