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Centurion Lounge SFO [Opened 6 November 2014] (2013 - 2021)

Old Dec 8, 2014, 12:26 am
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Last edit by: Infinite1K
FAQ
Q: Where is the lounge?
A: Terminal 3, F concourse, right by Gate F2 (formerly gate 75) and the F-1 security checkpoint (that has PreCheck, sometimes).

Q: Can I visit there if I'm departing from another terminal?
A: Absolutely. Security at SFO will let passengers departing from any concourse at SFO go through security in any concourse, even ones that aren't connected behind security. At the moment, Terminal 3 concourses E and F, and International Terminal concourse G are connected airside to the Centurion lounge. Some other concourses are connected to each other airside, but not to the point that you can walk airside to the Centurion. However, with a PreCheck security lane right next to the entrance to the lounge, it can be quite easy to clear security twice if necessary.

Q: Can I visit if I'm arriving at SFO?
A: It depends. If you're arriving in the aforementioned concourses E, F, or G, then yes, but only if you have a connecting flight. If you're arriving in one of the other concourses, then security at SFO won't let you clear into E, F, or G without a boarding pass departing SFO that day. If you're arriving internationally, again, you'd need a same-day SFO departing boarding pass to clear security.



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Centurion Lounge SFO [Opened 6 November 2014] (2013 - 2021)

Old Nov 7, 2014, 5:24 pm
  #211  
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Originally Posted by SFOPhD
Centurion and Platinum card holders I think get the same gifts: a cookbook and a candle. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong on this one as this would be different from previous openings.
Oh dear. Amex might receive some extreme nastygrams over that.

Do you consider me to be just like any loser who pays a few hundred bucks for a Plat card?! Do you know whom you're dealing with?
dhuey is online now  
Old Nov 7, 2014, 6:37 pm
  #212  
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
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Went and checked out the Centurion Lounge today from 4:30 - 5:30 or so. Check-in line was long and there were a lot of folks who were just curious and asking what the lounge was.

Welcome gift was a cookbook and a candle - I DON'T believe that both platinum and centurion get the same gift. I sat down next to another gentleman who was going through his bag and while doing so he made small talk with me and asked, "so, what do we get in these goodie bags?" He only received a cookbook and joked that based on its weight, it was probably worth his platinum card annual fee

The lounge is very nice, but today it was PACKED to the point of being uncomfortable (not to mention everyone is walking around taking photos to post onto instagram since it's only day 2 for the centurion lounge) - I left to go to the United Club after getting a snack and looking around.
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Old Nov 7, 2014, 6:56 pm
  #213  
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My friend is plat and he got both.
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Old Nov 7, 2014, 10:20 pm
  #214  
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Originally Posted by VegasGambler
My friend is plat and he got both.
Same here.

And your description of how most of Vegas smells is a bit too....accurate.

Thus my explanation of what the Mrs. most likely/hopefully meant.
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Old Nov 8, 2014, 8:22 am
  #215  
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
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Originally Posted by dhuey
Oh dear. Amex might receive some extreme nastygrams over that.

Do you consider me to be just like any loser who pays a few hundred bucks for a Plat card?! Do you know whom you're dealing with?
No...once they let the Plats in for free we knew the exclusivity was over... 'sigh....', whats the world coming too, allowing Plats into 'our' lounge'.....

Lol, just kidding......i was hoping for another pen though, last one was a beauty!
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Old Nov 8, 2014, 12:16 pm
  #216  
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: SFO
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I checked out the lounge last night from 7:30 to 9:30 before a redeye. The lounge was quite packed but it also looked to be a small lounge in the first place. There was a wait to get into the lounge because people were curious and walked in, had many guests, and because the second host's computer was down.

Food was very difficult to come by. The chefs apologized profusely to me because I would have to wait and they were no longer making any meat (pork) dishes tonight. Thankfully, I don't eat pork! I was also surprised that the bar was not able to make the Pisco or Pineapple Express drinks because they were out of ingredients. They were also unable to make me a mojito because they no longer had any clear rums.

A note about the shower: it doesn't look like they refresh or clean the bathroom completely. There was a full trash bin when I used the shower, although there were fresh toiletries, towels, and thankfully, everything was wiped down so there was no water anywhere.

