Tag Archives for escape lounge.
More than 150 people joined the wait list for the tiny American Express Centurion Studio in Fort Lauderdale, which tells you almost everything about what airport lounge “premium” means now. The space is small, the food is forgettable, and the only thing truly exclusive about it is how many travelers are still willing to queue for it.
San Diego airport is getting an Escape Lounge, which are especially nice common use lounges generally accessible with Priority Pass.
American Express has its Centurion lounges, and its smaller ‘Studio Partner’ longes which are Escape Lounges. Previously you could use an American Express Platinum card to access Escape lounges, but they’re now branded by American Express and more cardholders know about the benefit.
Like Centurion lounges, these Centurion Studio lounges have become more crowded.
The Austin airport was supposed to be getting a new lounge accessible by American Express Platinum cardmembers. A contract was set to be awarded right before the pandemic. But the owners of Priority Pass disputed the award, wanting to build their own club. This stalled the process, the award was cancelled, and now the airport says they have no plans to try again.
The Austin airport has been working to add an independent lounge apart from the American, United, and Delta clubs that are already open there. They solicited a bid for the space back in the early spring, and the airport selected MAG (“Manchester Airport Group”) USA which runs Escape lounges. These are pay per use and accessible free to American Express Platinum cardmembers.
The old “The Club” lounge space at the Phoenix airport has been renovated and enlarged and is now two separate lounges with a shared entrance and separate reception spaces. It is an American Express Centurion Lounge and also an Escape Lounge. And they’re both now open.
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 »
