Update: Phoenix is now officially getting an Amex Centurion Lounge and Escape Lounge.
One of the best perks of American Express Platinum Card® and The Business Platinum Card® from American Express is access to Centurion Lounges.
These lounges are for the most part significantly better than what’s offered by US airlines, as the lounges have complimentary cocktails, hot food, and a couple of them even have spas.
As of now Amex’s US Centurion Lounge locations include Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Miami, New York LaGuardia, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Seattle.
American Express also plans to open Centurion Lounges in Los Angeles, New York JFK, Denver, and London Heathrow.
We’ve heard all kinds of rumors about other airports that are in the running for a Centurion Lounge, though it looks like we now know the next airport where Amex is actively working on securing space and finalizing a contract.
An Amex Centurion Lounge may be coming to Phoenix
Right now Phoenix Airport has “The Club,” which is a lounge that you can buy access to, and it’s also used by British Airways for their premium passengers. Until recently it was also a Priority Pass lounge.
The airport has informed The Club that they’ll have to close, though no exact timeline has been given. The airport was seeking bids for new lounge operators, so what does the airport plan on doing with the space instead?
As reported by AZ Central, the space that they were seeking bids for is in Terminal 4, and is a redesigned 9,532 square foot space. They requested that the new lounge operator provide “access to customers belonging to partner organizations (airlines, credit-card companies, etc.) with complimentary lounge membership benefits.”
The airport has allegedly reviewed proposals from three companies, and has selected MAG USA Lounge Management, which is a subsidiary of Manchester Airport Group.
Tonight the city council will vote on a proposal to split the area into two lounges:
- One area would be an Amex Centurion Lounge
- The other area would be an Escape Lounge
We’ll have to see if this is ultimately approved, but they’re aiming for a December 2019 or January 2020 opening date, so it’s potentially about a year away.
The other side would be the Escape lounge for customers of partner airlines and credit cards and those willing to pay the daily fee. The presentation suggested a December 2019 or January 2020 opening date.
Bottom line
I suspect this is likely to be approved, though I guess we’ll find out for sure later today. It would be great to see Phoenix get a Centurion Lounge, though at the same time this would be the smallest one yet. If they spilt the space evenly, we’re talking about under 5,000 square feet per lounge.
Those with the Amex Platinum Card also get access to Escape Lounges, so it’s funny that they’d create two lounges that those with the card have access to. Escape Lounges are actually fairly nice, so I’d almost rather they just create one lounge that’s bigger and nicer.
Regardless, this seems like a positive development, and this continues to show Amex’s focus on opening Centurion Lounges in American’s hubs.
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