I'll be at the lounge often because I'm SFO and UA-based so hopefully they will iron out these details in the future.
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Old Nov 8, 2014, 1:03 pm
  #217  
 
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Location: Charlotte
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Centurion Lounge SFO [Opened November 6, 2014]

I was just there. Kostow is in the lounge monitoring food right now. I had him sign my book which is cool. They did have some trouble keeping food out but I'm sure that will be fixed. The 15 min change between breakfast and lunch left a backlog of people that wanted food. Love the wine offering
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Old Nov 8, 2014, 11:17 pm
  #218  
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: SFO
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Spent a couple hours at the lounge on Friday night. It's a nice addition to T3, and I'd certainly pick it over the United Club. But the T2 Admirals Club remains my favorite lounge at SFO (I'm a sucker for those yogurt-covered pretzels).

Pros:
- Loved the wine-tasting wall concept.
- The two cocktails I tried were tasty. The bartenders seemed to know their stuff.
- Overall the lounge looked and felt high-end.
- The welcome gift was a nice touch - the book alone had a $50 price tag. Although it's quite heavy, so somewhat annoying to lug around while traveling.

Cons:
- Checking in at the front desk was a slow process. They needed to check CC, ID, and boarding pass. There was a bit of a line, so it took about 10 minutes to get in.
- The food selection was extremely limited. When I first tried the buffet, the only dishes to choose from were plain white rice and some salad. Eventually they added some mushrooms (which disappeared almost immediately - there were some hungry people in the room) and chocolate chip cookies (which were delicious!). No meat dishes at all as far as I could tell.
- Half the bottles on the wine-tasting wall were empty, and the bar was out of ingredients for a few of the cocktails.

I assume the food and booze supply issues were just because the lounge is so new, so hopefully those will get better over time.
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Old Nov 10, 2014, 4:57 pm
  #219  
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
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Checked it out today- no welcome gift- but I did not ask.
Food- salad, rice, mushrooms, pork- it's good, not amazing. But way better than anything at the terminal

Check in process- no one in line, very quick

Wine bar- super cute idea
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Old Nov 10, 2014, 5:23 pm
  #220  
 
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As per the UA forum, they seem to have run out of gifts today (whether that's just for today or total I don't know)
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Old Nov 10, 2014, 5:33 pm
  #221  
mia
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How many people can use the Wine Wall dispensers simultaneously?

Are the same wines available by the glass from the bar?
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Old Nov 10, 2014, 5:42 pm
  #222  
 
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A few comments from my visit yesterday:

1) They ran out of gifts on Sunday and said if I saw a book laying around because someone didn't want it, I could have it.
2) The food was woefully unavailable and the buffet area is far to small, compared to DFW this is a tiny space for presenting food options.
3) I heard a member of staff say that the DFW, LAS and LGA openings averaged about 75 guests per day the first week. At SFO they had 500 on day one and 600 on day two. While they expected more guests, that number was way out of the forecast.
4) There is a critical flaw with the dishwasher at the bar, spewing extremely strong industrial bleach odors directly in front of the wine wall. They MUST move the dishwasher or find another cleaning product that does not emit the odor problem they currently have. We could not sit in the bar/food area due to the odor.

I'm fully prepared to allow for growing pains, but this was not AmEx's finest hour.

Oh, and one other element we were less than pleased about -

We needed to request a wheelchair to go from the Lounge to Gate 60. The staff had no way to request that service. While I understand that perhaps it requires the airline to enter an SSR for WCHR, AmEx staff should have a local airport number to call the carriers and facilitate that for their Members. We were told to see an airline representative outside the Lounge to make a WCHR request.
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Old Nov 10, 2014, 6:20 pm
  #223  
 
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Wow, sounds like Saturday night when we visited was an ideal time. No wait to enter, we got the book and the "very last" candle, and f&b service was firing on all cylinders. There were maybe 20 guests total in the house.

Apparently things start to go sideways when the crowd is too big. Hopefully fixing the aforementioned glitches, plus the easing of initial interest, will make things run more smoothly on an ongoing basis.

I should also note that not only were the agents very friendly and warm, one was shrewdly encouraging everyone who entered to post photos to social media with #TheCenturionLounge and "#awesome if you feel like it". Quite a refreshing change from UA employees calling LEOs over photography.
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Old Nov 10, 2014, 9:07 pm
  #224  
 
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They were out of all but one draft beer. Per multple staff members, they didn't expect so many visitors so early on...
Otherwise another enjoyable visit today, less crowded.
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Old Nov 11, 2014, 7:56 pm
  #225  
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Am i the only who is upset at pork being offered? as many people can't eat it
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