New York JFK terminal 4 is one of the best in the country for lounges. It’s the only place with Chase, American Express, and Capital One lounges (though it’ll soon be joined by Las Vegas and Dallas – Fort Worth). Delta has two Sky Clubs plus their flagship Delta One business class lounge. And there are more minor lounges like the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse, Emirates and Air India lounges, and more.

The Centurion lounge there is one of the best, arguably behind only Atlanta in the U.S. It’s on the same level as security, just left after the checkpoint, and next to Etihad/Chase Sapphire lounge.

It’s large – 15,000 square feet over two floors along the windowline – but narrow. And because it’s an Amex lounge in New York it gets crowded.

The lounge opens at 5 a.m. and generally only the upstairs is available at that time. There’s an interior elevator between the two floors of the lounge. Each floor is small – about the size of the Chase lounge – but together they make a lounge a few hundred square feet larger in total than the ne Capital One lounge. Note though that the speakeasy bar and showers generally open at 9.

I like the floor to ceiling windows. It’s very typical Amex otherwise, but there are a couple of neat features.

• Coffee shop near the entrance to the lounge, with made to order specialty coffee drinks and pastries – this is in the old Equinox spa space

  

  

  

  

  

• The ‘1850 speakeasy’ which is a separate bar area – the great thing about it is that it is not well marked, so relatively few people go in there. It’s dark (no windows to the outside, natch) but you can often find a seat.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

I don’t like the overall layout of the lounge. It’s two floors of narrow space, long hallways that just feel smaller than the square footage would have you expect.

Naturally there was more than one self-serve coffee machine out of order.

The food here is ok at best. And it gets crowded.

There’s a dedicated Black Card cardmember seating area. It’s not the best seating area, but it’s a way Amex can ensure seats for their premium customers. It’s surprising that neither Chase nor Capital One have anything similar.

I’d take the Capital One lounge over this one in a heartbeat. The coffee here is going to be better than in the Chase lounge or Delta Sky Club. It’s decent as far as airport lounges go but I wouldn’t go out of my way to seek it out or spend extra time here.