American Express is launching a new lounge concept, in airports where they already have Centurion lounges. It will be branded “Sidecar by Centurion Lounge.”
- This will be quick service dining
- Available to Platinum and Centurion cardholders within 90 minutes of scheduled flight departure (versus 3 hours in a Centurion lounge)
- Outside of the time-to-departure limit, access rules will mirror existing Centurion lounges.
- The first one will debut in Las Vegas next year (also the site of the very first Centurion lounge)
Credit: American Express
These ‘speakeasy-inspired’ setting will focus on food and cocktails, with restrooms but not other amenities.
The menu will be part of Amex’s broader new Culinary Collective initiative launching July 29, with rotating seasonal dishes created by a panel of chefs (rather than one chef tied to a given lounge, though lounges will still highlight local dishes even as they standardize buffets). This group includes James Beard Award winners Mashama Bailey of The Grey in Savannah and Kwame Onwuachi out of New York.
Credit: American Express
Credit: American Express
American Express says many guests spend less than an hour in their lounges today. Of course that might be because they had to wait an hour to get in!
It’s good to see this non-traditional effort. It adds footprint to American Express options in airports. It will be high turnover, since time in the lounge is limited by proximity to departure. And it will hopefully offer better food than what American Express puts out at their buffets today.
This looks largely inspired by Capital One Landing, the restaurant instead of lounge that debuted at Washington’s National airport last year and that is set to open at LaGuardia. The initial one is the gold standard in U.S. airport lounge food. Notably, American Express copied Capital One’s lounge waitlisting via app approach as well. The question will be whether they copy Capital One’s food quality at these outposts.
Regardless, the innovation is welcome. American Express has the largest lounge network of the banks. They had a significant head start (though Chase has built aggressively). The aesthetic feels dated in many locations, crowds have only gotten worse even as they’ve limited access but minted many new Platinum cardmembers (and added Delta Reserve cardmembers flying Delta). And food quality doesn’t match what they were delivering a decade ago. Hopefully this will rejuvenate the product.
Sidecar is, inter alia, the name of a failed early competitor to Lyft and Uber. Horrible brand name if you ask me.
Obviously Amex will use this new concept to justify increasing annual fees. Which I welcome, but at the same time, Amex, can we please stop waiving fees for military? They are not the type of (fascist and unintellectual) losers that highly successful professionals want to be with inside a lounge.
The more the merrier, though I wouldn’t go to LAS to try it. Looks a bit like the speakeasy at JFK T4, but with food.
@Erect — You’re onto something about using these as justification for increasing fees; however, your comment disparaging military members is not cool. I may not prefer the current administration, but the everyday service members are not the problem, here or generally. Also, are going by other names, like @E. Jack Youlater, @Un, or @Unintidmidated? Just checking. Similar ‘hot takes’ and formatting as them. Hmm.
90 minutes with a 30 minute wait = zero minutes if you want yo board with your group to get overhead bin space.
The military absolutely deserves disparagement and scorn. They kill people!
In the US, people join the military when they can’t get into college or can’t get a legitimate corporate job. The military is for losers.
It’s bad enough I have to share the midtown air with losers (military or otherwise). Keep them outta centurion lounges please.
F the military.
@1990 spot on, as soon as I saw the Amex provided pictures, it reminded me of the Speakeasy at JFK, I think it’s called 1850, after the year AMEX was founded? They also put 1850 on some of their cocktails like their espresso martini
Thank you @1990.
The Sidecar branding is fine. Uninspired perhaps but feels exclusive. In NYC there’s Sidecar at PJ Clarke’s which was originally launched as a members only club. So it already has an exclusivity association for NYC types (and there’s a PJ Clarke’s right by Amex’s offices in NYC).
It’s certainly a lot better than Citi doubling down on the word Strata which I continue to think has a slightly strange connotation.
After enduring 60-minute waits to enter various AMEX Centurion Lounges on multiple occasions, it’s a relief to know that the new and streamlined AMEX Sidecar Lounge offers a quicker experience. Here, you can swiftly enjoy some quick service food options, such as hot dogs, chicken nuggets, and fries, before hurrying to catch your next flight. Indeed, AMEX Card membership comes with its advantages.
@Baron — Yes! 1850! Those are some delicious espresso martinis.
