I had been to the old Seattle American Express Centurion lounge several times, but hadn’t been to the new expanded one since it opened two years ago. Located in the airport’s Central Terminal mezzanine above the food court, they went from having just 4,500 square feet to about 14,000 square feet – a legitimately large lounge.
Since I was on a 9 a.m. flight, and entering the lounge a little after 7 a.m. off of my connecting flight, there wasn’t a wait – just a short queue at the desk to check in. Still, the lounge itself was pretty packed inside with just a few available seats. And I’ve seen plenty of reports of 30-40 minute waits by other frequent flyers.
Decor in the lounge is engaging with plenty of natural light, making it feel more open than many of their other lounges.
It’s one of the better Centurion lounges overall, alongside Atlanta, New York JFK and Denver. What makes it a good lounge are its size (though it still gets crowded), windowline, as well as the coffee shop. There are multiple types of seating, with family rooms, communal tables, and phone booths. And you can see the mountains on clear days.
I was there during the breakfast hours, so didn’t check out the cocktails, beer, or wine. But it was the first Centurion lounge with a full service barista serving cold brew, espresso drinks, smoothies, and kombucha. Notably, though, like the Alaska Airlines lounge coffee bar in the terminal there is no whole milk. Excellent fruit, though.
Food is o.k. I guess. I don’t want to judge a lounge food program based on breakfast, though perhaps I should. It’s something easy to get lazy and cheap with, and doing well with breakfast makes you especially a stand out.
Access is available to American Express Platinum and Business Platinum cardmembers, Centurion cardmembers and Delta Reserve cardmembers with a same day Delta boarding pass.
Since February 2023, 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. This hasn’t solved the crowding issues, just as limiting access to 3 hours prior to departure (unless connecting) didn’t and eliminating paid access for other Amex cardmembers didn’t.
Nice review. Haven’t been since they expanded. The old one was tiny, so this is an improvement. Looking forward to the new DeltaOne lounge at SEA whenever it’s finally opened.
It’s already open
@VisitSEAWithD – it literally opened two years ago, as i note even in the title
@Gary Leff — I think @VisitSEAWithD may have been referring to the new DeltaOne at SEA, which I thought was scheduled to open this ‘summer,’ and just saw on Reddit as well that it may have officially opened on June 24, 2025. If so, that’s a big deal!
https://www.reddit.com/r/delta/comments/1ljts37/its_finally_here_sea_delta_one_lounge_is_open/
@VisitSEAWithD — Did you mean DeltaOne at SEA? If so, cool!
It gets crowded during cruise season, but otherwise is not too bad. I do not fly much now, but the prior two years I used it most weeks on Monday or Tuesday and usually did not have to wait or wait long on the occasions I did. I prefer it over any other lounge at SeaTac, but have not seen the new Delta One lounge.
I like the Amex lounge at SEA but like Gary, have only been there during breakfast hours. I like thar they have lots of fresh fruit for breakfast and the coffee bar is terrific. FYI, the coffee bar also has a few baked goods, which are usually very good.
I was never in the Amex mini-lounge on Concourse B so have no basis for comparison. Yes, this lounge can get crowded and sometimes the wait is long to get in. I think Amex has overcompensated with the waitlist, though. When I do finally get in, there are usually a lot of empty seats available.
SEA has seen a bigger increase of overall lounge space on a percentage basis than probably any airport and yet they are all doing well.
Given that Amex is targeting new and larger lounges heavily in DL hub cities, this also helps overcrowding in DL SkyClubs.
People are willing to spend for higher levels of service across the board which is good news for everyone.
@Tim Dunn “Given that Amex is targeting new and larger lounges heavily in DL hub cities, this also helps overcrowding in DL SkyClubs.”
That is not an accidentally, it was a requirement Delta pushed for.
I was there last year. It was crowded and the air inside was stuffy with a smell of human sweats. They should install addition AC and/or ventilation for the space.
The buffet counter was messy and empty tables let uncleaned for a long time. They should hire more cleaning staff. Fortunately, I have access to Delta lounge, which is a little bigger and better.
of course, Gary. It is part of DL’s strategy to deal w/ overcrowding in Sky Clubs even if comes at the cost of some of the $500 million/year that DL gets from Amex for non-DL branded Amex cards.
and it highlights how effective Amex is at in getting cards in the hands of people that want lounge access – which other card companies are trying to copy
@Tim Dunn — Did Delta officially open the new DeltaOne lounge at SEA in late June?
I’ve been there in the afternoon… I don’t even bother anymore. Last time I went round and round until an employee started making people take their bags off chairs and “assigned” me a spot crammed between two others at the bar. I set my plate of food down and walked out and went back to the Alaska Lounge.
