Miami International Airport (MIA) is my home airport, and it’s not exactly a great facility. Sure, the airport is undergoing a modernization, but even that isn’t poised to turn this into some world class facility. At least for those of us who appreciate airport lounges, there’s an exciting development, which is the second new lounge development in a short period of time (thanks to Mark for flagging this).
In this post:
Miami Airport Concourse E lounge bidding underway
Miami-Dade County has submitted a request for proposal (RFP) for the opening of a new passenger lounge at the airport. The new lounge will be 13,793 square feet, and will be located in Concourse E, near gate E7, on the third floor.
The requirement is specifically for this to be a common use and/or membership lounge, which will be available to passengers via a membership or day pass, so it won’t be exclusive to a specific airline.
As you’d expect, the requirements are pretty standard — the request is that the lounge offer complimentary food and beverages, a full-service bar, a business center, and optional features like a spa, salon services, or shower facilities.
Proposals have to be submitted in the coming weeks, then the proposals will be evaluated in the September to October 2025 timeline, and then the project will be awarded in the January to February 2026 timeline.
This space is currently being used by some airport offices, and you can find a diagram of the space below. Since this isn’t just the retrofitting of an existing lounge space, I’d expect for it to take quite some time for this lounge to open. I wouldn’t expect to see it operational before 2028.
For those not familiar with Miami Airport, Concourse D and Concourse E are connected airside, and that’s the space used primarily by American Airlines.
This is the latest new lounge expected to come to Miami Airport. The British Airways Lounge Miami is expected to open in the coming months, in the satellite portion of Concourse E.
American has also announced plans to massively expand its lounge footprint in Miami. The existing Flagship Lounge by gate D30 will become part of the attached Admirals Club, and an all-new Flagship Lounge will be built, nearly doubling the carrier’s lounge capacity at the airport. However, I still haven’t actually found a Miami-Dade County document with details of the new Flagship Lounge contract being awarded, so if I’m missing something, please tell me, as I’m mighty curious where it will be located.
Which party could operate Miami Airport’s new lounge?
It’s anyone’s guess which parties submit bids to operate this lounge, and which lounge operator ends up winning. To recap the existing state of things, Concourse D and Concourse E currently have two American Admirals Clubs, an American Flagship Lounge, an Amex Centurion Lounge, and a Turkish Airlines Lounge.
Personally, I’m rooting for this new space to become a Capital One Lounge or Chase Sapphire Lounge, given how high quality these lounges are, as they’d certainly elevate the lounge experience in the terminal, and would likely even beat the Flagship Lounge.
In terms of large lounge operators, I guess we also can’t rule out the concept of an Escape Lounge, or a new location for The Club. I don’t consider those lounges to be quite as high quality, but at least they’d likely be accessible to all with Priority Pass, so they’d be easier to get into.
Anyway, we’ll see how this plays out in early 2026. Gosh, I’d be happy if we actually got a decent lounge in Miami…
Bottom line
A new lounge contract is being awarded for Miami Airport, for a nearly 14,000 square foot facility in Concourse E. This will be a common use lounge, not specific to any airline. Interested parties can submit their bids in the coming weeks, and then in early 2026, a contract will be awarded. Since this space currently consists of offices, I’d expect construction to take at least a couple of years.
Between this, the new American Flagship Lounge, and the new British Airways Lounge, there’s at least something to look forward to in terms of the airport’s lounge situation.
What lounge operator would you like to see take over this space?
Centurion needs to move into that space, as current space is to small. And consider that Way more ppl will have and will have the Amex plat than the CSR and VX cards.
"I’d be happy if we actually got a decent lounge in Miami…"
If you don't consider AA's flagship lounge decent, nothing could ever possibly please you.
It is going to be a Chase Sapphire Lounge. As an MIA insider I can say this with certainty. I will have more to share in the coming weeks.
Interesting that you comment about it being "easier to get into" - I have a mixed opinion on that. If it is easy to get into then it will be full all the time and then what's the point. If it is easy to get into then it could take some traffic from other lounges.
Ben - Have you ever had the fate of a Club America Lounge? They took over to former UA Club in G Concourse. It was a beautiful facility at UA - then evolved into the Hell Hole of Club America.
God Forbid that Club America gets this space.
MIA is the Perpetual Pit Of Indulgence by the Miami-Dade Commission. They give too many favor and contacts to family/friends and ergo - the airport is a train wreck. Tio Juan from Hialeah is just not capable.
Came here to say what's already been said a few times - they can free up as much space as they want, build as many lounges as they want, and furnish them as nicely as they want, and it'll still be completely awful because it's Miami. It'll be a beautiful lounge full of shrieking kids being ignored by their parents, people yelling in Spanish on speakerphone, staff standing around not doing their jobs, and broken/damaged...
Came here to say what's already been said a few times - they can free up as much space as they want, build as many lounges as they want, and furnish them as nicely as they want, and it'll still be completely awful because it's Miami. It'll be a beautiful lounge full of shrieking kids being ignored by their parents, people yelling in Spanish on speakerphone, staff standing around not doing their jobs, and broken/damaged furnishings. Garbage city full of garbage residents and garbage visitors.
Location will be where British Airways planned their lounge location years ago D21
Location is slated to be where British Airways was to open its lounge years ago near gate D21.
Why would there need to be an RFP from the county for American to build out an extension of their own lounge? This would be part of American's contracting of space with the airport and would just need to be sure they are following the airport's guidelines for building.
If the county is going RFP on a lounge, it means it will not be restricted access like airline or credit card lounges, sorry to...
Why would there need to be an RFP from the county for American to build out an extension of their own lounge? This would be part of American's contracting of space with the airport and would just need to be sure they are following the airport's guidelines for building.
If the county is going RFP on a lounge, it means it will not be restricted access like airline or credit card lounges, sorry to say, what you hope would be an Capital One or Chase Sapphire lounge won't be coming true. Operators like Escape, The Club, Plaza Premium, Airport Dimensions, and the like are the type of operators that the airport would be looking for and would have to invest a heavy amount in order to operate there.
Awful bloody airport. Shockingly bad baggage handling for arrivals.
14,000 square feet of crappy service. Who cares.
This is a particularly thoughtless post, as you have no idea who the operator or what the offering will be.
Awful airport. Somehow the modernization has done little to make the airport experience at MIA more pleasant. Congested. Dated concourses. Poor concessions. Expensive pricing. Rude, uncivilized people.
Thanks, but if I'm going to ensure that I'll just fly into FLL where is similar, but on a much smaller scale.
The pic of the MIA Centurion lounge is giving me flashbacks to when it was one of the first in the country and still exciting to get into. Going up the elevator and immediately welcomed in, booking a massage time slot. Boy how the mighty have fallen...
The mighty haven’t fallen.
More ghetto got approved for Platinum coupon book.
You now have to wait in line like other soup kitchens.
The challenge with having a good lounge in Miami is the clientele that flies through Miami.
Will never forget when I witnessed a woman changing her baby's diaper on the large "business" table at the MIA Centurion
The people in this city are the worst