While losing all guest privileges does seem very excessive, I appreciate what AMEX is trying to do here. The lounges I've encountered, even in Covid, have still been extremely crowded. This is certainly related in part to the limited seating being employed in the lounges, but the crowds are still there and it's only going to get worse as travel ramps up again. And, from my personal experience, the crowding mainly comes from groups, usually families. It's the cardholder bringing in their spouse and 4 kids that contributes to the bulk of the crowding, not the cardholder bringing in his or her business partner.

I think there are more nuanced ways to accomplish this though. Allow one guest per cardholder and then charge for each additional guest, no exceptions. Want to bring your 4 kids in the lounge? Fine, then pay for them, like anyone else would have to if they wanted to bring 4 people in the lounge. There could even be a reduced fee ($25) for people under 18. Or just give each cardholder a set number of guest passes each year. But denying members the ability to bring in one guest a few times a year is overkill to me.