Cool: Live Amex Centurion Lounge Crowding Tracker

"Amex has done everything it can to even expand existing lounges."

Except for open the LAX lounge. Did you know Amex Platinum customers have exactly zero LAX lounges (and naturally restaurants) to visit, assuming you're not on Delta?

I've never seen $695 provide so little.

This is not new. This has been the norm at US lounges for almost a year now.

“Almost full” is the norm although every once in a while you get lucky and get “a little busy.”

Note that the app warns that they reserve the right to deny you entry if a lounge is “almost full.”

I saw this news today, but I swear I’d seen those indications in the app as early as July & August.

Oh well, my memory plays tricks on me.

I was at the Centurion Lounge at Las Vegas yesterday (10/18/2021) and when I used the mobile app to check in, I noticed that the app was showing the lounge as "almost full". When I approached the entrance, there was a gentleman with an iPad who was taking names to put on a wait list that was running 20 minutes long at the time due to the lounge being full. When I showed him my phone with the mobile check-in that said the lounge was "almost full" (i.e. not full), he stated that I should ignore that information because it automatically gets set to "almost full" from the moment the lounge opens each day. "Our engineers are aware of the problem and are working on it."

Every time that I have used the app for every lounge it has told me "Almost full". That message is useless. What I need to know is whether the lounge is on a waitlist, and how long the expected wait is. Then I can make the decision whether to go to the lounge or go elsewhere. Anything else is useless. The employees who manage the waitlist have that information and it would not be hard to integrate it into the app. Or even just have a webpage to check.

Your comment about the terminal being preferable to the lounges, is fast becoming the new normal. Beyond crowding, the food is terrible and there is very little of it in the AA and One World clubs I’ve been through. Many lounges remain closed. I wouldn’t buy a membership with anyone currently.

There's no need for a tracker. It should just say full at all times.

ORD is worse. No lounges in the main terminal (except a tiny SkyClub), only ones are in International Terminal 5. I only keep my Amex platinum because my relationship with Morgan Stanley reimberses the annual fee each year.

Can you imagine what the waitlists will be like once they reopen? As you note, there are no other alternatives unless you’re flying DL. The location at TBIT makes it centrally located airside for any terminal (if you’re willing to enter at TBIT and take a long walk to your gate). Even when they open, it will likely be inaccessible/impractical most of the time.

Why don't you guys just fly Delta 🙂

But honestly if you generally fly domestic with a carrier other than Delta, you probably should just get the Citi Executive or United Club cards, and maybe sure you value the other perks associated with Amex Platinum if you are going to keep it

The SkyClub in Terminal A at ATL yesterday felt about as crowded as the front 10 rows of a Motley Crue concert, and there was a line down the stairs to get in.

I hear you. Overcrowding is an issue in almost all US lounges. Tons of people in the US have access to lounges, especially Delta and Amex lounges, as those cards are popular. We can blame people like Lucky and others who have popularized these cards, along with a strong consumer. I've always said, if you want quiet empty lounges, go back to early 2009.

Cool, now do a story on why the LAX Centurion Lounge has been closed since June due to mysterious "building repairs."

No way that is based on actual metrics, its likely going to say the same status at the same time every single day regardless of how crowded or empty the lounge is.

Also what is the fuss with lounges anymore, with TSA, global entry, clear combined with more point-to-point and less hub-spoke travel, i seldom find any need for a lounge. Id rather just get to the airport as late as possible and walk right onto my boarding flight. This isnt 2010 anymore when lounges meant something.

Had my first experiences with Centurion Lounges this year. The first was the Denver lounge not too long after it opened. It's a nice space, though very small and thus was pretty crowded both times I visited. The food was slightly above the United Club, but by no means blew me away. If I'm flying UA (which I do most of the time out of DEN) I don't think I'd go out of my way to get to Concourse C and would probably just stick with the United Club. In the summer, I visited the DFW lounge, but there was a wait and I had to wait outside for around 20 minutes before I could go in. I had a five-hour layover and my flight ended up being significantly delayed so it was well worth it, but on the return of the same trip I visited the SEA lounge with much less time and again was told the lounge was at capacity and I would need to put my name on a waitlist. I decided not to bother and went to the Alaska Lounge since I was there during the brief period it was a part of Priority Pass.

I'm hoping that maybe there were capacity restrictions or something at DFW and SEA because if crowding of the kind I saw continues I'm going to have to seriously reevaluate whether the Platinum Card is worth it to me.

What a joke. I’m sitting in the lounge at DFW right now. Online it’s rated “a little busy”. In reality I’d be charitable to call this “very busy”; it’s actually “almost full” with a few open seats here and there.

This feature does NOT work, it's a joke. We went to the lounge in IAH and it said that it wasn't busy but the reality was that there was a line out the door 20 - 30 people waiting and they told us 75 - 90 minutes to get in. Amex needs to get their systems working before they roll it out!

As the other blog site guy said "Really? if you have an app to do this- then there is a systemic issue"
I canceled my AMEX card due to the horrible management of those "Clubs" which are horribly over crowded with families of 7+

I must be the luckiest guy, never had to wait to get in the amex lounge at dfw or lga. At times it did have more people, but never had problems with finding sitting for 2. Food still blows ua and delta away. And I don't drink alcohol. You can actually have a full lunch and dinner. But I travel mainly for leisure, so perhaps my scheduling is different.

PHL based. Been to Centurion lounges 100+ times, mostly PHL but also DFW, LAS and SFO that I can recall. Can only remember one time around the holidays pre-COVID where I could not immediately find seats for me and my companion (this was at PHL), and have never been denied entry. Maybe I am just lucky.

Was in PHX last week in Terminal 4. There was an Escapes Lounge next to Centurion Lounge. Considering the food offering is the same, I went to the Escape Lounge with minimum entry time and a lot less crowd.

Good addition, but they need to stop being so generous with their access rules to help prevent this.

There is no more tracking in the app. You join a waitlist instead.