We received a Reader Question on the weekend inquiring about the continuing closure of American Express Centurion Lounges at their worldwide locations.
Remember that you can always email us, send a message via Facebook or use Twitter and include photos too. We’ll try to cover Reader Questions & Comments here several times a week.
American Express has previously published a notice on their website announcing the closure of all Centurion Airport Lounges since March 21st 2020.
Amex has since kept these lounges closed and is reasoning it with Covid-19 yet most of the other lounges operated by airlines are open again which leads us to believe this is all about cost cutting.
We got a message from Kevin who lives in Las Vegas and he isn’t impressed by American Express continued lack of advertised card perks:
Hi Sebastian:
I contacted you in April about AmEx and their airport club options. I’m still based in Vegas and commute weekly to SFO and PHX.
This whole Centurion Lounge situation has become a nuisance to me since the clubs continue to be closed [here in Vegas they are doing construction].
I feel like Amex isn’t providing any return of what they’re promising their card members. As mentioned before I have the U.S. issued Platinum Card and an ICC issued Centurion. ICC did nothing for me and the U.S. card gave all members useless credits for streaming and cellphone services. any suggestion?
Kevin also included a picture he snapped at Las Vegas McCarran Airport showing the closed Centurion Lounge which – as Amex already stated – will be under construction until sometime in 2021.
You can access American Express website with information about Centurion Lounges here.
Quite frankly this is absolutely ridiculous. They have closed all Centurion Lounges in March and we’re soon reaching half a year of shutting down operations. The C-19 excuse doesn’t stick anymore.
No date is given when the Centurion Lounges will reopen but in the light of things how should they know that so I’m not counting on any Amex lounge being available for quite some time, possibly well into 2021.
I can see why customers like Kevin are angry about this. I downgraded my U.S. charge card to Green for the time being. It really makes no sense whatsoever to give any contribution in form of an annual fee to American Express while they’re still doing a dance around the inflexible travel credit (vastly inferior to Chase CSR) and don’t provide airport services.
All these credits for data services nice and well but that’s not something I pay as personal expense. They should refund part of peoples annual fee because what Amex is doing right now in regards to the airport lounges is simply a farce.
Conclusion
Centurion Lounges are a big part of the Amex Platinum/Centurion benefit portfolio so I can see those who have picked up traveling again to be severely annoyed about the ongoing closure.
You really can’t reason the closure of your entire lounge network with Covid-19 anymore while so many other airline lounges are operational again and have even upgraded the F&B options.
Is American Express doing so badly that the operational costs of these lounges are not in the budget anymore? They still have to pay rent for the space to the airport operator regardless of if they’re open or not. They’re well on the way to become just another penny pinching company.
Maybe you guys can do a stopover in Stockholm (ARN), the capital of Scandinavia? The Amex loungeoffer is open here with safe great a la carte service at your own table keeping distance. ://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a8dd90d92416d81f787c3119f505c3852034578abdc279bdd29365d4f9241061.jpg
Last I checked COVID-19 is definitely still a thing. Amex lounge is last place I’d want to be right now.
Fantastic. You stay safe at home.
Others have to hit the road to earn their paycheck.
But they don’t have to use a lounge to earn their paycheck.
So basically you don’t actually have an answer to the reader’s question, “ What’s Going On With The Closed American Express Centurion Lounges?”. Your post is just a rant that in your non-expert opinion the reasons for closing the lounges no longer apply.
I think both Sebastian and “Kevin” are blissfully I aware that there’s a global pandemic going on right now that’s killing close to 1,000 people a day in the US alone. Perhaps Kevin needs to rethink his priorities.
Pandemic or no pandemic the world still turns. Almost 900k flew yesterday.
You stay safe at home. Others have to travel. Covid or no Covid.
Plus CNN just said that air travel is low risk.
Dude. View From the Wing told me everything is safe now. Because HEPA and he can’t find Health Authorities that are putting contact tracing details on The Internets.
Funny how he hasn’t published trip reports in 5 months….
And it’s that attitude which is why the US leads COVID deaths every day 🙁 You really don’t have to travel. The rest of the world stopped travelling. Please enlighten us as to why you have to fly.
While you asking me why not ask the 870,000 that flew yesterday.
Ok woggly. If you travel before covid is 100% gone you are a hypocrite. Something makes me think you already have.
Pandemic or no pandemic the world still turns. Almost 900k flew yesterday.
You stay safe at home. Others have to travel. Covid or no Covid.
But what’s the difference between getting it in an opened up Centurion Lounge vs getting it in an opened up food court or gate waiting area or terminal restaurant or Admirals Lounge? If you’re in the airport you’re already somewhere, and there’s already other people.
