Bloody Marys and Massages: A Visit to an Amex Centurion Lounge

I had to see the bathroom first.

The average airport bathroom can be a disaster: Messy lavatories, rickety stalls that can barely contain you and your luggage, and as much toilet paper on the ground as in the holder (if there’s any at all) make for an unpleasant experience. If a Centurion Lounge is really going to be worth the price tag, it needs a tidy bathroom.

The Dallas lounge had one. L'Occitane soap, and plenty of it, was stationed near the faucets, while the stalls were fortified with huge wooden doors that ensured privacy. You can comfortably fit your suitcase beside you. The whole experience felt clean, which is atypical for my usual airport-bathroom encounters.

And that’s how it was in the rest of the lounge—everything was a bit more civilized than the mayhem four floors below.

The seats are more comfortable and varied—from club chairs with wide flat arms to leather chaise longues—so you won’t induce a backache before boarding begins.

The food, lined up in a kind of wedding-party buffet, was savory and bottomless. I didn’t try the wild-berry strudel, but I did inhale the Texas barbecue chicken and grilled brussels sprouts prepared in a pasilla-tomato reduction sauce. As soon as the meat ran out, a new pot arrived.

I ordered a Bloody Mary with Austin-based Tito’s vodka when I arrived and a glass of red wine from Rioja before I left, but there was no chance of my getting obnoxiously drunk; the lounge’s general manager said the bartender’s professional acumen kept guests from over-imbibing.

The Centurion Lounge: Designed for business travelers

I see the lounge as a businessperson’s dream:

It’s all “free”: Having put up the yearly fee for the Platinum card, you don’t pay for anything once you’ve entered the Centurion Lounge, as is the case with most other lounges, and servers constantly buzz around looking for plates to clear. (I saw a tip jar at the bar, although it was intermittently used. We’d encourage tipping your server anyway.)

Few to no kids: Some tykes were in the lounge on the day of my visit, but they were mostly confined to a stroller or the children’s room. The kids room is brightly decorated with wallpaper, a flat-screen TV, and some toys and books. I never heard a peep from inside, so you’ve hit the motherlode if you believe children should be seen and not heard.

Private-room access: If you need a break from getting massages and manicures to do some real work or to have a conversation you’d prefer wasn’t overheard, you can use a private phone room.

Good Wi-Fi: I had an hour-long video call without a hitch, and the lounge even has a large printer in the back corner if you need a hard copy of a document.

After four hours—about twice as long as the typical stay—including a few trips to the buffet and bar and a prolonged internal struggle over whether I should get my first mani (I did not), it was time to descend through one of the rings of hell and drive back home.

Demand for the Platinum® jumped after American Express relaunched the card in 2017, and one side effect was more customers: Platinum® customer visits to Centurion Lounges surged 30% in 2017 from the previous year.

The problem is, there’s only so much room, and long-standing customers began to bemoan the new state of things (as reported in The Wall Street Journal, subscription required).

I visited Centurion’s newly expanded Dallas spot on a Friday afternoon of a holiday weekend and it felt full, although I was able to find a seat.

But you might be disappointed if you’re expecting privacy or a strong sense of luxurious exclusivity. About 1,500 guests visit the Dallas lounge on a given day, according to the lounge’s general manager (although only 60 use the showers, so that might be your ticket to some space and quiet).

As I settled down to my first lunch, I heard one couple being denied entry and told to come back in 45 minutes because there wasn’t enough room.

On the day I visited the lounge, American Express announced that entry would become limited to Platinum® cardholders waiting on a connecting flight or with a departure less than three hours from the time they checked in; you wouldn’t be allowed in if you’d landed at your final destination. The new restrictions go into effect at the end of March.

This cuts both ways for cardholders. In reacting to the news, many online commenters said they were frustrated to learn that their enjoyment of the lounge (which is one benefit of a $550 annual fee for the Platinum®) was being restricted. Still, if these rules had been in effect during my visit, perhaps that couple wouldn’t have been turned away.

The Miami Centurion Lounge recently underwent renovations to increase space, and Seattle’s lounge will close for a spell in March, also for renovations.

In a normal world I wouldn’t be tempted to spend $50 on a plate of (admittedly) tasty food and a few cocktails. Sure, you could land a free massage too, but not all Centurion locations offer them, and it’s hard to squeeze in dinner and a faux spa day in a few hours.

I certainly wouldn’t pay $50 so my kid could watch TV in a brightly designed panic room.

But in this case you’re not in the normal world, you’re in the airport. Normal rules don’t apply.

Let’s say someone has the Amex Platinum® and is flying from DFW with a spouse and a child. The card comes with two guest passes, so the whole family can get in. The three of them grab a meal and some drinks, and the tot gets a cookie.

That family of three would likely pay more if they were to dine at a typical airport restaurant. Take Bar Louie, also located in DFW’s terminal D. If the parents each had a cocktail (combined $23) and a sandwich (combined $28), they’d exceed $50 before ordering for their child or adding taxes and tip. And the restaurant has no walled-off kids playroom, either.

Families of at least four have a tougher call, since you can bring in only two guests. (Children under 2 with a lap pass don’t count, so at least there’s that.) One spouse could become an authorized user on the card and earn two extra guest passes per visit, but that comes with a $175 fee.

Likewise, you could pay an extra $50 to get in for the day, but that would be hard to swallow if you’re already shelling out $550 annually. One parent could go in with the two kids while the other sits sadly downstairs alone. This conundrum may be why I didn’t see many parties of four in the lounge.

The Centurion Lounge is likely of interest to you only if you fly from or connect through one of the nine airports that currently have a Centurion Lounge:

• Dallas (DFW)
• Houston (IAH)
• Las Vegas (LAS)
• Miami (MIA)
• New York (LGA)
• Philadelphia (PHL)
• San Francisco (SFO)
• Seattle (SEA)
• Hong Kong (HKG)

However, another five are on the way:

• Charlotte (CLT)
• Denver (DEN)
• Los Angeles (LAX)
• New York (JFK)
• London (LHR)

You can access the lounge a few different ways:

• American Express Platinum® (annual fee $550) owners get in with their card.
• Amex Black ($7,500 initial fee, $2,500 each subsequent year) cardholders also get in with their card. If you have the Black card, you’re almost certainly getting in—even if the lounge is at full capacity.
• You’re a guest of a Platinum or Black cardholder (Platinum cardholders can bring in two guests for no extra charge).
• Platinum cardholders can pay $50 for a day pass for additional guests (they must be accompanied by the cardholder).

For the record: We aren’t fans of the Black card since we’re of the humble opinion that a person shouldn’t spend $7,500 on an initiation fee and then lay out $2,500 every year thereafter on a card, no matter its prestige.

For The Platinum Card from American Express® rates and fees, please click here.