@Peter — Speaking of Citi, DoC reported today of rumors of a Prestige-equivalent ‘Strata Elite’ or whatever they rename it, expected Q3 2025. Would be nice to get 5x dining, 4th night free back; also, Admirals Club access, AA transfers are personal aspirational asks. Time will tell on that…
@E. Jack Youlater & @Un — Oh, so that just about confirms it. You guys and @Erect are likely the same fella. If I recall correctly, you’re pro-CCP trolls. Recall that Taiwan is a free country, Tibet should also be free, the Tiananmen Square massacre is a war crime, and your 9-dash line is a farce. Oh, and none of that is racist or xenophobic. No. Huge fan of our Taiwanese brothers and sisters. Please feel free to come around here and share your drivel any time. I’ll be waiting for you.
@1990 – interesting, thanks. Have been thinking about getting the Strata Premier but maybe will hold off to see what they do with Elite. They are at a big disadvantage not being able to offer Citi branded lounge access – could mirror Amex Plat and offer X number of Admirals Club visits or something like that, but that could eat into the AA Executive Card for sure (Chase never offered that with United Clubs, they had to build out their own ecosystem).
Off to Taiwan next month and looking forward!
@Peter — Nice! Safe travels! Yeah, that 48-month rule for bonuses might be worth the wait. At least Citi allows us to hold both Premier and Prestige; whereas, until recently, Chase would only allow CSP or CSR, not both at the same time, which was odd (like, why wouldn’t they want you to have more cards, pay more fees). I have a CSR and am considering opening a CSP because 2x travel is better than 1x for things like rental cars (primary coverage) and travel agencies, etc., which are negatively impacted by the downgraded benefits (previously, these were 3x, but starting October, gonna be 1x, unless via UR portal, which is lame).
@1990 – Just make sure you don’t live in NY if you are counting on primary rental car coverage with Chase – it’s now secondary coverage for NY residents.
@Peter — And, if you don’t have a primary (like, your own car, your own insurance, etc.), then secondary becomes primary (like if you live in NYC and don’t have a car or auto insurance). I dealt with a recent claim (rock hit windshield, was ultimately dropped, thankfully), and the coverage with the CSR was ‘working’ as before, under those circumstances. Again, feel free to consult with Chase.
@1990 – the Venture X ad outside the new CapOne lounges at LGA TB and JFK T4 will write itself-
“Dear New York. Chase raised your rates! It is now $795 for the Reserve for coupons you don’t want, and they dropped your primary rental car insurance! Travel better and save $400 with Capital One and still get primary rental car insurance, plus cell phone insurance. Even better, you could be in this awesome brand new lounge right now! What’s in your wallet?”
I’m sure someone who works on Madison Avenue will clean up that copy.
@Peter — I’ve walked by both the new Capital One lounge at JFK T4 and the still-under-construction Landing at LGA Terminal B recently. It’s nice to have all these great options!
Also, looking forward to the new Amex Centurion at EWR Terminal A as well (supposedly, 2026).
Now, if jetBlue could actually open its own lounge in the new JFK T5-6, that’d be swell, because it’s sad to be stranded at that terminal while there’s all these riches next door. Bah!
@1990 – seems odd to penalize owners of cars though, doesn’t it? Given deductibles you would never make a claim with your regular insurance company over something like a rock hitting a windshield (and I say that as someone who unfortunately had to utilize the services of Safelite over the last few months – ugh.)
EWR TA lounges are… fine? Will be nice to have Amex in the mix. I like the AA lounge’s decor for instance, the problem is EWR TA is just not that nice overall for me. The lounges look out onto the concourse, not the ramp – feels like I’m floating in the middle of the terminal. And it’s hard to get any views of the plane outside from the gates. It’s also hard to actually get to Terminal A unless you are dropped off at the door – the transit options there are a joke. At least the food options are good and it’s relatively modern.
JFK T5 is just awful to be at though. It’s gross. T6 can’t come soon enough.
@Peter — It is a bit odd. Insurance is usually state laws, so I guess a trip up to Albany would be required. Oof.
EWR Terminal A United Club, Delta SkyClub, and American Admirals Club are each pretty nice. Of course, best lounge in EWR is Polaris at Terminal C, but you’d need to qualify for that entry. Terminal B is interesting, so old, but what Le Compagnie did with the former Virgin Clubhouse is actually nice; also, the British Airways lounge is decent, good views. And the updates and expansions to the regular UnitedClubs in C aren’t bad either. Overall, I’d say Newark lounges are a lot better these days than a few years back. And yes, the food outside of lounges is better, especially at Terminal A, where they’ve attempted a few ‘local’ NJ options.
Generally, I don’t mind the AirTrain pre-security, and while the ‘bus’ airside between A and C is a bit tedious, it’s better than having to exit the secured area on a connection. Now, thankfully the runway situation is better, so if only the FAA would hire and train more ATC, then there’d be real hope. The long-term plan for a new Terminal B-C is interesting but could take decades, well into the 2030s.