ericrz

I can't even fathom how that would work. Is the CSR staff going to remember (with 100% certainty) who is a Plat, and go into the lounge and tell them they have to leave? With the majority of customers being Plats (I would assume, based on numbers) how would they pick who to kick out first? Who's been there the longest? Who's been a Cardholder the least amount of time? Who spends the least on an annual basis???

I agree, Centurion members shouldn't be turned away, and Plats would be turned away at the desk if the lounge is full. But I can't imagine what the procedure would be like for removing Platinum guests already in the Lounge. That is a logistical and a PR nightmare.

Hopefully, Amex can predict their crowds with some accuracy (perhaps based on ticket purchases) and avoid a situation where they'd have to do this.

(For the record, I'm a Plat who's been in the LAS Lounge three times and I've never seen it more than about 1/2 full.)

TMM1982

The fair way to do it would be to kick out the Plat who has been in the lounge the longest. It shouldn't be that hard to do. Person checks in at the front, rep puts in the time and card type, then passes them along. Let's say this occurs at 5am. 7 hours later the lounge is full but the person who checked in at 5am is still sitting there chilling out while people are getting turned away. Time for them to leave!

mia

Unless American Express amends the terms to stipulate a maximum stay, as a few lounges do, there would not appear to be a basis to ask anyone to leave. The best way for any company to balance demand with supply is to adjust prices. British Airways just did this. American Express will do the same.

I cannot say if this will take the form of:

• Platinum Card annual fee increase to, say, $590;
• Elimination of the $200 airline fee reimbursement feature;
• Restriction on free lounge visits to X per month, with a co-payment for additional visits automatically charged to the card (perhaps with opportunity to redeem Membership Rewards points instead);
• Elimination of free visits with the option to use the $200 airline fee reimbursement feature to purchase an annual Centurion lounge membership.

puddinhead

Plat users already lost access to AA and US lounges and there was no reduction in card fees. Raising fees isn't the answer in light of falling benefits.

ericrz

It's not hard to do from the CSR end, agree. But then what -- they page the person overhead in the lounge? Sort of disruptive to the peaceful atmosphere. And, if this practice became common, what if the person doesn't volunteer themselves and show up at the front desk to get kicked out? Do they page overhead three, four times in a row? Do they go person-to-person, asking "Are you John Doe?"

There's not a reasonably professional way to do it, and it's inevitably going to make Amex look bad, so here's hoping it doesn't become necessary.

VegasGambler

I don't think that kicking people out is the right solution.

The right solution is to plan ahead and deny everyone except Cents access once you are almost full, but not quite. So if your capacity is 100 then once you are over 90 you turn away all non-Cents. Now if a group of 15 Cents show up that could be a problem but this is not a likely scenario.

This is how hotels implement "guaranteed room availability" for high-tiered guests. They don't go kick people out of their rooms; they always have a few rooms available even when they claim that they are "sold out".

TMM1982

Again, simple solution. If the person who's paged to leave doesn't volunteer themself, then that person's card is flagged and all future lounge privileges are revoked.

TMM1982

I agree with you in principle but I still think there should be a time limit for plats in the lounge. If someone has been there 4 hours+ and people are getting turned away, then that process needs to be re-examined.

dw

This isn't, for example, an office where people may have to swipe their keycard on their way out. Since the lounges don't actually check people out when they leave, how would they even know who was still in there at any particular time?

(Yes, whenever I have at the LGA lounge, they WOULD probably notice that I was leaving, considering how few visitors there were, but we're talking about lounges that may be at capacity here.)

TMM1982

Change the procedure.

djtsukasa

Yeah, kicking people out isn't the right solution. I do agree with the posts saying once the lounge hits a certain threshold, limit access to only cents until they see the lounge clear up a bit.

trouble747

Yeah that would never be implemented.

wesheltonj

I realize that some of you Centurion cardholders, want no-one in the lounge, but "Centurions", but that just not going to happen. Its just a place at the airport to get some food and drink and way for the masses. If your that concerned, about being around folks, then you need to travel private. Again airline club have never been at capacity or above?

scubadu

You are increasingly difficult to take seriously.

Regards

mia

American Express did not increase the annual fee when US or AA lounge access was added. They did lower the fee, through the airline fee reimbursement feature, when the CO lounge access ended -and- they gave many members a one-time $100 to $500 credit when AA/US left.

American Express is spending millions of dollars to build the domestic USA Centurion lounge network. They will recover this cost in the form of higher fees. Some cardholders will conclude that Platinum is no longer good value when this occurs, and will cancel. That is one way that lounge overcrowding will be reduced.