Glad they are cutting down on bag-spreading.
I have been there a lot and the wait keeps getting worse. The strange thing is that since they went to an online queue, it is a very long wait but once upstairs it is kept half empty. Last visited on 06.18 and the wait was +/-70 mins.
1990,
yes, other sites covered the DL 1 opening at SEA.
Didn’t you get the email? Must have come out when you were on one of those United flights w/o real high speed WiFi
great great bartenders at this lounge
Generally I’ve (SEA-based DL Diamond) had great experiences here, when I can get in. I find the food better than most US lounges. If there’s a wait I usually just go to Delta at A1. I’ve thankfully been home this summer so i haven’t been since the second Delta and D1 lounge opened.
Of course they haven’t eliminated crowding (frankly I don’t think they want to), but the measures they have taken do help mitigate the crowding issues. E.g. why the lounge is usually crowded, its not constantly wait listed (of course during times of peak demand, it does happen).
@Tim Dunn — Bah! I did not receive any email. And, other sites?! What… no, never… just VFTW…
Yeah, I do miss that free WiFi on Delta; can’t believe United and American are still charging. Even jetBlue offers it for free!
With all the thunderstorms in NYC lately, I’ve been having a lot of rebooking and even booking backups for my routes… so, it’s really a mix these days. Like, if Delta or United gets canceled, I try American, jetBlue, etc. And Newark is still a mess with the whole FAA/ATC shortages. Tough days.
Lounges no matter how big they make them will always be packed. The only way to do this is increase annual fees with cards that provide access. Chase Reserve is up 40% and Amex when its reveled will be more then what Chase I wager. Greatly limit associated cards like Amex Delta Reserve.
As a retired Marine love the vets but they all get in free with family. I would get with the USO and build a Active Duty lounge that all the lounge people contribute to geared for the mostly 18-30/40 bracket. It would be a hit for them and remove them from mainstream lounges.
Lastly I would start building Business Class ticket only lounges. I fly Business Class 6 times a year sometimes more for my job and it would remove people like me.
Would take a while but they could greatly mitigate all of this.
If AMEX does raise their annual fee I do wonder if that will lead to reduced platinum card holders and reduced crowding in their lounges. I’ve read that AMEX markets their platinum card portfolio as individuals with average annual income of $400k US and $1 million in assets. I don’t believe either of those figures. Between all the higher annual fees for the travel cards, airline cards and hotel cards, somethings gotta give. I don’t foresee the majority of people keeping cards that run $800/900/1000 a year in annual fees.
THANK YOU for validating everything I feel about this lounge. Lunch/dinner are even size and are just one step above cafeteria quality.
Hoping that the upcoming changes to the Platinum card starts to knock out the covid bandwagonners because a 30 minute wait isn’t a premium experience at all
@Baron — That’s funny how Amex outright lies like that; kind like how applicants to their cards can similarly exaggerate their income and assets when applying. Rarely, if ever, has an issuer verified supporting documents to determine credit worthiness, other than the credit check via the three bureaus. It’s not like Amex (or anyone) is verifying folks bank account statements or form 1040. One thing is for sure, Amex, and all credit cards will increase, not decrease, their fees, and will proceed to justify their ‘cash grab’ with silly ‘enhancements’ that do not outweigh the additional costs, no matter how much TPG shills for them.
I just recently flew out of Sea. AL was not busy at all (9pm departure flight). Had dinner there and it was delicious. Now I have also flew out on a 8am flight and it was no wait. Not sure of all the issues some have been having. Now hands down SFO AL is by far the best imo. But living in the NW I would say overall there has been a vast improvement in food and space in our AL.
@1990 actually I got a platinum in feb 2024 and they did require me to submit bank statements to verify my income. It might have been due to my average credit score but high income so I was “pending approval” until I sent in bank statements and then got approved right away
@Lauren — Glad it worked out for you in the end, regardless. I recognize that the verification *can* happen, and when it does it’s not ‘fun’ (so, it is best not to outright ‘lie’ or ‘exaggerate’ too much); most importantly, congrats on your ‘high income’ (that’s the real ‘win’ here!)
The SEA lounge is actually easier to get into during peak times when it ia fully staffed. They go on a wait list after the morning rush and keep it half full.
@Lori — Interesting. So, they’re ‘cheap.’ Not surprised, just disappointed. We, the card members, deserve better. The workers also deserve more; like, there is demand, and no doubt, the staff wants more hours, more pay, but someone at Amex/SEA decided they’d ‘save’ money, harming everyone in the process. Consumers and workers suffer while capital wins, yet again. A tale as old as time…