The travel credit card war is heating up. To stay competitive, American Express recently introduced two new benefits for Platinum cardholders.
American Express announced its Platinum member airfare program in April. The program expands on an existing benefit that allows eligible cardholders to enjoy discounts on select international premium flights booked through the American Express Travel Portal. Under the expanded program, cardholders can now also receive discounts on select domestic and economy tickets.
The introduction of the expanded airfare program coincides with AmEx’s launch of American Express’ new concept, the Sidecar Lounge. For many American Express Platinum Cardholders, including myself, these are welcome changes that may encourage them to stick with the card even though American Express has raised the annual fee for the Platinum Card from $695 per year to an astonishing $895 per year, the highest in the industry.
These new benefits come at a time when competition among travel credit card providers continues to increase. Competing lounge spaces also face overcrowding issues, which can make investing in a premium travel credit card less attractive in the first place.
Amex, Chase, Capital One: Which offers the best lounge benefits?
The three major travel credit card companies (American Express, Chase, and Capital One) all offer premium travel credit cards that give you access to a growing network of lounges. I’ve held premium travel cards from each bank at various times, including the American Express Platinum Card, Capital One Venture X, and Chase Sapphire Reserve. Each of these cards comes with complimentary Priority Pass membership, which grants access to over 1,500 participating lounges around the world. Additionally, American Express, Chase, and Capital One all have their own small branded lounge networks for eligible cardholders.
Access to airport lounges is a non-negotiable for many travelers, but access doesn’t come cheap. Premium travel cards that offer lounge access come with high fees. Capital One Venture X has an annual fee of $395, Chase Sapphire Reserve has an annual fee of $795, and American Express Platinum has an annual fee of $895. Still, having unlimited access to food and drinks and a quiet space to work or relax is invaluable to many frequent fliers like me who are willing to pay these fees to maintain lounge access each year.
However, the landscape surrounding lounge access is changing. In theory, cardholders should be able to present their credit card or Priority Pass membership and be exempted from lounge entry. In fact, the waiting list may be so long that seats may not be available until your flight departs.
American Express, Chase, and Capital One operate their own lounges for cardmembers, but they aren’t enough to solve crowding problems.
American Express has the most lounges for its cardholders, but the number of American Express Centurion Lounges is currently the highest at 32 at approximately 4,000 commercial airports around the world. Capital One currently has seven lounges and Chase has nine. Additionally, these lounges are often too small to accommodate all cardholders who wish to enter, resulting in long wait times similar to Priority Pass lounges.
American Express is unique in that it offers access to an additional lounge network. Eligible American Express cardholders have access to Escape Lounge, Delta Air Lines and Lufthansa lounges when flying with these airlines. However, cardholders may have to wait a while to access these lounges.
There is no clear answer to the problem of overcrowding. “Airport lounges are dynamic and competitive spaces,” Audrey Hendry, president of American Express Travel, told Afar.
Despite lounge access being difficult for many travelers, “card issuers will continue to want to promote these cards with lounge access as a perk. However, there will always be limited airport space for these card issuers to use to expand lounge size,” added Jimmy Yun, head of points intelligence at point.me, a points and travel benefits search platform. “Meaningful remediation will likely require further access restrictions, which is generally unpopular,” he says.
How credit card companies are dealing with lounge crowds
Nevertheless, to alleviate overcrowding, American Express, Chase, and Capital One have begun restricting access to their lounges in various ways.
Starting February 1, Capital One Venture X cardholders can only bring guests into the lounge if they pay an additional fee. American Express has announced two changes to lounge access starting July 8th. Eligible American Express cardholders can still bring guests to Centurion Lounges, but they must be traveling on the same flight as the primary cardholder to gain entry. Eligible cardholders are limited to a five-hour stay at Centurion. Lounges during transit (previously there were no restrictions on transit lounges). Additionally, Chase Ritz-Carlton credit card holders were previously allowed to bring an unlimited number of guests into Chase Sapphire and Priority Pass lounges. Starting January 15th, cardholders are limited to two people each.
To make matters worse, American Express has announced that it is ending its long-standing partnership with American Express. Starting October 1, Lufthansa has granted eligible Platinum card holders who fly with Lufthansa access to the airline’s lounges. The elimination of this popular perk will likely make the overcrowding problem even worse.
Despite the lack of an easy solution, credit card companies are trying to remain competitive when it comes to lounge access. Hendry points out that American Express is investing in digital tools like mobile check-in and virtual waiting lists to help cardholders better plan their time at the airport. Additionally, she says American Express is aggressively expanding its network of Centurion lounges.
Amex’s expanding lounge network
In March, American Express opened its first Sidecar near the Centurion Lounge. Additional Sidecar Lounges are also planned to open at Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) in Las Vegas. Guests in the smaller, more intimate, speakeasy-style lounge with table service will be allowed entry 90 minutes before departure time. The next Sidecar is scheduled to open at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) in 2027. Yun said the Sidecar Lounge is similar to Capital One’s highly popular Landing Lounge concept.
Nevertheless, Yun isn’t sure American Express is opening Sidecar Lounges where they’re needed most. “Hopefully, we’d like to see this expanded to other airports where lounge wait times are much longer, as a way to provide some form of lounge access for people who don’t have time before their flight,” Yun said.
Additionally, American Express announced plans to expand the Centurion Lounge at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) in 2027, open a new Centurion Lounge at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS) in 2026, and a new Centurion Lounge at Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) in 2029.
conclusion
But these new lounges, along with expanded Platinum member airfares, may not be enough to convince some Platinum cardholders to stick with AmEx, especially if they’re looking to use their card to gain lounge access. “People who don’t travel often are often disappointed, especially considering the nearly $1,000 annual fee. If lounge access is the primary reason for owning the card, long wait times or crowded facilities may feel like less value, especially if lounge access is unavailable due to long wait times or time limits,” Yun says.
However, Yun noted that frequent travelers are less concerned because they “generally accept long wait times.”
Yun explains, “All banks offer Priority Pass access to their premium cardholders, so it comes down to how many other lounges a cardholder has access to. American Express Centurion Lounge has the largest footprint because it was the first issuer to launch its own lounge concept.” Additionally, American Express offers access to other lounge networks, and Capital One and Chase don’t have comparables, he says. This “wide range of access options makes it more resilient than cards tied to a single lounge network.”
Although it is difficult to use airport lounges, I plan to continue holding the Premium Travel Card for the time being. While you can no longer count on getting into a lounge every time you fly, you can still do so, at least briefly, before most flights. Along with other perks, a premium travel card is worth the investment for me. Like me, Yun believes that despite his complaints, premium travel cards with lounge access are still “obvious value” for frequent travelers.