American Express has opened its first ‘Sidecar’ sit down dining location by the Centurion lounge in the Las Vegas airport. Now we know of a second location where they’ll be opening: Charlotte.
Food in Centurion lounges has declined significantly compared to where it was 12 – 15 years ago. The lounges themselves are often overrun and the design approach hasn’t changed much. When these lounges were new they set a new standard. Since then, airlines have improved their lounge game and Chase and Capital One have entered the space. Amex food generally lags both.
The Las Vegas location is tiny – about 1,500 square feet and just 33 seats. Much of the seating is at the bar.
Sidecar Las Vegas, credit: American Express
Platinum (and Delta Reserve) cardmembers can’t enter until 90 minutes before your flight, and with waitlists you may not get in that early (if at all). Your flight probably boards 40 minutes to departure, so that doesn’t leave you very long in the space. That’s by design. However the food does look better than what you’ll find in the lounge, and the plan is to rotate dishes monthly.
Sidecar Las Vegas, credit: American Express
The Charlotte location will be approved Monday.
Amex opened its first ever Sidecar Lounge in the Las Vegas airport this week. One appears to be coming to Charlotte Douglas International Airport. Charlotte City Council will vote Monday on an "Airport American Express Sidecar Lounge Lease" https://t.co/LaTPJjCWIS
— Joe Bruno (@JoeBrunoWSOC9) March 6, 2026
The City Council meeting packet (thanks to One Mile at a Time for flagging) includes details on the arrangement on page 45.
- American Express beat out one other suitor for the 4,641 square foot space created by the airport’s Concourse A Expansion Phase 2 project (so unlike Las Vegas, not close to the Centurion lounge at D/E)
- 5 year lease with 5 year option; $200 per square foot with 2.5% annual escalator; minimum $7.15 million capital investment in the space
- The airport is following Trump administration guidance and not using disadvantaged business status in picking projects any longer.
Based on Las Vegas, Sidecar doesn’t appear to come close to what Capital One is doing with their Landings at Washington’s National airport and at New York LaGuardia. They’re arguably serving the best airport lounge food in the United States right now.
Charlotte has been one of my least favorite airports for connecting, but its lounge game is about to get much stronger. There’s already two American Airlines Admirals Clubs, an Admirals Club ‘Provisions’ Grab ‘n Go, a Delta Sky Club, a The Club, and two Minute Suites as well as a Centurion lounges. They are getting a new main Admirals Club and Flagship lounge, a Capital One lounge, and now a Sidecar addition from American Express as well.
The piers will remain packed and cramped with low ceilings. Concourse E will still be unpleasant and inconvenient for connections. But the options to escape the misery of that airport are going to get a whole lot better.
except most AA operations are nowhere near A
not many other airlines connect passengers at CLT.
Everyone else is adding lounges to make up for AA’s lack of them in its 2nd largest hub.
CLT is far from having a ‘good’ lounge situation unless you hike for miles to the Delta gates, and this ‘Sidecar’ is too small and gimmicky to be reliable.
They really need a large satellite Admirals Club beyond the central one being expanded and the A gates need a larger normal club.
What a lousy location. The airport desperately needs more lounges, just not in terminal A. There’s plenty of complaints about how crowded the Amex lounge is but none of the new lounges are centrally located to take pressure of that lounge.
This would rub CLT the right way!