Originally Posted by
TMM1982
It's in AMEX's best interest to improve the card benefits so people don't cancel so easily.
Agreed, but it is not in their interest to buy you a ~$500 airline club membership every year if you are paying only $450 for the card. A case could be made for offering this as a Centurion benefit.
American Express did trial this idea, buying US Airways club memberships for targeted Platinum cardholders, which (at the time) also gave them access to UA clubs. It would be different if American Express could buy the memberships at a substantial discount, but AA's partnership with Citi, and UA's partnership with Chase would seem to preclude this.
American Express, like any business, is content to lose unprofitable customers. I do not think we will see any material change in lounge access benefits, and I expect the $200 airline fee reimbursement benefit to be eliminated when the Centurion lounge network is built out. I think it needs to be much larger, and I am puzzled that no additional locations have been announced.