It’s a fantastic week when it comes to lounges at Salt Lake City Airport (SLC). First we saw the opening of a new 34,000 square foot Delta Sky Club, more than doubling Delta’s lounge capacity at the airport. That’s not all, as we’ve also seen the opening of the new Amex Centurion Lounge, which is…
Continue reading: Beautiful New Amex Centurion Lounge Opens At Salt Lake City Airport
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Any idea why Centurion would open the same time as the new SkyClub? You would think Amex would want the better press maybe a week later - let the DL news drown it out. I am also really, really confused by the Delta/Amex lounge overlap strategy. I'm starting to think Amex Plat will lose all access to DL lounges - that's why we're seeing them pop up in Delta hubs. At DCA...the Centurion is right next to the Delta gates, E in Atlanta, JFK (T4, Delta terminal), and look at SLC - not a lot of NON delta traffic
Epic. SLC has come a long way. The new terminals are excellent; really enjoy the initial ‘new’ SkyClub in concourse A, and looking forward to trying the new SkyClub and this Centurion in B, next time. Can’t wait for the new DeltaOne lounge, too. This will serve them well for the upcoming Winter Olympics. Also, the new Pendry near Park City is great, too, and it’s on FHR, so use those $300 credits!
Fresh Mountain Air is Miami resident code for airplane, tug, luggage hauler, and de-icer engine exhaust mixed with temp inversion valley smog. Mmmm!
Great point; Miami International Airport only gets fresh ocean breezes (unless... the wind is from the North... then you get those 'Hialeah' smells... from the nearby Medley Landfill.) And, if you prefer FLL, you get to fly right over that Dania beach 'mountain' when coming in from the West. Ahh.
Flying through here on the 5th, cant wait to check it out, Centurion holder so hoping the 'VIP room' is more than a roped off corner!
Flying thru on Monday. If I remember, I'll come back here and comment on the Centurion section.
Wow that's gorgeous design, excited to fly thru on Monday. I really hope they renovate the existing Centurion lounges with this new design. LAX for example just downright looks like a hospital cafeteria.
You seem to be familiar with SLC - which lounge do you think will be better? The new SkyClub or the new Centurion?
SLC Airport is a hidden gem, I was shocked to not see it being on the top 10 list for US airport rankings. It's beautiful, clean, and most importantly, the bathrooms are great. Like Portland, they have the rule where prices of things inside the airport can't be more expensive than what they charge in the city. I always show up at the airport like 90 minutes before a flight and never had an issue.
The only downside is since Delta has kind of a monopoly here, prices flying out of SLC is really high... :/
You’ve raised a lot of points, so I’ll try to walk through each one:
There’s really no downside to opening both lounges around the same time. Adding more lounge capacity benefits everyone, since this isn’t a zero-sum situation. Amex and Delta aren’t competing businesses here — their strategies are aligned, and both clearly see enough demand from travelers to justify multiple lounges.
Both Amex and Delta gain positive visibility from these openings, and the impact is actually synergistic across their audiences. Their partnership is one of the strongest in the industry, so these moves reinforce that relationship rather than compete with it.
Their partnership is worth billions (with a $10B target), and the economics make sense for both sides. Amex benefits when Delta flyers use Platinum or cobrand cards to access lounges, while Delta gains from the improved customer experience and increased loyalty those cards drive.
It wouldn’t make sense for either company to limit lounge access as that would undercut their shared success. In fact, Amex has been adding Centurion lounges in Delta hubs at Delta’s request, precisely to increase capacity and improve the experience for Delta customers.
It seems you might have a misconception that Centurion Lounges and SkyClubs are competitors, or that lounge demand is already saturated. In reality, lounge crowding remains a major challenge across the industry, just search for recent stories about long wait times at both Centurion and SkyClub locations. Increasing lounge options helps both brands, and ultimately makes Delta a more attractive airline choice for frequent travelers.
You can keep MIA, FLL, TPA, RSW, & PNS; the only part of Florida that’s worth visiting are my secret spots in the Bahamas. Oh, wait..
You say that, but, let’s be real, unless you pay for VIP assistance, the entry immigration and customs at NAS is hellish during the season, like at least an hour wait. As much as I also like the Bahamas, they really could do a bit better with that. At least it’s a super short flight from MIA and FLL.
Centurion just opened, today; so I have not seen it in-person yet; I try to visit Utah at least once a year. Was just there two months ago.
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the new SkyClub in A; if Amex manages the crowds, it could be superior, because they tend to do food/beverages well. (Then again, at other airports, like LGA, ironically, the Chase lounge has better food than Amex there).
A few other commenters seem to be routing through SLC soon; so, hopefully they report back here once they do!
They do have a Centurion section, it's small but has really nice views and is completely private in a separate room. Located on a corner with two walls of windows and a chandelier.
Overall really impressed with the new design and appreciated the barista coffee shop. I do slightly miss the living green wall, but it's worth losing it for the new luxury design.