We need to talk about the decline in American Express Centurion lounges. They were once great. They aren’t any longer – they aren’t as good as they used to be, and both Capital One and Chase offerings are better.
Back when American Express negotiated their first lease at the Dallas – Fort Worth airport, American Airlines objected. Centurion lounges drove competition and raised the standard. Airline lounges upped their game.
Amex lounge food was good. The Dean Fearing brisket in Dallas was delicious. The spaces had a premium feel, and the food even looked good.
When New York LaGuardia was opened the partner chef was Cedric Vongerichten of Perry Street restaurant in New York (son of Jean Georges). San Francisco opened with Christopher Kostow, three Michelin star chef of Napa’s The Restaurant at Meadowood. The food was something their chef partners could be proud of back then.
Chef Christopher Kostow at San Francisco Centurion Lounge Opening Event
Since then they have closed the spas. The food is no longer good. The design has aged.
I don’t see beef much these days. Overcooked pasta in big vats just doesn’t have the same appeal as the premium buffets American Express offered when these lounges were new.
Card annual fees have gone up and you have less access – no more free guests, you can no longer enter more than 3 hours prior to flight – yet those changes didn’t reduce crowding because they kept minting more cards and even added access to Delta Reserve cards which meant useing Centurion lounges to relieve crowding in Sky Clubs.
Now we have Chase lounges and Capital One lounges and those are better! Ironically their premium cards have lower annual fees than Amex Platinum. I still keep my Platinum, because I get more value from the coupon book than the fee and it gives me access to these lounges and Delta’s lounges when I fly Delta. But I don’t use Centurion lounges often even when they’re an option.
I choose the American Airlines Admirals Club on Washington National’s E Concourse over the American Express Centurion lounge at that airport, even though both entail walks to American Airlines mainline gates.
American Airlines Admirals Club, DCA E Concourse
The food in many Delta lounges is better than in Centurion lounges.
By 2018 I wrote that Centurion lounges are so busy, nobody goes there anymore. There will often be queues to get into the lounges. This was 1:45 p.m. on a Monday in Las Vegas (the Las Vegas lounge check-in agents told me how much they were looking forward to the opening of the Capital One lounge, hoping it would reduce the queues).
Credit: TravelZork
Credit: TravelZork
The whole point of an airport lounge is not to wait in the terminal. There’s nothing luxury about queueing. I have a Platinum card. It pays for itself with credits against spending I would do anyway. And sometimes it’s useful for lounge access I wouldn’t have otherwise.
However, Delta for years has promoted the idea that ‘when everyone’s elite, nobody is.’ When there are so many cardmembers traveling through airports that there are lines to get into their lounges, the lounges cannot in any way be considered ‘elite’.
When American Express first opened Centurion lounges, the food was fantastic and lounges weren’t overrun. Not everyone had discovered them yet. There weren’t as many cardmembers. Those managing the budgets hadn’t quite anticipated that when you open a nice lounge, more people will show up, stay longer, and eat more. They were producing food at a smaller scale and with what seemed like a bigger budget per head.
Back then there were no limits on how far in advance you could arrive at a Centurion lounge, and no lines to get in.
Credit card premium lounges are a victim of their own success, attracting more customers (which detracts from the experience) and driving up costs (which lead to cutbacks in the experience). And a decade on even the design feels dated.
I forgot to add that Delta has really improved their clubs. The fod choices are very good and it has a good vibe. They definitely invested in them.
For 38 years I’ve been flying heavily, and have played the CC game with Chase, Cap One, AMEX and Citi. I ditched my AMEX Platinum card when I was tossed out of the Vegas lounge for not having an assigned seat on my boarding pass (AA had canceled a flight so I was being assigned a new seat at the gate). The DFW AMEX lounge had already become an overrun sh!t show, so I wasn’t giving up much. AMEX customer service had deteriorated. Superior service used to be their defining characteristic. The lounges reflect the shoddy nature of AMEX these days.
How do you figure that “they’re so crowded that no one goes there anymore”? Doesn’t quite make sense.
I thought you have a Centurion card? You shouldn’t have a wait to get in at all with that.
DCA – yesterday- 20 min. Wait for a spot in the Capital One lounge, so I went to the AA to sit and wait. Didn’t touch a thing, didn’t want to ruin my appetite. Got my text promptly and headed back downstairs. Excellent food and Service. Thank you again, Capital One
Amex Platinum now gives Premier Club access. These are very nice and offer a menu with table service. A recent visit to the Miami Centurion lounge had 3 hot “entrees” – a vegetable concoctions, and some tuna salad sliders.
Compared the capital one to Amex this week in Denver and was stunned by the difference. Dishes were hardly cleared, buffet felt like a Hampton inn, with no local inspiration. Coffee bar from a machine not a person. I’ll swing by an Amex if it’s available but if there is an option of cap 1 or chase it’s an easy choice.
