Tough Rules Coming Soon to AMEX Centurion Airport Lounges – AMEX Platinum Cardholders Take Note!

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If you have one of the following AMEX cards, this news affects you:

• The Business Platinum® Card from American Express
• The Platinum Card® from American Express

That’s because these cards come with the ultra-rare benefit of free access to AMEX Centurion airport lounges, widely considered the best domestic airport lounges in existence.  And the number of lounges is steadily growing!  AMEX Centurion Lounges offer:

• Hot buffet-style meals
• Premium alcoholic beverages
• Showers
• Conference spaces
• Reliable Wi-Fi

And beginning March 22, 2019, it will become more difficult to enter!

New AMEX Centurion Airport Lounge Rules

The new rules taking place in late March are as follows:

• You won’t be allowed in unless your scheduled departure is within 3 hours, or unless you can provide proof of your upcoming connecting flight
• If you have arrived at your final destination, you can NOT enter the Centurion Lounge
• You can bring children under 2 years of age for free (and they won’t count toward your 2 free guests), as long as you can prove their age or show a “lap infant” boarding pass

The reaction this news evokes will vary wildly, depending on who you are.

While it sounds like bad news (you can now enter less frequently), this hopefully means the lounges will be less crowded, which has been a big complaint of late.  You won’t be able to freshen up at a lounge at your final destination before you leave the airport, but your pre-departure experience should be a lot more enjoyable.

As a reminder, you can find AMEX Centurion Lounges in:

• Charlotte (coming soon)
• Dallas-Fort Worth
• Denver (coming soon)
• Houston Intercontinental
• Las Vegas
• Los Angeles (coming soon)
• New York-La Guardia
• New York – JFK (coming soon)
• Miami
• Philadelphia
• San Francisco
• Seattle-Tacoma

Let me know what you think of this change!  And read my post on the top cards for airport lounge access if you’re looking to make your next trip more comfortable.