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.
When are people going to wake up to the superiority of Chase Sapphire to AmEx? Chase knows how to run a CC travel program. I got the first Sapphire Reserve CC in 2016 and have never been happier with my decision to ditch AmEx than I am today.
That was a sad story to read
Hope it’s not like the airlines where the standards drop at the other bank lounges seemingly in solidarity…
Problem is, the biggest complaint (lines to get in) apply to the Chase and CapOne lounges as well. (Well, wait lists to get in- which Amex is moving towards as well.)
I do *not* have an Amex Plat card; my wife does. I am not ever an AU on her card. This card makes little sense to me, and I’ve very happy to have my Amex Gold card. That said, with the cards I do have, I can access Alaska lounges, Admirals Clubs, and Priority Pass lounges. My home airport (SFO) has all three of these a short distance apart from one another in T1. I have my choice. I’ve never had to wait in line to get in to any lounge @SFO. In fact, I can recall only two times my wife and I had to wait in line for lounge access: once @LHR to get into the Club World (Business Class) Lounge, and once for a Centurion Lounge somewhere in the US (but I can’t recall where — but it was before the rules change). YES, the Centurion Lounges have certainly gone downhill in my limited experience, but I’m in no hurry to get a Chase Sapphire Reserve (I have the CSP) or Capital One card (another card where I see little benefit to)..
What amazes me is that despite these “lounge lines” and the feeling like everyone is elite, it simply isn’t true. Case in point: Wednesday afternoon I’m connecting thru ATL and my flight is out of Concourse E. I opted for the Sky Club rather than the Centurion since I had just been to the Centurion a few days before. Well, the food court was an absolute zoo and the Friday’s had a line out the door. No seats at the bar…no tables…it looked like an absolute you-know-what show. The E Sky Club was busy but nothing close to the food court and that Friday’s. So, despite all the issues (and to be fair your article is not wrong) I’ll take the Sky/United/Centurion Club(s) any day over the terminal.
@Jason,
What card do you have that gets you into Alaska lounges?
The food at most Centurion lounges is now worse than the food you’d find at a food court. It’s lukewarm at best, even when right out of the kitchen, and often close to inedible. The only value I continue to find is a more comfortable sea and (marginally) less noise and distraction. That’s about it.
I keep a spreadsheet for my Platinum Card. One column is the benefits with a ‘hard dollar’ value, like the $200 hotel credit and the Uber and entertainment credits. Another column is the ‘soft dollar’ benefits like lounge access. Each year my hard dollar benefits exceed $695, so I don’t worry too much about the soft dollar benefits. But I’ve been valuing Centurion Lounge visits at $25, more or less $15 for the food and $10 for the seat. It probably won’t affect my overall value analysis, but I’m starting to think that valuation is excessive, particularly since I no longer eat the food unless I’m ravenously hungry.
The brand erosion at AmEx over my traveling lifetime of four decades is striking and shows no signs of reversing.
Unfortunately, you are 100% correct.and i am very surprised that AMEX has let it slip like this
@jsn55 — I’m with you that Chase Sapphire (specifically LGA, BOS) is better than the Amex lounges at many airports (though, the Centurion is better than the Sapphire at JFK, ironically). In the US at least, DeltaOne lounges at JFK and LAX still beat them all. Then, AA’s Flagship Chelsea and Soho lounges at JFK T8. Then United’s Polaris at EWR. Then everything else.
Lounges in general aren’t really worth it nowadays. Better to just buy a few snacks/drinks and sit at an unused gate.
Yep, everything said is true. The overall decline of AMEX is alarming.
The lounges are in a downward spiral and no longer offer a premium experience.
My expectations for airport lounge have declined, certainly partly because of crowding issues and low class people talking on speaker phones or treating it like a day care, but also because it’s no longer a novelty to me. I used to arrive early just to enjoy the lounge, eat and drink for free and enjoy the tarmac view. Now I arrive as late as possible, just a quick drink and bite to eat then off to the gate.
It’s certainly not premium anymore, it’s mainstream, so lower your expectations and you won’t be disappointed.
