Leaked: American Express Centurion Coming to Denver (and Expect Plaza Premium, Too)

by Gary Leff

I receive compensation for content and many links on this blog. Citibank is an advertising partner of this site, as is American Express, Chase, Barclays and Capital One. Any opinions expressed in this post are my own, and have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by my advertising partners. I do not write about all credit cards that are available -- instead focusing on miles, points, and cash back (and currencies that can be converted into the same). Terms apply to the offers and benefits listed on this page.

When American Express started opening lounges in the U.S. they were a step above what was offered elsewhere, with substantive chef-designed food buffets and a full bar plus different amenities in each location like a spa, showers, and kids room.

Centurion lounge access is complimentary for Platinum Card from American Express cardholders. Everything inside – from food and alcohol to, in some lounges, spa treatments are complimentary as well). Access is also complimentary for Centurion (Black Card) cardholders of course. And no longer possible with other American Express cards.

American Express Centurion lounges currently open are Dallas Fort-Worth, Las Vegas, Miami, New York LaGuardia, San Francisco, Seattle, Houston, Philadelphia and Hong Kong.


American Express Centurion Lounge Hong Kong

Airlines have been investing more in their lounges, and learning a lesson that American Express quickly caught on to — build a nice lounge and more passengers will want to use it than you expect. They’re expanding lounges and building larger lounges where possible. Denver falls into the latter camp.

American Express has been talking to the Denver airport about a Centurion lounge since 2011. They wanted to put one on United’s B concourse. That never happened, but there’s finally now movement because on Tuesday the Denver City Council is expected to approve a lease for a new Centurion lounge on the C concourse.

All of the concourses are connected airside in Denver. Currently Priority Pass members have access to the Timberline Steaks restaurant on the C concourse. I had breakfast there two weeks ago even though I was departing on American, which flies out of the A concourse. It’s a short train hop away.

The proposed American Express lease is for 14,650 square feet and is written for a 10 year term at $2 million per year. American Express will spend a minimum of $14 million on the space. And they also pay 25% of gross receipts to the airport, though they no longer allow the paid access they once did.

This will be larger than any current American Express Centurion lounge, though perhaps slightly smaller than the proposed lounge for New York JFK. As a result of its size they’re proposing to offer a spa (similar to Dallas and Miami), kids room, and showers.

According to an airport presentation American Express was the only entity interested in a lounge on the C concourse. That’s where the bigger space was available. There was a process soliciting interest for an A concourse lounge as well, and the airport received 4 proposals.

The airport has selected Plaza Premium to move forward with an A concourse lounge. Here’s the location of the 11,751 proposed square foot lounge which may wind up accessible to Priority Pass customers if and when completed.

(HT: One Mile at a Time)

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

More articles by Gary Leff »

Editorial note: any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer. Comments made in response to this post are not provided or commissioned nor have they been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any bank. It is not the responsibility of advertisers Citibank, Chase, American Express, Barclays, Capital One or any other advertiser to ensure that questions are answered, either. Terms and limitations apply to all offers.

Comments

  1. I rarely go through Denver just hoping they make it better than Philadelphia and Hong Kong. Philadelphia is nice enough just too small , standing room only sometimes and not a fan of the food. Hong Kong was a disappointment all the way around, I left and went to the much nicer Cathay Pacific lounge. Forget the name of the one I went to but it is one of my favorite HK lounges for Business travel.

  3. Denver seems to be a popular place of connection for SW flights and they are usually out of C so this should be great 🙂

  4. PHL is the only lounge I use. I agree the food does suck. Hope you’re listening AMEX. the cocktails are great though.

  7. Come on. What about LAX? We are a huge airport. Sure, getting the commercial space for the lounge is very costly at LAX, but we’ve been waiting years…

  8. PHL is the primary lounge I use. As others have mentioned has to be the worst food of any centurion lounge I have been. They really need to change the food as even my mom and dad who are infrequent fliers said they would rather go to the American Airlines Admirals Club. Also, the space is way to small and often times has standing room only.

Comments are closed.