The theme I am picking up from these comments is that it depends on which airport you travel to, and even time of day, as to which lounge you will want to use. All of us have choice. What we really need is an online database of lounge quality, updated in real time by users, maybe with corporate sponsorship (i.e. advertising) but not by Amex or the airlines. Those of us who don’t travel every month don’t want to have to traipse all over the airport looking for a decent spot to relax on a 2 hour layover. If we could manage to avoid the crowds and the cattle trough buffets, Amex is still a decent value when you factor in free alcohol, companion tickets, occasional upgrades, and free baggage etc. It all depends on where you fly out of and in to regularly as to which card is best value.
2025 is the end of my personal plat amex and my corp amex plat.
Long lines, crappy food, rude rude rude employees and huge families. It used to be a biz lounge, now it is a day care center, noisey, packed.
I am done with Amex
Centurions have definitely gone downhill in quality, plus I don’t go as much when I’m traveling with family I’d have to guest. So not that valuable to me anymore, but I do take advantage of the other benefits, so will keep Plat for now. However, I think Amex is going to have to look for new ways to attract and keep cardholders.
I really just want a lounge to wait in, plug in my devices and drink and eat snacks, and will go to the best one I have access to.
But times change. Lounges are more boring. I used to enjoy lounge-hopping on long connections. Multiple cards are good for that. They used to have more interesting variations in food, beverages and reading material. Now I just go to the nicest one and stay put till boarding.
It is not as if this is news. The current state of Centurion Lounges has been the case for years.
A case study in enshittification, non-tech variety.
As a 25 yr member of Amex Plat I understand all the gripes ,but always remind myself Amex is in the business of making money. They won’t stop printing new cards because we decide to drop them.We have choices..
Yes some of the lounges are crowded at certain times of the day, yet during the evening hours those same lounges are at times nearly empty.
Agree Delta reserve should be held to the same admission limitation standards in centurion that Amex plat is in the Sky clubs.
Lastly I have found the card most effective in overseas travel.
Access to lounges which honestly make anything in the states look like McDonald’s on a Saturday morning.
Amazing hotels & resorts using the various credits available which reduces my cost sometimes by 90 %..
The AmEx lounges were always nice but were never designed for the number of people that go through them and so there’s no question that there will be a decline in the quality and appearance of the lounge unless they either make it significantly larger or have several of them at each location.
At JFK terminal 4, it seems like the Delta and Centurion lounges share a kitchen for the hot food..I visited both my last trip in January, and it seemed like many of the good offerings were identical.
Gave up on my Platinum card a year ago. Smart choice.
This will be the last year for my Platinum AmEx card. I was in DEN on a Friday afternoon 2-28, and went to Term C just to take a 30 min break until flight departure in Term B. Was a 15-20 minute wait to get in. Not worth the hassle.
Have to say it’s a bit ironic making a post about how the lounges have gone down in quality and are too crowded by a site that has encouraged people to get and other credit cards.
Having the internal debate on the fate of my Platinum Amex. Still traveling but not finding as much value in using the card
Member since 1976, but no longer look for the Centurion Lounge when traveling as other lounges have improved more.
I know a big contributing factor is the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act and the Military Lending Act. In a nutshell, this allows any active duty person to get the annual fee for any card waived but still get all the benefits. So the newest private can get an Amex Plat for free and enjoy all the perks we pay big bucks for. I’ve written Amex having a reduced benefit but heard nothing back. My understanding is that waiving the annual fee removes there need to calculate a SM’s interest rate differently. I’m canceling my card this year. P.S. I am retired from the Army after 30 years, so it is not a dislike of our military!
With Delta investing heavily in gates and lounges at MSP, The Centurion has given up. Well worn and budget hotel food buffet is a compliment.
Yes, Delta owns MSP but they do as well in ATL where Centurion is like a spa compared to MSP.
$700 per year has crossed the economical line.
Member’s lounges, I think, will eventually go the way of the dinosaur. At $700/year for the Platinum card that gets you access and it’s still too crowded? Unfortunately the Chase and Cap One lounges will likely suffer the same fate over time. Those lounges will likely be replaced with straight paid-access lounges with dynamic pricing that hikes during peak hours to prevent overcrowding. With so many people flying, I think price-enforced exclusivity will be the only way to maintain the ‘premium/luxury’s feel of the airport lounge.
I was excited to see you had photos. it’s been months since I was in an American Express lounge because the last 4 times. I could not access the lounges because they were over capacity what’s the point of listing a perk if you can’t provide it to your customers?
@The Yar
It’s an old Yogi Berra quote.
One of my favourites.
I had heard good things about the American Express Centurion Lounge at JFK so was excited to try it for the first time two years ago. I was appalled and aghast. It wasn’t just mediocre, it was awful. I tried it one more time last year and it was just as bad if not worse. I’ll never go there again. An average Delta Sky Club is far superior to the Centurion at JFK.