In early 2021, plans were announced for a new Amex Centurion Lounge at Washington National Airport (DCA). While the lounge was initially supposed to open in late 2022, there were construction delays, as is common for just about any airport project. There’s now an exciting update, as the lounge will be opening its doors as of tomorrow!
In this post:
Basics of the Amex Centurion Lounge DCA
The American Express Centurion Lounge Washington will be opening on Wednesday, July 17, 2024. The Amex Centurion Lounge DCA is located in the National Hall near Concourse B, after security. The lounge is open daily from 5AM until 9PM, except on Saturdays, when it closes at 7PM.
The Amex Centurion Lounge Washington DCA is roughly 11,500 square feet, and features floor-to-ceiling windows and airfield views. So, what should we expect in terms of the amenities and features?
- Rather than having a single chef responsible for the menu, the lounge has a menu curated by three Centurion Lounge chefs, including Michelle Bernstein, Ravi Kapur, and Michael Solomonov; menu items include creamy polenta, shabazi spiced salmon with pomegranate BBQ sauce, and tamari-honey glazed tofu & pineapple
- The lounge has a cocktail menu designed by Centurion Lounge mixologist Jim Meehan, including Haku Hanami, inspired by DC’s cherry blossoms, and Ambrosia Spritz, featuring bitters and liqueurs from local producer Don Ciccio & Figli
- The lounge has a DC-inspired art gallery, with work commissioned from local artists including Claudia “Aziza” Gibson-Hunter, Lori Katz, and Emon Surakitkoson; the central dining area has a ceiling sculpture made up of 260 lanterns to reflect the original boundary markers used to outline the city when it was founded in 1791
- The lounge features signature Centurion Lounge amenities, like complimentary Wi-Fi, a shower suite, dedicated workstations, and more
Below you can find some pictures of the new Centurion Lounge.
The new lounge is part of the airport’s Project Journey, a $1 billion capital improvement project. This is the 17th lounge in the Amex Centurion Lounge network, following the recent opening of the Atlanta Airport Centurion Lounge.
How this fits into the DCA lounge landscape
Nowadays there are really three credit card lounge networks — there are Amex Centurion Lounges, Capital One Lounges, and Chase Sapphire Lounges. As things currently stand, Amex is the only of the three lounge networks that’s opening a lounge at Washington National. However:
- There’s a Capital One Lounge at Washington Dulles, and a Chase Sapphire Lounge at Washington Dulles
- The new Capital One Landing concept offers a restaurant-style dining experience for cardmembers, and that’s coming to Washington National as well, and should be opening in the near future
The Amex Centurion Lounge is an excellent addition to the airport. The airport otherwise only has airline-run lounges, and no Priority Pass lounges (other than a Priority Pass restaurant). So this opens up lounge access for a lot more people. Furthermore, it should help with alleviating crowding in the Delta Sky Club, given the overlapping entry requirements.
Bottom line
The Amex Centurion Lounge Washington National Airport is finally opening as of July 17, 2024. The 11,500 square foot lounge is a great addition to the airport, since DCA doesn’t otherwise have any credit card lounges. While this probably isn’t the most exciting Centurion Lounge in the network, the design looks pretty nice to me, and the food and drink selection should be good.
Are you excited about the new Centurion Lounge DCA?
Went to this lounge today. Frequent delta lounges and felt this was right on par with some of the nicer lounges. Beautiful interior with limited but incredibly well executed breakfast options. I thought it would be more busy than the delta lounge due to access but it wasn’t busy at all. I actually think I prefer it to the delta lounge in B. I went to both in the same day and they both had about the same amount of people, but the food was better at centurion.
First visit today 7/24, 7am. Not crowded at all, one person in line ahead of me. Air conditioning seems to be very weak, hot as hades in here. No hot food. Bar is only serving mimosas, bloody marys, and Prosecco. It’s new and clean but nothing special.
At lounge now, food selection for breakfast very limited and the coffee isn’t good. Delta lounge has much better food and coffee, will use that until I hit my new annual visit cap.
I flew out Thursday evening for the first time since they opened. There was a line. I walked by and went on to the DL lounge, which was heaving, but no line. Admittedly all the DL flights except one were delayed, so this is probably not a good test case. Next week I'll try again!
Isn't this new Lounge outside security, near the Delta security lane?
No.
DCA is a "just in time" airport for me as it is less than 30 minutes from home to the departure level and i really dont like to "lounge" around unless there is a significant flight delay, which seems to happen more often this year. Having said that, i will plan to arrive earlier than usual in a few weeks and check out this new CL.
Doesn't DCA have two Priority Pass restaurants?
Not any more ;-)
Damn, which one left PP?
Not sure where the airfield views come from. Picture shows Security screening area outside. Unless it’s two level then maybe like HkG CX Pier
Can not say that any of the Centurion lounges I have been to blew me away. Always crowded, food not even mediocre. Barkeepers always annoyed.
Too many people are eligible for entry, and the paid guest policy is too generous. That, and there are too many Centurion cards issued these days; still, though, if only Centurion cardholders were eligible, and were restricted to one paid adult guest, things would be much more pleasant. It's not about cardholder convenience, though - it's about earning revenue for American Express. Don't hold your breath for a miracle.
Between the fairly new DCA AC and this news, DCA really stepping it up across the board. Great to see.
How are the longer-term effects of Amex's efforts to reduce crowding? Capital One is getting so crowded I'm wondering if it's worth jumping ship to Amex
The efforts that they put in place have had little to no impact. LGA and DEN were both packed to the brim last time I was there and was recently in ATL while plenty of room open inside the club (outside area to plane spot was full) I was behind someone who paid to bring in 4 guest so even the guest fee is not stopping people from going. With that said for all 3...
The efforts that they put in place have had little to no impact. LGA and DEN were both packed to the brim last time I was there and was recently in ATL while plenty of room open inside the club (outside area to plane spot was full) I was behind someone who paid to bring in 4 guest so even the guest fee is not stopping people from going. With that said for all 3 of the clubs I waited no more than 5 mins or so to get in. Personally have never experienced the insane lines that folks on reddit have posted
At DEN this weekend the line to get in was down the escalator with at one point about 10-15 people waiting plus whatever was going on upstairs. I could see from the windows down to the concourse people were sitting on the floor against the windows if that's any indication. I decided not to mess with it... my flight was on Denver Air Connection and they have a perfectly nice waiting area on the end of C.
I can only rarely get into the Centurion DFW, I can almost always get into Cap1 by putting myself on the list in advance. Being turned away at Cap1 with a $95 effective fee vs. the much greater fee and guest restrictions for Centurion stings a lot less.
The LAS Lounge also getting ridiculously busy, I wish they could improve the virtual Q sms system to allow you to pre-book an arrival time rather than having to actually Q to give your details and await your turn.
The only lounge I have consistent experience with is SFO, and haven’t waited in line or not been able to easily find a seat since the guest changes in Feb ‘23 (which coincided with a large expansion of the lounge, so it’s hard to isolate cause & effect).