I was in Las Vegas today and giddy to check out the American Express Centurion Lounge that opened last year. Available to American Express Black and Platinum cardholders for free or $50 to other AMEX cardholders, the lounge offers a great spread of food and a comfortable oasis from the airport concourse. But there was one problem–I left my Platinum card in Germany…
I can be a scatterbrain sometimes and although I was anticipating this trip to Vegas when I left Germany last week, I left the card on my desk thinking I would be fine with my many other cards. That was a dumb move.
American Express does not have a clear policy online about what happens if you forget your card, so I was left wondering whether it would be like Lufthansa (no card, no access) or like United (we’ll do our best to look up your info for you). Thankfully, AMEX was like the latter.
Upon entering the lounge I presented my ID and one of the friendly concierge agents tapped on her computer for a few moments to verify my information. I was asked a security question–the name of my primary school–and upon successfully answering that was allowed access to the lounge.
I’ll have a full report on the lounge coming up (it was great), but wanted to post separately that at this lounge and all AMEX lounges you can gain access even without your membership card.
Glad you enjoyed the lounge! I loved my visit at DFW. Expect openings at LGA, SFO, & MIA this year.
Thanks for the tip Matthew! I love the Centurion Lounge at LAS airport. Can’t wait to read your report.
Matthew, your information is not correct. The general public cannot purchase access to the Amex Centurion Lounges at any time, only Amex card members have access. The pricing structure is as follows:
@McMunch: I’ve updated the post because the rules do say what you wrote, but there were some people who came in while my credentials were being processed who just paid $50 and were granted access…
Had my first Austrian/Swiss/Lufthansa lounge experiences last week and darn glad I am a stickler about carrying frequent flyer cards. Not flexible people!
For access to the Amercian Express OPEN Business Lounges in Las Vegas, Chicago, and New York the card member must have their card with them in order to enter the lounges. There is no computer system to verify card member information. Entrance policies for lounges differ within Amex depending on the lounge.