Gary on one of his soapboxes again ranting about something that is obvious and that no whining will ever change. Just another day it seems
I hope AMEX is reading these comments. I have had platinum for 30 years and I can use the lounge perhaps half the time and that’s if I wait. I’m so tired of the coupon book. I’ll keep a biz plat because it lets me use points to buy biz and first class airfare at 1.5 cpp, That;’s the deciding factor, given the diminished value of everything else.
I can get Disney+ from my Kroger membership so it is not worth the digital entertainment credit value. Paramount+ with Walmart +, which I can buy for $49 per year, not the $12.99 per month charge with amex (and credited back as if I’m getting $156 value).
On the other hand I was in the Cathay Pier lounge at HKG last week anf it is amazing when you visit a truly great lounge
Was on trips through Denver and Atlanta in the past month. Both have a Centurion Lounge- both were full. Used the Amex on-line app to reserve spots; the Denver lounge opened up right as we boarded our plane! Even the Cap One Lounge in Denver was full. The only lounges that seem consistently open and available are the airline ones- have had slight delays with Delta but have never had an access issue with AA. I know they “aren’t as good” but available beats full every time.
Regarding DCA Terminal E Admirals Club, sure the decor is nice and pretty, but the (complimentary) food and beverage options are terrible. That’s just a fact. The AA clubs pale in comparison to DL’s offerings as well. The love affair with this particular lounge, because AA finally built a lounge that looks nice, is kind of missing the point when the actual offerings of the lounge itself are pedestrian.
While I don’t agree completely on your assertions, they’re certainly a lot more true than false. What suggestions would you make to improve matters? My suggestions are to stop allowing free military access and limit the number of annual free visits by paying cardholders. Between those moves some crowding and waiting in line would be alleviated.
Was at the MIA Centurion lounge last night. No line to get in but I literally got the last seat available; very crowded. There was a long line for the food (bbq chicken thighs, rice and cauliflower were the hot items) and a line for the bar. The design has not aged well. At least the staff were friendly doing the best they can.
When you are addicted to American Express cards you pay the ultimate price
*High Annual fees (sucker punched)
*Mostly lousy domestic air partners for point transfers (and you pay a fee to redeem lol)
*Horrible overseas call centers with inept agents you fight with to get your credits/benefits
If you can understand what they are saying
*Messed up merchant disputes
*Non Premium experiences
*Crowded airline clubs with lines and nasty crud/slop they call fine dining
They once upon a time were the role model for the industry now just fake premium perception
Corporate hates their customers and will do anything to screw cardholders and devalue the program and charge higher fees.
I am American Express card free after many decades of membership and loving it
They took my business for granted and I found far better opportunities elsewhere.
Feel sorry when I see someone pay with one of their cards knowing they are being ripped off
@Mike H — Yeah, that MIA Centurion is tight–especially with having to take those small-ish elevators up there. At least the views are nice. Breakfasts are actually quite good, too. Not sure how they’d renovate or expand that without a concourse rebuild.
@Ron — I’ve given up on the DEN Centurion–every time I’ve been through there, full. If ATL is the same, even as large as it is, that’s a real shame.
@JC — I actually really like the DCA Admirals Club, and the food is ‘fine’ but no, not ‘amazing’–you’d need to go to a Flagship for better food, honestly. When the ACs have guacamole stations, it’s decent–and some sell food, which is lame–like, really, they can’t include some quesadillas. Another nice ‘new’ Admirals Club is LGA Terminal B–they just need to ‘upgrade’ more of them.
I noticed this awhile ago. Their lounges are terrible & food at the airports get better & better. I let my AMEX platinum lapse last year and I do not miss it (or it’s annual fee) one bit.
Next up is CLEAR. At least in Denver, CLEAR only slows you down. Another waste we’ve been told we need to have…
@Elle — On CLEAR, it proliferated after Amex included the annual credit with its Platinum cards. Before then, fewer people had it, so it was more special. These days, you really do need to evaluate whether Pre-Check or CLEAR is faster, then decide. Most of us have at least one card with Global Entry credit, so we all should have Pre-Check, unless the airline is too ‘cheap’ to participate in it.