American Express is known for its popular network of Centurion Lounges. Crowding has been a major issue with these lounges over the years (well, and most credit card lounges), so we’ve seen all kinds of access restrictions added. Along those lines, Amex has just revealed plans to add another two restrictions, as flagged by TPG.
In this post:
Amex adds new time & flight limits for lounge access
As of July 8, 2026, Amex will be adding two new restrictions when it comes to Centurion Lounge access, which are fairly minor, but still noteworthy.
First, cardmembers will need to be traveling on the same flight as any guests that they bring into Centurion Lounges. Under the current policy, it’s fine to guest someone who is on a different flight, so that will no longer be possible.
Second, cardmembers will only be allowed to access Centurion Lounges up to five hours before departure if connecting, while on a layover. Ordinarily, Centurion Lounges can only be accessed up to three hours before departure, with the exception being if you’re connecting between two flights, in which case there hasn’t been a limit for how long before departure you can visit lounges. So under the new system, there will be a time restriction (though a more generous one) even if connecting.
I’d assume that in the event your flight is delayed, staying in the lounge for longer shouldn’t be an issue, just as is currently the case with any time-based access.
These lounge access changes seem fair enough
Over the years, we’ve seen massive changes to the rules around Centurion Lounge access, including how long before departure you can use lounges, how much you need to spend on a card in order to be able to bring guests on a complimentary basis, the cost of authorized users, etc.
So in the scheme of things, I’d hardly say these changes are that bad. I actually think they’re quite reasonable, though I’m also not convinced they’re going to do much to help crowding.
I know some people like the ability to guest in a friend or colleague who might be on a different flight, though I also get the challenge with that — if your flight is departing in an hour and your guest’s flight is departing in three hours, you’re basically guesting them into a lounge without you sticking around. Not that this is actually an issue, but if the goal is to limit crowding, I suppose that’s a reasonable restriction.
Regarding the new access limit of five hours on connections, I can’t imagine that impacts too many people…
Bottom line
As of July 2026, Amex is adding two new restrictions to Centurion Lounge access. For one, cardmembers will only be able to guest people into lounges who are on the same flight as them. Furthermore, when on a layover, lounge access will be restricted to being up to five hours before departure, compared to there being no limit.
What do you make of these Centurion Lounge access changes?
Ben, when you mentioned about in the past you and your guest can be on different flights at different times so your guest may stay longer than you but I think officially it was not allowed. I remember at the Seattle AMEX lounge, the agent mentioned that the guest had to leave with you and cannot stay if the member was not present at the lounge. Though, not sure how they would want to enforce...
Ben, when you mentioned about in the past you and your guest can be on different flights at different times so your guest may stay longer than you but I think officially it was not allowed. I remember at the Seattle AMEX lounge, the agent mentioned that the guest had to leave with you and cannot stay if the member was not present at the lounge. Though, not sure how they would want to enforce that with every scenario but I guess with this new rule coming soon it will be a moot point.
Boo. Hiss. Devaluation, while raising fees, and not solving anything. Will still be crowded at peak times, regardless. That said, looking forward to whenever they finally open the new one at EWR Terminal A.
Who cares. I think I went to a Centurion lounge two times in 2025 and it was because the better lounges were full. They need to start limiting the number of times Joe Platinum can get in unless he spends $75k or something.
LOL, the stories some of you people come up with.
Yeah, for real, who is John G(alt), anyway?
The new five hour limit for transit passengers will hit me, including on itineraries where I have booked sub-5 hour transits. How so in the latter cases? Sometimes airlines cancel the flight I booked and rebook me on the next available flight which then makes the rebooked transits into 7+ hours.
Print two copies of your original boarding pass. Keep one copy and provide that at the lounge entrance. Maybe it works.
In 2024, about 1 in 80 flights were cancelled in the US. Let's say that 50% of the time, it will happen after your first flight takes off but before you get to the lounge in your connecting airport. In THAT scenario, let's say 50% of the time it extends your layover to materially more than 5 hours.
Every time you access a CL on a typical connection, there's a 1 in 320 chance this policy will impact you due to a flight cancellation. How terrible!
Enforcement of this is gonna be interesting. Some locations and specific agents will be rigid, regardless, while others really won't care, especially depending on conditions inside.
At JFK T4, for instance, I once tried to check-in 3 hours and 1 minute before departure, and the agent made me standard there, looking at her watch, waiting the remaining 60-seconds, as a display of authority, even though the lounge was near-empty.
Rules are rules, but...
Enforcement of this is gonna be interesting. Some locations and specific agents will be rigid, regardless, while others really won't care, especially depending on conditions inside.
At JFK T4, for instance, I once tried to check-in 3 hours and 1 minute before departure, and the agent made me standard there, looking at her watch, waiting the remaining 60-seconds, as a display of authority, even though the lounge was near-empty.
Rules are rules, but also, rules are human constructs that don't always make good sense.
Perhaps you should consider stop booking such long connections and finding a more efficient carrier that has a more consistent service.
With life being so short, I do not understand why so many of you waste it on this insane non-activity of lounging around at an airport. It's as if home lives are so incredibly bad, that everything possible is done to be away from them.