I had to travel in July. SFO and LAX were ghost towns. Very few food concessions open (1/10 maybe). United Clubs were empty (5 travelers in LAX lounge at 4pm). I had no problems accepting Amex’ decision of keep their lounges closed.
Lounges are not essential for essential travel. If lounge access is the primary reason for having the Plat card, contact Amex and discuss your options. They aren’t going to open their lounges because you or Sebastian are annoyed.
And I agree with woggly that our priorities ought be perhaps be focused elsewhere.
Agreed on this. I just think the $550 annual fee isn’t real “recession aware.” Streaming credits, Uber Eats and everything still doesn’t add up to a good use for $550.
At least if you catch it in the Centurion Lounge you will catch a better class of Covid. So you will get what you paid for.
Woggly – will you please promise the rest of us that as long as a covid case exist anywhere in the world you won’t travel anywhere?
No one has the answer right now. But no one has been covering this. So, I’m happy to see an article even if they don’t know.
“We reaches out to our contacts at American Express for an updated, but relieved no reply”.
Oh wait, that quote isn’t from the article and presumably the author didn’t do what Journalism 101 would teach them to do…
There is plenty of discussion and ranting on FT on this topic. I guess LL needed to fill some post quota …
It is annoying that they haven’t even provided guidance of what it will take for lounges to open back up, or at the very least, open them with reduced service (or even to-go boxed meals/snacks to help reduce crowding. With that said, the streaming/cell credits are not worthless by any stretch – I switched my Netflix, Google Music, and T-Mobile services in less than 5 minutes and get $40/month out of it.
So maybe they should just reduce the Platinum annual fee this year down to the level of their Gold card and be done with it.
Why? They are still offering $200 a year of Uber credit than can be used on UberEats. $100 in Saks credit which can be used online and $240 in wireless/streaming statement credits + a $200 Amex Travel statement credit for anyone who renews during the pandemic. They have more than made folks whole during the pandemic.
I personally cancelled my Platinum card but that was before they announced the Amex Travel statement credit which likely would have changed the equaiton. I basically cancelled because I couldn’t effectively use all the streaming credit. I get plenty of streaming with my cable subscription and my cable company pays my Netflix as part of my package. I also get free Hulu as a Sprint (now part of T-Mobile) subscriber and like 120 million, Amazon Prime Video. I tried Disney and didn’t like it enough to pay full freight. I also tried YouTube Premium but found a way to get it for a fraction of the advertised rate. Ended up with HBOMax at a pre-launch price of $12.99 but that left $7 a month I just couldn’t use. If I had to pay for more of my streaming i would have kept the Amex Plat card.
Where I live UberEats isn’t a service, and don’t use Uber as it’s crazy expensive given how far I am from things. It was strictly a benefit for use while traveling. Airport rides, rides when visiting destinations, etc, so that $200 is doing nothing for me.
I am in the same boat as the poster. I have to travel and had the card solely for the lounges. I don’t even bother to keep the card in my wallet anymore, so AmEx has already lost me as a customer. They added extra benefits in hopes of people not suing them so they dont actually have to incur costs. Verizon doesnt let me use a credit card (if I do I lose their autopay benefit) and I already have Prime and dont need another streaming service. These credits are a waste to me. I do use the streaming credit out of spite, but it is a hassel and I would rather just have the fee reduced. Consequently, I will take the additional $200 and use AmEx Travel to book a flight, the credit is really only $161 since they charge $39! I will immediately cancel solely because they didnt care enough about me to reduce the annual fee.
$240/year in wireless < $550. A travel credit is useless if we have no sense of certainty traveling. The lounges are worth nothing, as described in the article. I only used Uber eats because of the credit; I value money more than blowing $30 on a cold burger. 5 MR per dollar is worth nothing if you spend zero dollars.
This is not a real "2020" type of card.
There are a few people who are upset with the lack of “advertised” benefits. Changes happen constantly with cards and benefits.
I would well imagine they are considered things like liability, and such before they reopen. We are a litigious society, and they are a major corporation. I posit there are other various considerations, but I would bet lonely liability alone is enough to keep that part of their offering closed.
Kevin, if you are that upset, and have no concern for the temporary replacement benefits, I suggest finding a more appropriate card. That may seem like a solution coming to easily, but seriously, we are in a government declared pandemic. Lounges are such a small part of AMEX that I cannot imagine them rushing to open them in this litigious society.
I am baffled by folks whose capacity to grasp what is going on around them, even if they do not agree with mitigation measures.
Every single airline lounge network is open in some capacity. How did they figure out a way to do it?
United Polaris lounges are still closed, last I checked. And yes, some United Club locations are open, but what they serve isn’t worth the time it takes to walk there. I have better snacks in my carry-on.
Maybe I am reading different reports than the rest of the world. Maybe my family in the travel industry have been lying to me about measures their companies have taken, the internal letters saying how many employees were getting laid off permanently, and the fact that they were also in that group.
