TravelStar

I completely agree. I've talked with several "road warriors" who obtained the Platinum Card with the sole purpose of using the lounges all the time, some over 100 times per year. Of course, Amex is aware of this as they record every Cardmember visit.

The only encouragement I've heard is talking to two lounge front desk people (without prompting other than my asking; "Are any plans in the works to reduce lounge crowding?") who said "Amex is planning on limiting the number of free lounge visits per year per Cardmember". However, that was about 6 months ago and no changes yet......

GUWonder

I wouldn't be surprised if Amex caps the number of included Centurion lounge visits annually per issued US Platinum card, but that kind of move might just push some people to go for another card product from another card issuer. Not that such move would be a big loss for Amex. But I also don't see that as really making that much of a difference to Centurion lounge crowding.

It seems like the "solution" to lounge crowding has been to increase the price of lounge access directly or otherwise and/or to develop cheaper (per area unit) lounges.

sdix

Amex must know the patterns of visitors for each lounge. They should be able to make an educated forecast of when a lounge will reach capacity. They should also know the membership breakdown that pushes the lounge to capacity.

Is it Plats plus 1 or 2? Is it solo Cents or is it Greenies buying in?

Based on what they know they can adjust their entrance policy.

Now I'm pretty sure they do not want to turn away "members" at the door. This is bad for business so perhaps just tightening up on the overall policy is the answer.

I think Plats +1 is fair.

At the end of the day while it does impact overall capacity it might only upset a non Cent on that once a year vacation when the whole tribe is denied access. For true road warriors then it's probably a non issue. For families that travel and have need for the lounge regularly then getting another card for the wife/husband may be the answer.

kb9522

No. The cattle corral is where families belong.

Lounges are not a Chuck E Cheese.

beckoa

This would push me away from the Plat product.

kb9522

I'm sure it would push a lot of people away. Centurion lounges are not as great as Amex would like us to believe, irrespective of overcrowding issues.

bocastephen

I think the solution is really simple - first, block supplemental business card holders from lounge access and assess the effect on crowding. There is no reason why these techie-types from the Bay Area should be handing out supplemental cards like candy and the lounges are completely full of employees with no room for card account owners.

That's an easy fix that has little to no impact towards account holders.

Then, if the problem is still not solved, we need a limit on the number of non-family and family guests a primary card holder can bring into the lounge - two family members or one non-family guest. No guest privileges for supplemental card holders (i.e., no guest stacking).

Then, if that doesn't fix the problem I would say we need a cap on the number of guests during peak time - essentially access is limited to the primary cardholder plus spouse only, during specific peak hours designated at each lounge.

Limited the number of annual visits for a primary cardholder is not a fair option while allowing unfiltered guests and supplemental cardholders access.

JHake10

I agree something needs to be done. However, AMEX shouldn't need to experiment as you mention above. They already know who is accessing the lounge. Since AUs get their own account number and guest are recorded by who is bringing them in. If AMEX saw "overcrowding was due to visits by people on supplemental cards" then they can just take action on that right away.

Since AMEX has not taken any additional action, I just wonder maybe there are just too many card holders for the lounge space they have. That would circle back to your peak time idea, which may need to be put in place.

mia

Supplementary personal Platinum cards cost $175/year for up to three.
Supplementary Business Platinum cards cost $300/year/each.

How confident are you that the problem is caused by Supplementary Business Platinum cardholders, rather than Corporate Platinum cardholders?

bocastephen

I would lump them in the same boat - essentially the cards are given as perks to employees who then use the benefits without paying for them, essentially making them 'guests' in the lounges regardless of whose dime is paying the card fee.

The lounges, especially at peak times, should really be reserved for the primary personal or small business cardholder and a reasonable number of guests and immediate family, with that quantity varying by how crowded the lounge is.

Different lounges seem to have different crowding problems - in Miami, it's huge family groups from South America who turn the lounge into their personal playground with no regard for other guests, making a huge mess, loud noise and general havoc. In SF, it's the techie-types using their free company cards to get into the lounge, rendering it unusable for anyone else. Other locations, like Seattle, are Amex' own fault - not having sufficient space for a location common sense would tell them will be crowded, and Seattle is often crowded for the same reason as SF, yet it's a much smaller location.

If Amex has the data on what is causing the crowding issues and where, they need to stop lollygagging around and do something already.

cbn42

Anything they do will upset some segment of cardholders and cause them to lose customers. With Chase and US Bank coming out with premium cards to entice platinum cardholders, slashing benefits right now is not a good idea. We all like to complain, but unless people start canceling their cards en masse due to lounge overcrowding, it's not in their interest to do anything.

cmd320

I'm not sure you understand the difference between the Business Plat and the Corporate Plat.

sdix

Mission accomplished

mhdena

Not sure how many that would be, but its ironic to see the thread about Centurian access by freeloading and those who will enable them and then this complaint thread.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...-thread-9.html

MT_Switch

The world is made of hypocritical irony