A couple more airport lounges opened up this week and, from the looks of things, they are two which will quickly become quite popular with passengers. American Express has opened a Centurion Lounge in Las Vegas and Avianca has a new facility in Bogota, Colombia.
The American Express Centurion Lounge in Las Vegas is one of only two the company operates in the United States; the other is in Dallas, though I ‘m not sure if it is open yet or not. The lounge is in the D gates, not far from where Delta operates. And it is full-featured, including a hot food menu curated by Scott Conant and a bar menu overseen by Jim Meehan and Anthony Giglio. The lounge also includes a business center, a kids play room and shower facilities. I have also seen some photos from friends who have passed through in the first few days it is open and I’m quite impressed. And, while I don’t recognize the big names AmEx recruited to build the menus they seem to have pretty impressive resumes.
In Bogota the new Avianca lounge is huge; it can accommodate 670 passengers in over 6,500 square feet of space. And, like most proper international lounges, it also includes a business center, hot and cold food offerings and other amenities. The Avianca lounge also includes a separate area inside for their Diamond Elite members, a step above the Gold lounge facilities available to most guests. As for the design aesthetic, I have only seen one photo and the carpet is, well, exciting.
Always nice to see more lounges opening up. And these are two which should leave their guests quite happy, indeed.
Both lounges have also been added to the collection at the Wandering Aramean Travel Tools Airport Lounge Guide.
Related Posts
- American Express to open a lounge at DFW
- A rather unexpected lounge announcement at JFK T5
- A domestic US lounge concept that’s actually exciting: Delta’s Sky Deck!
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How does one get access to these lounges?
The Centurion Lounge is accessible for free if you carry an AmEx Platinum or Centurion Charge Card. I believe they also sell day pass access.
The Avianca Lounge will be accessible for premium cabin customers and Star Alliance Gold Elite (*G) members departing on *A metal that day.
it’s AMEX Centurion only.. $50 day pass.. no Platinum cards allowed for the LAS one
A bit surprised that it is Centurion only, but given the number of Platinum cards out there and the level of amenities I suppose it is understandable. Thanks for the details, Jamison.
Weirdly, I got an email from Amex giving me two free passes to the LAS Centurion lounge to use by Dec 31…it says show my HHonors Amex and a boarding pass to get in??
Any idea why this is the card that gets me access?
Every AMEX Centurion lounge I’ve been to allows Platinum card holders.
“Any eligible American Express Cardmember may purchase a one-day Access Key at the Lounge for $50. If you hold a Centurion Card from American Express, or if you received a promotional mailing with an Access Key, access to The Centurion Lounge is complimentary. Purchase of one-day Access Keys is subject to Lounge capacity.”
Guess I should keep my eyes peeled for that promotional mailing.
@Susan, I got the same thing for a business platinum card… I think they’re just trying to promote it.
According to this blog post, Amex Platinum members are freely admitted to the Amex Centurion Club in Mexico City.
What’s the difference between the LAS and DFW Amex Centurion lounges and the Amex lounge at BWI? I’ve been at the BWI one and all it requires is Amex Plat, but the description is very similar to the one the linked blog post gives.
The biggest difference, Hans, is that the BWI lounge is operated by Airspace, the same folks who are opening a CLE lounge in a couple weeks and a JFK T5 lounge later in May. It isn’t operated by AmEx at all.
I’ve been in the MEX lounges on my Platinum card before. And in South America, too. My guess is that the difference between those and Las Vegas is that there are far more Platinum cards in the USA; it isn’t nearly as expensive here as most other countries. That would mean a lot more visitors.
My coworker received an email giving him complimentary access to the lounge due to him being an Amex plat member. Not sure if its business or personal plat.
Seth, the BWI lounge is *very* Amex branded though, IIRC.
I received a email while I was waiting for a delta flight at las to check out the new AMEX lounge and I only have the AMEX platinum card. So I went a checked it out. It had been open 3 days. The check in went smooth and she said I was good until the end of the year. Fantastic since this is my home airport! Very nice facilities and staff. I was there for breakfast and it wad good. It has a shower if you need it. Overall very relaxing with a very attentive staff.
Looks like PM&M just put up a review of the Centurion lounge at LAS and he implies it’s only for Centurion card members.
I don’t know the other 2, but Scott Conant is some sort of celebrity chef and restaurateur I’ve seen on Food Network (Chopped is one of my favorite shows, although I cook more like the Worst Cooks in America).
Why do I get the feeling that Seth is suddenly craving a Black Card??