7 Things to Know About American Express Lounge Access

American Express offers some of the best airport lounge access of any card issuer, but not all AmEx cards — nor lounges — are created equal. Whether or not you actually have airport lounge access depends on the type of card you hold. From there, some AmEx cards unlock better lounge access than others.

In this guide, we break down which AmEx cards grant lounge access, how entry policies work, what to expect and which lounges offer the best perks.

Most AmEx cards don’t include lounge access, but the premium travel cards do. Here’s a breakdown of some of the best AmEx cards for lounge access:

The Platinum Card® from American Express

• Annual fee: $695 (see rates and fees).

• Centurion Lounge access? Yes, free entry for the cardholder,  but subject to other lounge access restrictions. For instance, you must have a same-day boarding pass with a confirmed seat or zone assignment and your government-issued identification.

• Other airport lounge access? Yes. Cardholders of The Platinum Card® from American Express get access to more than 1,400 other airport lounges through AmEx's Global Lounge Collection. That includes lounges in the Escape Lounges network. Plus, you'll be able to bring two guests into these lounges for no cost. Terms apply.

• The business version of this card, The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, offers similar lounge access.

Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card

• Annual fee: $650 (see rates and fees).

• Centurion Lounge access? Yes, with a caveat. To access a Centurion Lounge, cardmembers need to be flying on Delta Air Lines and must have booked that flight using an AmEx card.

• Cardmembers have access to domestic and select international Centurion Lounges (Hong Kong and London).

• Other airport lounges access? In addition to Centurion Lounge access, Delta Reserve cardmembers receive 15 visits per year to the Delta Sky Club. To earn an unlimited number of visits each year, the total eligible purchases on the Card must equal $75,000 or more the previous year. Terms apply.

• The business version of this card, the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card, offers similar lounge access.

Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card

• Annual fee: $650 (see rates and fees).

• Centurion Lounge access? No.

• Other airport lounge access? Yes. It won’t get you into the swanky Centurion Lounges, but the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card comes with unlimited lounge visits to Priority Pass Select locations. Enrollment required. Sure, Priority Pass lounges generally pale in comparison to Delta Sky Clubs or Centurion Lounges. But if you prioritize hotel benefits over airport benefits, at least this one gives you a tidy consolation prize at airports.

The reality is that many Priority Pass lounges, which is all you’ll have access to with something like the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card, are kind of meh.

The average Priority Pass lounge generally entails a comfy lounge seat with personal power outlets, lots of coffee and soda, plus some light bites like sandwiches, charcuterie and pastries. It might be better than paying for an overpriced croissant and coffee at the airport, but don’t expect to be treated like royalty in a Priority Pass lounge.

Some Priority Pass lounges, like the Wingtips Lounge STL, are downright bad. (The last time we went, the soda machine was broken, and there were only a few crumbly cookies and droopy ham sandwiches.)

On the flip side, if you’re in an airport with a Centurion Lounge, you’re likely in luck. Centurion Lounges are among the most highly-rated airport lounges, known for their chef-prepared meals, premium cocktails and unique amenities like spas and wine tastings.

But even Centurion Lounges can fall short. The barbecue at the Phoenix Centurion Lounge is phenomenal, but the bland mashed potatoes and oily roasted carrots in the Las Vegas lounge are something you’d expect to eat in a cheap Las Vegas Strip buffet.

The Priority Pass lounge network spans well over a thousand lounges worldwide. Many airports even have multiple Priority Pass lounges.

On the other hand, American Express Centurion Lounges are mostly only in major airports, including:

If you’re applying for a card with the intent to get into a Centurion Lounge, find out whether your airport actually has one. If you fly out of an airport with just one bottom-of-the-barrel Priority Pass lounge, you might be in for a disappointment.

Many Priority Pass lounges have lines to get in. Sometimes, lounges that purport to be open on the Priority Pass app will end up being entirely closed to Priority Pass customers because they’re at capacity.

And not even the high-end Centurion Lounges are immune to overcrowding. A relatively recent AmEx guest policy shift has cut back on crowds, but even that hasn’t solved the issue completely.

Even today, your odds of showing up at the Las Vegas Centurion Lounge and not encountering a line to get in are about as good as scoring the jackpot in the casino. That’s true for other Centurion Lounges, too.

One NerdWallet reporter described the Centurion Lounge in Charlotte as “buried in a dingy, forlorn corridor next to the ‘dog relief’ room.” He recounted his experience, where he “stood in line for the elevator, only to be met with another, much longer line, spilling literally around the corner. People were turning away in utter disgust, right back to the dog relief room from whence they'd come.”

AmEx has tried to mitigate this with virtual queuing systems, which you can access via the app, but even that isn’t the swanky experience you may have expected given the hefty annual fees that cards with Centurion Lounge access command.

Sorry, the airport lounge isn’t your co-working space. Most lounges have rules that you can only arrive within three hours of the scheduled departure time on your boarding pass. Expect to be turned away if you show up too early.

Some lounge hosts might make an exception, but that’s unlikely to happen at Centurion Lounges. The exception is if you’re on a layover.

If you’re applying for an American Express card with lounge access, don’t assume you can waltz into a Priority Pass lounge on day one.

Flashing your eligible AmEx card (alongside a valid ID and boarding pass) is all you need to access a Centurion Lounge. But with Priority Pass lounges, it’s a different story.

Cardholders must enroll in Priority Pass separately, and it can take weeks for your membership card to arrive. If you’re planning to use it for a trip, apply for your card well in advance so you have time to get approved for the card, receive it in the mail, and then turn around and enroll in Priority Pass (and subsequently receive that card in the mail).

Cards that get you access to the American Express Global Lounge Collection can be particularly valuable. This mega-network of other, smaller lounge networks includes Escape Lounges, for example. These lounges tend to be higher quality than most Priority Pass lounges, though they tend to be relatively small.

It also includes the Plaza Premium Lounge network, which has a limited U.S. presence but makes for the best lounge at Orlando International Airport. And if you’re flying on the respective airlines, you’ll be able to enter certain Lufthansa lounges and Delta Sky Clubs. Some of these, like the Delta Sky Club LAX, are fancier than Centurion Lounges

To view rates and fees of The Platinum Card® from American Express, see this page.

To view rates and fees of The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, see this page.

To view rates and fees of the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card, see this page.

To view rates and fees of the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card, see this page.