The American Express Platinum Card® (review) and The Business Platinum Card® from American Express (review) both participate in Amex’s Global Lounge Collection®, which includes access to Amex Centurion Lounges, Delta Sky Club® Lounges, Priority Pass Lounges, Escape Lounges, and more. (Enrollment is required for select benefits)
One of the lesser known lounge perks of the Amex Platinum Card involves access to Lufthansa Lounges. In this post, I’d like to go over all the details you need to know about how this works. In particular, we’ve recently seen access expanded, in terms of the airlines you can be flying when taking advantage of this benefit.
In this post:
What is the Amex Lufthansa Lounge access benefit?
American Express and Lufthansa have a partnership whereby those with the Amex Platinum and Amex Centurion (both business and personal versions) get access to select Lufthansa Lounges. Depending on the card you have or the class you’re traveling in, you may have access to the Lufthansa Business Lounge, Lufthansa Senator Lounge, or Lufthansa First Lounge.
What Lufthansa Lounges does Amex get you access to?
As it stands, those with the Amex Platinum or Amex Centurion Lounge can access Lufthansa Lounges at the following airports:
- Berlin (BER)
- Boston (BOS)
- Detroit (DTW)
- Dubai (DXB)
- Dusseldorf (DUS)
- Frankfurt (FRA)
- Hamburg (HAM)
- Hanover (HAJ)
- London (LHR)
- Milan (MXP)
- Munich (MUC)
- Newark (EWR)
- New York (JFK)
- Paris (CDG)
- Washington (IAD)
This list is subject to change. You can always check up-to-the-date participating lounge locations through the Amex Platinum lounge website.
When can you visit Lufthansa Lounges with an Amex?
Unlike some of Amex’s other lounge access perks, you only receive access to Lufthansa Lounges when flying on Lufthansa Group airlines. This includes flights on Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Air Dolomiti, Discover Airlines, Edelweiss Air, Eurowings, and Lufthansa City Airlines.
This represents an expansion of access, because in the past, you had to be flying Lufthansa, SWISS, or Austrian, to take advantage of this. Note that codeshare flights don’t qualify, meaning that (for example) a Lufthansa marketed flight on United wouldn’t get you access.
The lounge you have access to depends on the card you have and what class you’re traveling in:
- Those with the Amex Platinum Card can access Lufthansa Business Lounges when flying economy
- Those with the Amex Platinum Card can access Lufthansa Senator Lounges when flying business class
- Those with the Amex Centurion Card can access Lufthansa First Lounges, regardless of the class they’re traveling in; Lufthansa only has First Lounges in Frankfurt and Munich, and the First Class Terminal is excluded from this agreement
You can’t bring a complimentary guest into the lounge, though it’s said that select Lufthansa Lounges will allow cardmembers to bring in a guest for a fee, which varies by the lounge. So you’ll have to ask when you get there. Furthermore, both primary cardmembers and authorized users on Amex Platinum and Centurion Cards are eligible for access.
Separately from this direct agreement between American Express and Lufthansa, select Lufthansa Lounges can also be accessed with Priority Pass. The benefit there is that you can usually bring guests with you at no additional cost, and there’s no requirement to be flying a Lufthansa Group airline the same day.
Bottom line
American Express and Lufthansa have a partnership that often flies under the radar. With this, those with select Amex products can access Lufthansa Lounges in conjunction with an eligible Lufthansa Group boarding pass. The lounge you have access to depends on the card you have, plus the cabin you’re traveling in.
Have you ever taken advantage of the partnership between Amex and Lufthansa for lounge access?
The only Lufty Lounge I've used is the one at DTW, courtesy of my Star Alliance status with UA. I will say this: it's small, it's pokey, and it gets crowded before the daily departure to Germany. However, it's a real hidden gem. It made me wonder if other LH lounges were this nicely equipped.
The catering isn't really consistent across outstations. ATH (which doesn't feature in this list, presumably because it's very small) has always been really good whilst CDG is disappointing, or at least used to be disappointing when I last visited a few years ago.
How about when flying ITA? Isn't that part of Lufthansa Group?
They haven't fully meshed yet. For instance, ITA isn't part of Star Alliance yet. When the mesh is complete, you can be sure that ITA will be part of this.
Just wanted a clarification: "codeshare flights don’t qualify, meaning that (for example) a Lufthansa marketed flight on United wouldn’t get you access". Does the reverse e.g. a United marketed flight on Lufthansa qualify?
I'm guessing you meant Centurioun Card here?
"...those with the Amex Platinum or Amex Centurion Lounge ..."
At JFK, in the current Terminal 1, which features a very lack-luster LH Lounge, you can only access the space in non-peak hours with the Platinum Card.
Ben, you got a 'hat tip' from DoC linking to here. (Well, technically, it was originally a 'hate tip,' but, William fixed that typo.) Either way, that's high praise, sir!
Pardon my ignorance: what‘s DoC?
Oh, you're missing out. Doctor of Credit, my liege.
Thank you, kind sir or madame.
Can you find about Premium Plaza lounge access with Amex Platinum card with regards to shower usage.
I have read that with Priority Pass you need to pay extra for showers at Premium Plaza lounge but f you use your Amex Platinum card they do not change for use of the showers.
In my experience at plaza premium locations in Asia that is the case. Priority Pass must pay for showers while Amex Plat gets it included for no extra charge.
FYI you need the physical card. Apple Wallet not accepted per my experience at FRA this week. Fortunately, I did manage to find the card in my bag.