The current Amex Centurion Lounge at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) has just closed, and is expected to remain closed for over two years. However, the good news is that a temporary Centurion Lounge is on the way.
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Amex Centurion Lounge SFO Terminal 3 has closed
The Amex Centurion Lounge SFO Terminal 3 has closed as of May 27, 2025. While an exact reopening timeline isn’t yet known, the current plan is for the lounge to reopen in Q3 2027. I’d expect that to be a moving target, though.
Why has the lounge closed? SFO Terminal 3 is currently undergoing a modernization, and there has been a lot of construction going on around the lounge. With the next stage of the project, the existing Amex Centurion Lounge space needs to close, to allow continued to work to take place. Obviously this is frustrating, since the terminal otherwise doesn’t have much variety in terms of lounge options.
Amex Centurion Lounge SFO Terminal 2 opens soon
The good news is that a temporary Amex Centurion Lounge SFO will be opening while this work takes place. There’s a bit of a gap, though, as all the furniture is having to be moved between terminals. It’s expected that in mid to late June 2025 (in the coming weeks), we’ll see the opening of a temporary Centurion Lounge at SFO Terminal 2, in the D gates, just inside the entrance to the concourse.
Keep in mind that all terminals at SFO are connected airside, so all passengers departing from the airport can get to the lounge, it’s just a function of how far you’re willing to walk. The plan is for this lounge to remain open until shortly before the original one reopens, in the second half of 2027.
For those curious, the lounge that Amex is taking over is the former Alaska Lounge (and before that, American Admirals Club). While this temporary arrangement is nice, don’t expect the lounge to be to the same level as the original Centurion Lounge.
The temporary lounge is just over 9,000 square feet, compared to the original lounge, which is just over 15,000 square feet. Also, it remains to be seen what the food situation will be like, since the Terminal 2 lounge space doesn’t have a full kitchen.
Bottom line
The Amex Centurion Lounge SFO Terminal 3 has closed temporarily, and isn’t expected to reopen until the second half of 2027. Meanwhile a temporary replacement lounge should open at SFO Terminal 2 in the second half of June, and remain open during this temporary closure. This will be in the space of the former Alaska Lounge and Admirals Club.
Expect a scaled back version of the Centurion Lounge, given that the temporary lounge is much smaller, doesn’t have a full kitchen, etc. But to Amex’s credit, at least the company has come up with a temporary space, which is rare.
What do you make of the Amex Centurion Lounge SFO relocating temporarily?
For those that have access to the Air Canada lounge, the lounge is pretty nice, albeit on on the smaller end
Murphy’s law. I’m supposed to fly through SFO in June. I assume they have a Delta SkyClub….at least I hope so!
Add one more unhappy platinum card holder. The SFO Centurion lounge was ALWAYS jammed every time we ever tried it. The website would tell you to expect delays to get in. And yes, the food was yuck. The only reason I keep the card is the 5x benefits for purchasing airline tix plus the 10% add-on when converting Amex points into Schwab investment accounts so converts Amex points to 5.5% money.
What is 5.5% money?
The Term 3 Centurion lounge had just expanded -a whole new area.. Sad they are closed and going to a smaller venue.. The last time I tried to get to the Lounge was in March.. It was very difficult to find as the airport had torn down every gate near it. It will be interesting to see what they are doing to T-3 as it looked pretty good before all of this????
It already says in the Amex app, the temporary lounge opens 15 June 2025 near gate D12. They have been preparing for this and the staff knew about it weeks ago.
Agree. Terminal 3 has been a very remote location - maybe the location was biased towards United Airlines travers. Terminal 2 is a temporary opportunity for a more central location. A Chase Saphire lounge in a central SFO location would be awesome. The Saphire in Boston has excellent service and a great bar.
Also wishing for Centuion and Saphire at DTW.
SF lounge situation is pretty dire. Please, Chase, build something for us.
The "new" T3 is going to have a lot of extra space added to it, and I'd assume there will be lounge spaces.
