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Changes Coming to American Express Centurion Lounges on March 22, 2019

The American Express Network of Centurion Lounges are some of the nicest spaces in airports with some of the best food and beverage. The best part of their lounge network is that they so easily accessible, just by having The Platinum Card® from American Express, The Business Platinum® Card from American Express, or the Centurion Card.

Click here to learn more about The Platinum Card® from American Express

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Click here to learn more about The Business Platinum® Card from American Express

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Centurion Lounge locations include Dallas (DFW), Hong Kong (HKG), Houston (IAH), Las Vegas (LAS), Miami (MIA), New York LaGuardia (LGA), Philadelphia (PHL), San Francisco (SFO), and Seattle (SEA). Future locations for American Express Centurion Lounges include Charlotte (CLT), Denver (DEN), London Heathrow (LHR), Los Angeles (LAX), and New York John F. Kennedy (JFK).

The one negative aspect of the Centurion Lounges is that they are always so crowded. Just the other day  I was in the newly renovated lounge at Dallas (DFW) and when I arrived at to the lounge at 3:45 PM there wasn’t a seat to be found and the spa didn’t have any appointments until 6:40 PM.

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Previous Amex Lounge Changes

In order to help the overcrowding, American Express has taken many steps in the past. Back in March 2017 they dropped the number of free guests from 3 to 2. In October of 2017 they stopped selling $50 day pass lounge access to lower tier card members

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New Amex Lounge Changes

As of March 22, 2019, Amex will be updating access rules for Centurion Lounges for Platinum card members. Amex Centurion Lounge access will be limited to three hours or less prior to the originally scheduled departure time of a flight. Centurion Lounge access will no longer be permitted upon arrival. American Express has said that this new rule doesn’t apply to connecting passengers.

Additional, children under two years of age will be admitted free of charge and will not count towards the two complimentary guest count, so long as they are accompanied by a parent or guardian who is able to produce a “lap infant” boarding pass or proof of age.

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In Summary

These new restrictions aren’t fun. American Express seems be playing around with rules at the Centurion Lounge and I’m not quite sure they have the data to support this move. I am curious to see how this will affect spa appointments. I hope that they find that 3 hours is too short and will eventually find the right balance.

What do you make of these changes?

Feature image via American Express/Business Wire

Click here to learn more about the The Platinum Card® from American Express

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Click here to learn more about theThe Business Platinum® Card from American Express

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