Is American Express Platinum Losing American Airlines Lounge Access?

by Gary Leff

Several folks in comments to various posts have noted over the past few days that the application page for the American Express Platinum cards no longer list American Airlines lounge access as a benefit.

The benefit for both Platinum and Centurion cardholders, as it stands, is access to:

  • American and Delta lounges when flying those airlines same-day
  • US Airways lounges (does not require same-day US Airways travel)
  • Priority Pass lounges via complimentary Priority Pass Select membership
  • American Express Centurion lounges, in the U.S. (currently Las Vegas and Dallas) and abroad

But American is now conspicuously absent on the Platinum card’s benefits page.

The omission is not universal, however, for instance this page describing lounge benefits for the Business Platinum card still includes American’s Admirals Clubs.

Business Platinum Card Access1

  • To gain admission, simply present your Business Platinum Card, a government issued ID, and a ticket valid for same-day travel to the club agent in:
    • American Airlines Admirals Clubs®
    • Delta Sky Clubs®
    • US Airways Clubs®(Note: ticket not required for US Airways Clubs)
  • Your Spouse and children under age 21, or up to two traveling companions, may join you

I now have the question out to both American and to American Express and will report back on what I learn.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. Curious how the merger would play into this, since there will no longer be such a thing as US. So taking away AA is the same as also taking away US by extension. Surely someone at AMEX must have thought of this…

  2. AmolK had reported on twitter a friend who was denied access with the biz plat card. Was unable to get any clear conclusion as to whether or not it is new policy, but I am betting that with this new amex lounge in dfw and the resulting spat we could be seeing the end of this. which will be a major blow to the value of plat amex

  3. Was just listening to the Pointshoarder podcast this morning and, in their discussion of the new DFW Centurion lounge, someone mentioned that the new lounge has engendered some anger on the part of American Airlines. If so, perhaps this is related.

  4. The mail AMEX Platinum benefits site still has AA listed.

    https://www295.americanexpress.com/cards/platinum/benefit.do?benefitTemplate=template_c&benefitId=1

    Platinum Card Access1*
    To gain admission, simply present your Platinum Card, a government issued ID, and a ticket valid for same-day travel to the club agent in:
    American Airlines Admirals Clubs®
    Delta Sky Clubs®
    US Airways Clubs®(Note: ticket not required for US Airways Clubs)
    Airspace Lounges3

  5. I just spoke with Amex, and they said platinum card holders still have access to the admirals club.

  6. Totally expected. AA has partnered with Citibank for their credit cards. Amex is clearly a Delta partner. The reason of Amex Centurion lounges is to fill this gap. Too bad since there won’t be Centurion lounges on every airport served by AA.

  7. @LarryInNYC – I wrote about the anger when the lease was signed a year ago on the new Amex lounge space. American protested the competition, argued it was unnecessary because they had a lounge in the terminal and weren’t the only ones, and also that Amex was paying a lower lease rate than they were.

  8. The benefit remains on some pages but not others, so just wondering what’s up. Currently the benefit remains in place my question is about whether the disappearance from same pages is an indication of future.

  11. I just got a paper Business Platinum card solicitation and AA was conspicuously absent from the lounges. I love that Priority Pass is adding (non UA) lounges to the US options. Used KLM Crown Lounge in IAH and The Club at ATL this week.

  12. Dear Amex: lose AAdmirals club and kiss my annual fee goodbye. Number 1 reason I have the Amex Platinum card. 🙂

  13. I used the DFW Centurion lounge this weekend, and compared to the American lounges, it is nothing short of fantastic. However, there are far more AA lounges than Centurion lounges. If I had to choose I would rather have access to Admiral Lounges over access to Centurion lounges

  14. I’m glad I saw this. My AA Citi Executive MC is about to expire and I was just about to apply to the Amex Plat to replace it. Time to play what-and-see.

  15. I look forward to visiting the DFW Centurion lounge shortly. I’m even more excited about the SFO Centurion lounge above Gate 75, due to open next year. United Clubs are the most Soviet-style U.S. airline lounges, bar none. They’re significantly worse than AAdmirals Clubs in lack of substantive food, and new charges for almost all alcoholic beverages. Plus the matrons and unsmiling bartenders…

    Amex here I come!

  17. AmEx told me that they pulled reference to Admiral’s Club from the AmEx Platinum website as some kind of negotiations are ongoing but Platinum cardholders, at present, still have Admiral’s Club access. I agree that it is quite likely a battle between AmEx & Citi concerning Citi’s $450/year “Executive” AA credit card that gives Admiral’s access. Why buy the $450/annual Citi Executive MasterCard when similar $$$ for AmEx Platinum fee gives you Admiral’s access (for now anyway) plus so much more?

  18. I just got this e-mail about my Amex Platinum 🙁

    We are writing to give you advance notice of changes to your travel benefits and to remind you about other valuable features of your Platinum Card.

    As of March 22, 2014, Platinum Card Members will no longer receive complimentary access to American Airlines® Admirals Club lounges and US Airways® Club locations.

  19. Just got an e-mail from Amex. Access to American and US Air lounges expires March 22. However, they’re adding a new benefit that provides $500 statement credit for spending with America and US Air that can offset the cost of purchasing an AA or UA club membership:

    You will receive up to $500 in statement credits toward American Airlines and US Airways incidental fees charged to your Card from March 22, 2014 to December 31, 2014.1 You can use these credits toward:

    • Membership fees in the Admirals Club program and US Airways Club
    • One-day passes to Admirals Club lounges and US Airways Clubs
    • Other American Airlines and US Airways incidental fees like baggage fees or flight change fees

    There’s no enrollment required, and purchases made by both the Basic and Additional Card Members on the Card account are eligible for the promotion. These statement credits are in addition to the $200 Airline Fee Credit2 benefit already included in your Membership.*

  21. I spoke with an Amex rep and was told I would only get an additional 100 dollars on-top of my annual 200 dollars.

    So obviously the benefits ‘change’ from time / person.

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