Amex Plans New Centurion Lounges At Newark And Heathrow—Plus Bigger Spaces And Better Food For Houston And Philly

American Express is promising its largest Centurion Lounge yet at Newark, a second lounge at London Heathrow, and bigger spaces in Houston and Philadelphia. They badly need more lounge space to house all those Platinum cardholders. They also need to improve the experience inside, and there are finally hints of that. Centurion lounges were revolutionary when they launched. They helped force airlines to serve better food and build nicer spaces, and showed other banks why they needed lounges of their own. But Chase and Capital One have kept improving the experience while the core Centurion product has gotten stale. Too many Platinum cardmembers are competing for seats, and the food usually isn’t worth the wait. Three of the four projects announced today aren’t new to readers here. There are, however, some significant changes and Philadelphia passengers are about to lose their lounge for more than a year. Newark gets much bigger, opening slips to 2027. I covered the Newark plan in September 2021, when the proposal called for an 18,000 square foot lounge. The formal announcement in September 2023 targeted opening for 2026. Now Amex says the Terminal A lounge will occupy two floors and more than 30,000 square feet. That’s over two-thirds larger than the previously announced plan. The opening moves to 2027. They’re adding a Blue Roast coffee bar – the ones at Salt Lake, Seattle and New York JFK are excellent – and three bars, including one drawing on New Jersey diner culture and a Terrace Bar serving gelato, Italian pastries and cocktails. That’s an enclosed space, not an outdoor deck. The original announcement also promised a jazz bar and piano lounge with live music. Today’s release describes a different mix of bars. Heathrow Terminal 5 is the new announced location. Amex plans more than 9,000 square feet, opening in 2028, while retaining its Terminal 3 lounge. Terminal 5 serves most British Airways flights and Iberia, while numerous carriers in oneworld and SkyTeam operate from terminal 3. It gives eligible cardmembers flying coach another option without needing oneworld status or a business class ticket. British Airways just announced its own planned lounge upgrades. 9,000 square feet isn’t going to be nearly big enough. Philadelphia closes October 16 through end of 2027. I broke the news of the Philadelphia expansion on May 22 with a project document describing renovation of the existing lounge and expansion into the British Airways lounge space which is being vacated. The project roughly doubles the current size, and renderings show a Blue Roast coffee bar. This is probably the lounge in the network that most desperately needs more room, but it will remain much smaller than the 20,000 square foot Chase Sapphire Lounge there with its food to order, beer garden, arcade and spa offerings. Houston nearly triples in size, with work expected to be complete in 2028. I covered this expansion May 20. The Texas project filing lays out 23,000 square feet, a $35 million estimated cost, and a July 2028 completion date. Along with a Blue Roast coffee bar and second full-service bar, Houston gets a separate dining area serving rotating plated dishes in addition to the current buffet. I like the coffee bars. Salt Lake City is their nicest current lounge with one of them and a terrace. But the overall food offering isn’t up to par. The buffets aren’t as appealing as competitors’ programs and putting famous chef names on the menu hasn’t fixed this. A dozen years ago the food was generally good, but the places got overrun and people ate more than you can imagine leading to cutbacks. The Dean Fearing brisket in Dallas was genuinely something to look forward to! The salmon at New York LaGuardia! But the addition of ‘sidecar’ locations and eventually plated dishes in Houston signals they’re responding to the competitive pressure from Chase and Capital One, just as others responded to their competitive pressure a decade ago. As I wrote earlier this year, Centurion lounges have lost ground both because competitors got better and because Amex’s own experience deteriorated. They closed the spas, restricted access, and still wound up with too many people trying to use the lounges. There are too many Platinum cardmembers for the capacity Amex provides. The card’s credits make it worth keeping for a broad customer base, and selling more cards keeps bringing more people to the door. Topics on this page