Travel certainly has changed since the Covid pandemic. Airport lounges are no exception. As life is slowly getting back to normal, I had an opportunity to visit the American Express Centurion Lounge in Miami International Airport last week. Amex is known for some of the best domestic lounges available, and they have been expanding their footprint big-time over the past few years.
Location
Miami International Airport is huge. Navigation through the airport can be overwhelming if you haven’t been here before. Fortunately, there is plenty of signage to help you find your way around. Just take your time and pay attention.
The lounge is located in Concourse D, near Gate D12, on the 4th floor. It is accessible via the SkyTrain within the D Concourse. If you are coming from another terminal, you must re-enter through security with either a connecting or onward boarding pass.
You have to take a dedicated elevator to the 4th floor to get to the lounge.
Access
Access to The Centurion Lounge is complimentary for global Platinum Card, Delta SkyMiles Reserve Card, and Centurion Members. To access The Centurion Lounge, the card member must present The Centurion Lounge agent with the following upon each visit: his or her valid card, a boarding pass showing a confirmed reservation for same-day travel on any carrier, and a government-issued I.D – name on the card must match government-issued I.D. Delta SkyMiles Reserve Card Members are only eligible to visit The Centurion Lounge when flying on a same-day Delta-marketed or Delta-operated flight.
The Centurion Lounge is a day-of-departure lounge requiring confirmed travel plans. Passengers holding standby tickets and non-revenue standby passengers, including airline or industry employees traveling on discounted tickets, are not eligible to utilize the lounge unless they have received a boarding pass showing a confirmed seat or zone assignment for the flight for which they are on standby. A card member with a round-trip itinerary may only access the lounge within the 3 hours before their outbound departure time.
The MIA location has a spa which offers some complimentary services. I didn’t use the spa so I can’t speak to the services available and the limitations, if any, because of the pandemic.
Due to the pandemic half of the seating was blocked off and unavailable. Under normal circumstances before Covid, one of the biggest complaints about the Amex lounges is overcrowding. During peak hours it wasn’t uncommon to be turned away due to occupancy limitations. In addition to adding several new lounges over the past few years, Amex has invested a great deal of money to expand a few of the existing lounges to address this problem.
Food
I arrived at the lounge around 9:30 AM. Breakfast was offered until 11:00, before converting to a lunch menu at 11:30.
Pre-Covid, the food is served buffet style where you take what you want, and as much as you want. As a temporary measure during the pandemic, servers plate the food for you, but you can always go back for more or try something new whenever you want.
The food is definitely several notches above the typical domestic lounge in terms of variety, taste and presentation. My plate was a bit of a mess, so don’t judge the lounge food based upon my photos. Amex does a great job of offering a legitimate meal. There is an open bar with a robust drink menu and everything is included with admission. It was early in the day so I just opted for coffee and some water with my meal.
Bottom Line
Anytime you fly and have access to an airport lounge it is a good thing. The American Express Centurion Lounges are absolutely a cut above the typical domestic lounge in every measurable way: the decor, food, bar, and service. There are a ton of really nice personal touches that I notice each time I spend time in one of their lounges.
Just one example is the Amex logo imprinted on the bottom of the windows. I’ve spent hours plane spotting in numerous Centurion Lounges and never noticed that before.
If you travel enough and are fortunate to fly through airports that host a Centurion Lounge, the hefty annual fee for one of the Amex premium cards is certainly offset by these lounges. My only complaint is the potential for overcrowding–which Amex is addressing by expanding some of their lounges and tightening their access policy. I don’t anticipate these steps to completely solve the problem, but it may help.
Have you been to any of the Centurion Lounges? What‘s your take?
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