But that's 2-3 years away from completion, at least.
To me, airline-operated lounges have been the best experience. And, I've been fortunate enough to have access to them on the vast majority of my flights. When I don't, I'll go with a Priority Pass lounge or an Escape Lounge if available. I absolutely do not use Centurion Lounges. Yet, I keep my Amex Platinum because it is valuable in other ways.
The Amex Centurion Lounge at SFO's Terminal 3 closed on May 27, 2025, for renovations and is expected to reopen in Q3 2027. A temporary lounge will open in Terminal 2 by late June 2025, offering a scaled-down experience during the interim. Good Skin Care Products | Best Skincare Products
Bad bot!
Im canceling my amex platinum. Big waste now if the lounge is closed and re opening for something smaller
Good riddance. Say goodbye to chicken thighs and pasta pomodoro. Oh no what will I do? Find a junior college dining hall as a replacement?
I agree they always had fatty chicken thighs...
What a horrible timing. Just flying out of ANA in the next week, lounge access would have been nice.
Don't forget about Priority Pass access.
There's the Intl G gates are a looong way from any PP options.
If you're in biz, don't you get Polaris lounge access on ANA?
I am flying 145AM ANA PE. So only United Club access. The Club in 1st terminal is too far and closes by 1130.
It was so hard to reach. I did not understand why they also closed the exit right next to it. I'd walk out and recheck security in T1 if I could. Even better would have been to leave a single TSA pre line near the G entrance. Anyway, the T2 lounge certainly has nicer views. We'll see what it has to offer in that space.
This is a blow to United, whose massive construction project has made getting to the F gates a solid nightmare. I’ve started looking at more Alaska flights out of SFO just to avoid the zoo.
It adds like three minutes of walking to get to the food court at the beginning of the main F gates -- and you no longer have the moving walkway to get there. I fly quite a bit out of those gates and have not found it a "solid nightmare."
SFO has the highest concentration of mass affluent wanderlust young people on the planet. It’s unfathomable to me that this airport doesn’t even have TSA Touchless, let alone cream of the crop lounges from every airline jostling for business.
The SFO AmEx lounge, even when it stayed open, was so remote and hard to get to. Had to walk out the F gate section, then across the very long temporary connector, then back down to the old G gate entrance (closed). A long haul. Last time I was there a few months ago - the lounge was empty.
The hack if carrying on, since construction began, was to go through Intl G security. Then the lounge was very close.
Intl G is also far better for car traffic and TSA lines.
Wasn't the original AS lounge space supposed to go to UA for a T2 lounge? I seem to remember seeing something about a UC in T2 opening in 2026
Not sure why they'd do that, with United generally flying only out of T3 (with the odd exception -- though usually to the G gates in Int'l).
They've moved to some T2 gates because T3 is being overhauled
That space - former AS lounge - also lacks showers. So it will be a downgrade in all aspects, unless major physical upgrades are done.
Unless AS took the showers out, AA had 2 showers in that lounge (I used them).
Showers are still there... Alaska was just using them as custodial space.
This is GREAT news for those of use that are SFO based but don't fly UA. For anyone that flies DL or AA/AS, the Amex lounge is never worth it because it's the complete opposite end of B/C gates, over at T3 F gates. I wish this could be a permanent move but will take what we can get.
Just another frat house Amex lounge. Unkempt. Gym bags loaded with food. An embarrassment to the brand.
Is it known if the new T3 lounge will be larger than 15,000 square feet? The current one sort of sucks when it gets overcrowded, which is seemingly always.
@ TravelinWilly -- As far as I know, nothing has been announced about a potential expansion to the T3 lounge when it reopens.
Thank you Ben and NID.
YMMV.
I didn’t find it crowded in my ~monthly visits since Feb ‘23.
The original expansion opened at about the same time as the guest changes (Feb ‘23), so it’s hard for me to separate cause and effect, but I had no problem with crowding since then.
We’re about to test that with the smaller size, and more central location.
Same experience here -- I have always found a seat since then.