The American Express Centurion lounge in Denver is among the larger ones at a little over 14,000 square feet. Still, the gate C46 spot gets pretty crowded. The afternoon I was there recently it took 20 minutes from the time I added myself to the list to the time I was eligible to enter.
The line to get into the lounge once I’d ‘cleared the list’ took easily as long as the wait list did. The couple of agents were just moving slowly, and people had questions. Plus the Amex procedure is cumbersome, since they require producing (3) separate items
- the credit card used for access
- boarding pass
- and ID (surely they could trust a cardmember with a Platinum card, who made it past TSA with an ID already? This step just strikes me as gauche)
They check your card spend status and then so many guests require payment. That’s when folks start to figure out if maybe they have more than one Platinum card among the group? And they start searching their bags for it. It just takes time to enter a Centurion lounge, sometimes.
My ‘token’ ran out while waiting in line at the lounge, but agents didn’t shrug at that. I was welcomed in no problem eventually.
The lounge has a horseshoe layout with two long hallways, plenty of abundant natural light, varied seating pods, workstations, a family room, and a game room.
The highlight of the lounge – and some people love it, others hate it, my view was a bit more in the middle – is the food. They have actual beef, not something I’ve seen much of in Centurion lounges the past several years as the food budget appears to have been cut back.
There is also a live cook station where they make omelets and pasta. These aren’t expensive items! But anything prepared hot and fresh, even just finishing off pasta, is going to be better than buffet.
Folks like the craft beer bar, and the overall design and atmosphere.
And, of course, is any Centurion lounge really complete without an out of order espresso machine?
While wait times can frustrate, these appear to be less of an issue right at opening as well as midday and late evening.
Is it weird to say I miss the early days of ‘Member Since’ as the wifi password and that they shouldn’t have changed it off of ‘Member Of’?
Access is available up to 3 hours before your scheduled departure; valid for departing or connecting flights only. This is gained via American Express Platinum and Business Platinum cards, Centurion cards and Delta Reserve cards with a same day Delta boarding pass. Guests aren’t complimentary for Platinum customers unless they spend $75,000 on the card each year. Guests are $50 for adults and $30 for minors.
Whenever I see the spoof reels of “Altima Airlines” on social media, I immediately think of the Centurion Lounge crowds.
If the Amex Platinum card didn’t guarantee me entry into the DL Sky Club, I would have no reason to carry it. And if the Centurion lounges are the best that Amex can offer, then we have truly lost our way in what lounges are supposed to represent. Once upon a time, they were sanctuaries of calm and comfort amid the airport chaos. Today, they feature long lines and even waitlists just to enter, only to find overcrowded seating areas filled with dirty dishes, trash (both literally and figuratively), and diminished food and beverage quality. At some locations, slovenly-dressed guests have even resorted to sitting or sleeping near the entrance mimicking West Coast under-bridge transients, because there is nowhere else for them to go.
Meanwhile, Amex continues to raise fees, with rumors that the annual cost could approach $1,000 in the near future. They bring in award-winning chefs and mixologists to elevate the menus, but a better cocktail after a 20-minute queue does not change the fundamental problem of overcrowding. Luxury cannot mask congestion.
When a lounge is filled beyond capacity, the experience loses any sense of exclusivity and comfort. The Centurion lounges may be beautifully designed, but when you arrive to full-capacity chaos, there is no real refuge. Instead, they have just become another crowded and annoying airport space, only with better furniture.
What is needed is a return to the basics: more space that delivers genuine lounge value. Absent that, travelers are simply paying more for less, and the promise of a serene pre-flight experience disappears. A few cuts of beef will never make up for the decline.
Gonna be there soon, and will give a full report; you know us VFTW regulars, we like to wine and whine… with waits like those, gonna need to sign up for that digital waitlist while I’m still in Vail. Psh.
When have airport lounges become about food? There must be better places to eat than airport lounges. I view lounges as places for resting and privacy. I surely don’t want to wait in line to enter a very crowded lounge.
Good review. My biggest gripe is I can’t rely on the DEN trains not to strand me in C Concourse.
I don’t get the beef obsession. Chicken is healthier unless deep fried
Interesting, very nice review as usual — the LGA Chase one from yesterday definitely looks nicer. I’m more of a small personal plate person rather than communal pots for food, but to each their own. A Mac and Cheese bar is cool, yum.
@1990 – looking forward to your thoughts!
to be honest …:
I don’t even go anymore.
It’s become ridiculous, very unpleasant, way overcrowded etc.
However big anyone makes their lounges, it’s really annoying what goes on there.
Exception is int’l Polaris, of course.
Not their fault, but I was there last week during a complete travel standstill due to ominous weather and it was an hour and a half before I got my text, then another 20 minutes to make it through the queue.
The CLT lounge is often under capacity when on a wait-list, but at least they only have a group of 5 or 6 people who get the notification at a time, making actually getting into the lounge much easier.
Nope… There is very little reason for me to keep the card anymore. Dell is not a deal anymore, lounge access is a pita. Most of the business benefits are meaningless.
United Club and maybe Chase Sapphire.
Worst lounge I’ve ever been in. Went for breakfast. There were soggy juevos rancheros. Oatmeal without any toppings (no honey, nuts, berries, anything.) I couldn’t find enough decent food to offset the calories I burned walking there.