According to information shared with TPG, American Express will make changes to Centurion Lounge access starting on July 8, 2026. The changes are as follows:
- Guests of cardmembers will need to be traveling on the same flight as cardmember.
- There will be a new time-based restriction for layovers. You will be able to access a lounge up to five hours before your departing flight (Current terms state’ Members must arrive within 3 hours of their departing flight and present The Centurion Lounge agent with the following upon each visit’. This has never applied to layovers on the same day although some individual lounges already limited to 5 hours)
Our Verdict
Can’t see the first change making a huge difference to overcrowding but the five hour restriction on layovers could make a difference at some locations. What you think about these changes will really depend if you benefit from them or not. Overcrowding is certainly a massive problem at Centurion lounges (really all lounges).
