GiantCow

How many strollers are there though? Bet there's dozens.

MSPeconomist

Yes, but the passes need to be electronic and validated by a swipe of the card, not paper or printable. We don't want to see a secondary market for these things on eBay.

BTW, someone posted in a thread in the DL forum that, starting today, Centurion lounges are only for those with the Plat or Centurion card. Other cardmembers can no longer pay for admission. Can anyone verify this? If it's true, this would be a huge positive change to help alleviate the overcrowding problem and have the further advantage of shortening the line to enter.

mia

Correct. Scroll BACK.

dhuey

Yes, I assumed electronic. It would cost Amex some IT bucks to set it all up, but in the end it might result in more revenue for them. Our 75x/year road warrior might shift spending to his Plat from his Sapphire card if that's what he needs to keep living in the C lounge. And, of course, it could put a serious dent in the overcrowding problem.

mia

Lounges will always be crowded at peak times. Nothing should or will be done.

Demand exceeding supply (crowding) is only a problem if cardholders cancel their Centurion or Platinum accounts. There are two ways to resolve demand/supply imbalances: raise prices or increase capacity. The $100/year personal Platinum fee increase will slightly reduce the number of cardholders, but also will generate sufficient revenue to recoup the start up costs of the existing lounges, and allow American Express to expand where suitable space is available.

Entry rule tweaks will not materially affect crowding, but they do encourage more people to become Platinum cardholders, or to pay for supplementary Platinum cards. That's American Express' core business, lounges are just a marketing tool.

JHake10

I travel every week for work and got the Personal Platinum just for CL access. The only benefit this card provides to me is CL access. Like many other road warriors, hotel status, car rental status, and similar perks don't mean much since I get those organically. If AMEX limited how many times I can access the lounge, I just cancel the card. Would that limit overcrowding? You bet. Would it also lead to lost AF revenue for AMEX? Absolutely. Seems like AMEX needs to figure that out.

I typically just go into the CL for breakfast/lunch then go to a UA Club which has more space and is quieter most of the time.

GUWonder

Yes, way more than the family of four persons who access the lounges 2-4x per year:

Amex wants those family customers.

drwilliams

I guess my point is, if you do not spend any significant amount of money on the card (just use it as a lounge pass), why would Amex care if you took your business elsewhere? If you travel weekly, feeding you for a year for such a small amount as the annual fee (if you can eat like me...) does not make sense for them.

Amex is not just in it for the annual fee. They can earn thousands of dollars on customers who spend a lot of money on their cards, far surpassing the revenue from annual fees for those large spenders.

mia

American Express is a publicly traded company. No one is really interested in the profitability of individual customers. Investors and analysts look at metrics including the number of accounts open, fee revenue, etc in addition to net income. American Express sells access to cardholders through programs such as Amex Offers, Fine Hotels and Resorts.

JHake10

I put all airfare on the card for 5x and any large purchases for insurance. Otherwise, AMEX doesn't incentive me to put any other spend on the card. With that said I've spent ~28K on the Platinum to date, which isn't really a dent in the grand scheme of things but its more than a "lounge pass" card. I also spend across other AMEX cards.

MDJennings

So if you cancel your Plat, you won't get 5x on airfare. Feel free to take that to Chase if the elimination of absolutely free CL access will cause you to cancel the card.

Amex also has to pay SPG, IHG, etc for the Gold status they give you too. Yes, you probably are organically SPG Plat, but it's still money that Amex has to shell out.

With the supposed 1.3M Plat card holders worldwide, what percentage of them do you think visit a CL even once a month? Based on the threads showing excitement over a metal card, I'm willing to bet there are many times more people holding the Plat simply for the, "prestige," than simply for CL access.

mia

Perhaps, but I doubt American Express pays for benefits that are not activated, and in some instances I expect American Express is paid to offer the status.

dhuey

True, but at the margins, don’t you think lounge overcrowding threatens to hurt those metrics? If so, then Amex should look at the profitability of individual cardholders as they consider which ones to hit with a cap on lounge visits.

Adam1222

No they don't. They drink more and cost more per visit, and don't spend as much on their credit cards.

GUWonder

I wouldn't be so sure about Amex paying hard dollars to the above-indicated hotel companies for those hotel marketing tie-ins that come with elite status upgrades.