Platinum cardmembers aren’t the only things sitting out for too long at the Centurion lounge. American Express’s Charlotte airport outpost received a poor county health inspection, so the food may be about as fresh as an economy passenger coming off of an American Airlines flight from London hoping against hope for a shower.
Charlotte Amex Centurion Lounge fails much of health inspection
byu/OscarWins inamex
In fact, the Charlotte Centurion lounge received one of the five worst scores in all of Charlotte.
The PIC chef in the kitchen had several priority item violations and is does not have food protection manager training.
Observed employee handle raw chicken then proceed to use a fryer utensil that is used for other RTE food items.
Observed dented cans stored with food supply that is in use and not in the designated damaged food bin.
Observed raw sausage stored above overnight oats.
Observed raw hamburger stored above salad.
Observed raw eggs stored above cheese.
Observed a salad with berries that did not cool to 41 F within 4 hours, cooked farrow that had been held out for a period of time in the kitchen that did not cool properly (observed a lot of condensation in the container indicating improper cooling), and melons prepared this morning that had a zero degree cooling rate.
Observed cooked apples used at 8:30 this morning ant 48 F in a covered container.
Observed garlic and oil mixture on preparation table at 70 F. Item discarded.
Observed Piquat on the stove at 110 F, per PIC the product had been prepared over 4 hours ago.
Observed cooked vegetables sitting on a sheet rack in the kitchen awaiting to be placed in the oven at 55 F.
Observed tofu at 41 -42 F sitting at the fryer and no staff actively working on the food preparation of the item.
Observed TPHC logs not being maintained for milk at beverage stations, food in warming cabinet, and in low boy refrigerator for salads.
Observed beef roast being prepared and was cooked to 110 F.
Observed melons, farrow, salads cooling in covered containers.
Observed several containers of dry goods with no labeling.
American Express made quite a bit of news over its Atlanta Centurion lounge failing a health inspection (after coming close to a fail a couple of times before that). I’ve covered multiple inspection fails at the Chicago O’Hare Delta Sky Club and also fails at the B/C American Airlines Admirals Club in Philadelphia.
Some of you will feel, what you don’t see won’t hurt you. Most of the time, I wonder what the lines to get into Centurion lounges do to brand affinity – someone gets the card and they finally go to use their benefit and it isn’t a premium experience. Failing health inspections seems worse?
Pretty disgusting news! I wonder just how many Amex customers were made sick by their inappropriate behavior?
Glad that I haven’t visited that Amex lounge in quite some time.
Imagine if AMEX had actually run and maintained THEIR lounges instead of farming it out to stadium concessions companies.
“Membership has it’ Privileges”…….and diarrhea.
I thought you were going to say it was the one in PHL. That place is filthy
Every Amex Centurion Lounge that I have visited has been like a crowded frat houses. They are an embarrassment to the brand. I no longer visit them. I will always take an airline-run lounge.
We here at American Distress appreciate your business from e-coli to food poisoning
you have prestige when you have our card.To further enhance your experience in our exclusive lounges we will raising your annual fees.
Thank You to all you suckers I mean loyal cardholders.
A speedy recovery to anyone who we may have made ill.Its always our pleasure
Have they tried adding a few more rocking chairs? Surely, that’ll fix CLT.
The layout of the terminals at CLT reminds me of PHL, where to get from one end of the airport to the other, it’s a 30 minute walk; meanwhile, American often sells itineraries at minimum connection times (like 35 minutes, so if everything is on-time, you have just 20 minutes to get between gates), but then the gates are at opposite ends of the airport, so you frequently see people literally sprinting in that airport. Not cool. Knock it down. Start over.
The American admirals Club in Dallas-Fort Worth gave me horrible horrible food poisoning
And the food was pretty mediocre to begin with. I wouldn’t cross a terminal to go to an admirals club.
Sounds like the only club that’s any good is Capital One
Thank you, Gary, for sharing the information that the American Express Centurion Lounge in Charlotte, North Carolina, received one of the five worst health scores after a Mecklenburg County Health Department inspection. It raises concerns about food safety at this location. Cardholders should be aware that AMEX Centurion Lounges do not provide complimentary barf bags to all members. It must be incredibly frustrating for American Express Centurion Card members who have paid a $10,000 initiation fee plus an annual fee for benefits such as priority entry, which includes complimentary access for two guests. However, black cardholders enjoy an exclusive benefit: they can skip the waiting line, which unfortunately means they are also the first in the lounge to acquire AMEX foodborne illnesses like norovirus or listeria. In addition, AMEX black cardholders have reserved spaces in all Centurion Lounges that can serve as a “vomitorium,” where the most valued AMEX clients can spew forth to relieve their gastric discomfort without limitations.
Did someone mention the Capital One Lounge? 🙂
These horror stories are scary. It would be very unfortunate to catch something right before a flight. If that’s the list of when someone was watching I don’t want to know what’s happening behind the scenes when no one is.
The American Express Centurion lounges have declined steadily under Stephen Squeri’s leadership. I remember the days where the Centurion lounges (food, drinks, amenities, etc) were so good, that they felt like the destination rather than part of the journey. I now find the Centurion lounges to be behind Chase Sapphire’s, Delta’s , and Capital One’s lounges. My platinum renewal is now and I have to decide whether or not to renew.
This is why I would rather starve. Ick.
It is interesting to read what is supposed to be a legal document and not be able to find a word used in a Google search.
What is farrow (used twice)? A misspelling of farro? I doubt it is a litter of pigs in this usage.
“Observed Piquat on the stove at 110 F, per PIC the product had been prepared over 4 hours ago.” Piquat is part of the name of a family of French wines. Is that the usage intended? Or should the word be piquant as in a piquant sauce?
-42 F seems to be cold enough to not cause a problem with raw food.
Does supervision review these reports for spelling accuracy before they are published?
By the way, I agree with those that say the rating should be at least a letter lower.
I’m a long-time Platinum cardholder but I never use the Centurion lounges anymore. To me – food safety aside – they feel like overcrowded, uncomfortable, stuffy cafeterias. Certainly not a place I want to spend time in. With (many) airline lounges getting better and better, I’d much rather spend my time there.
I remember before the policy about guests getting charged unless you spent $75,000, I would read constantly about how “people with kids are ruining Amex lounges, families don’t belong there”. Now the comments are describing the lounges as “overcrowded frathouses”. And the food is disgusting.
Glad people are finally starting to realize: kids weren’t the problem.
The passengers they let in are filthy,….. that’s why!
On the coattails of @Tim Ja, consider the clientele to whom they are catering. Gary has posted an image of a gym bag loaded up with food from the buffet. I’ve seen other images of the same. That’s the clientele to who they are catering and we see the service level and quality of food we do.
As for kids, I’ve seen some incredibly well-behaved kids . . . and some not so well behaved. They key off of the parents.
What a disgrace to AMEX indeed. I worked at this lounge for about 1 month in 2024. Food service is run by a different company. Time to look for a new vendor!
On the basis of many of these violations, my kitchen would not pass either…