I am definitely missing something here if somehow the author of this article thinks things are back to normal.
Paying rent is a small part of operating any business. There are plenty of other expenses, including liability, that may make opening the lounges an unreasonable risk or expense.
I generally just use Delta Sky Club when flying Delta, and any other lounge that’s available, so Centurion isn’t primarily on my list. I’ve only used it once and frankly didn’t like it. I’ll try centurion again once they open, but it wasn’t something to write home about.
Hold on a second. US cardholders have been made whole. Amex has been reimbursing cardholders $20 for wireless bills and $20 for streaming bills every month since March through statement credits and will continue through December. In addition, anyone renewing from I think March of last year through January of next year gets a $200 statement credit on Amex travel. I don’t see the point of the rant since they have compensated US based cardholders.
It’s a travel card. The CL is a large portion of why many of us have the card.
Many of us are still traveling. And while tossing me scraps for my Netflix is neat….it doesn’t change the fact I sat for a four hour layover last week thinking how nice it would be to have CL access.
I just renewed last month and didn’t get the $200 statement credit on Amex travel, even when I specifically asked for it so I don’t think this is universal. Thought about canceling but going to track my savings for this next year to see if it’s worth it.
I predict the world of travel cards is going to be very different in a few years. The nice thing is that those businesses that respond well will succeed. Those that don’t will fail in a relatively short time. Let’s see where Amex ends up.
Seems Sebastian just needed to do his usual whinge online and like some other ones this has no substance behind it. Amex on the other hand is focused on keeping its employees safe and most the workforce encouraged to stay and work from home. Many parts of the world are still at record low flight operations globally and most airlines are running reduced operations (including closed lounges). Amex has been trying to offer alternative values for the membership and I assume that will continue for the foreseeable future.
Almost 900k flew in the US yesterday.
Your …. CL is closed for our safety argument is null and void. Every single airline has their lounges open in some form. So you are saying they don’t care for their guests safety because they are open?
Centurion lounges are all over the world and if you read my comment I did not single out just the US. Also no where did make any implication about guest safety should they chose to open. Point is simply put in the bigger picture, yes there are airlines with closed lounges and Amex appear to be putting their employees safety first.
This is called the Covid Coma.
The universal excuse for poor service, reduced staffing, no amenities, and menus via QR code…those who are currently traveling know exactly what I’m talking about.
So many of these measures are not for my safety. They are to cut costs and Amex is losing billions right now. They just say it’s for safety to satisfy social normals.
Every single major carrier has found a way to maintain their lounges. Some never closed. Yet Amex folded theirs up like a lawn chair. Poof. Gone. Not a single mention of this once industry leading lounge.
For those of you that say the lounge or an airplane is the last place you want to be….you stay safe at home. Others of us still have to travel. Nearly 900k people flew yesterday.
Thanks.
Several commentators mentioned legal liability. That tort was closed in the 80’s when the courts determined that a person could not be indicted/prosecuted for even intentionally spreading a fatal disease (you know of which I speak).
The WHO, who declared this emergency, has a definition of pandemic so weak that an emergency could be called for nearly anything they dream up. And, the conflicts of interest within the decision making bodies of the WHO are overwhelming.
A $billion here. A $billion there…
pretty soon everyone is on board.
Bull-excrement! Flew out of PHL and DL and Cent lounges closed. WTF am I paying for anymore???
Edited the typo 😉
” WTF am I paying for anymoe[sic]???”
Indeed. The correct answer is the sins of President Wilson. Turning a blind eye to the crimes of government assures the crimes will continue and become more audacious.
Wow sorry to hear about this. Definitely makes me think twice about patronizing Amex in the future.
And I’m quite amused by those trying to lay a guilt trip on those who need to or want to travel. Hopefully these self righteous losers will never travel again. Here’s the truth: there will never be a 100% effective vaccine. This thing is here to stay – deal with it. We have to go on with life – sorry to break it to you. I’d say stay in your home while the rest of us go about our business but I know you won’t – you’ve probably been out many times already. How about resolving not to be a hypocrite?
I actually got $200 credit on my account as a courtesy after asking for it. I use Uber Eats every month because it’s free food, why not use it ($200 a year but I use it for rides as well). I also use all the discounts for cell and streaming: $20 off my cell bill, kindle unlimited paid off every month ($11) and the remaining $9 covers Netflix. So overall I count to get around $160 back as this offer is until the end of year. And I use the $100 SAKS credit. But I am USA-based so it makes sense. If you live abroad, cancel it. So in reality my annual gains are $660 so not only I break even ($550 annual fee cost) but I make $110 on top…
Disney have reopened up over 300 COVID Food and Beverage Locations in the USA in the past 2 Months and Amex cant even manage 8.