UAPremierGuy

Has anybody heard any rumblings on when these are scheduled to reopen? I miss my DFW crew. And having been through there several times the last several weeks, the terminal was as busy as ever, so there is certainly a need.

zxrst

It seems Amex didn’t care much before given the lounges were practically school cafeteria with a buffet. Guests could fight among themselves.

Now, Amex has to solve the overcrowding in the post-virus world. What should Amex do?

mia

Comply with local regulations, which will likely mean opening at greatly reduced capacity, with no self-service food or drink. Specifics will depend on how they are licensed (as a restaurant, or as a bar, or something else), but there is likely to be variation by location. I would expect temporary elimination of guests, shortening of the three hour before departure window, and perhaps a ban on entry too close to departure.

Steve M

Buffet-style food is going to be an issue. As to doing the capacity-reducing things above, I don't think they'll be necessary. Airlines are talking about operating at 30% of their normal schedule for the rest of the year. That alone is more than enough to solve the overcrowding issue. And, if the buffet is gone, that's going to reduce demand from those that are left. Of all the travel and Amex problems we have to look forward to in the next year, overcrowding at the Centurion lounges isn't one of them. It's right up there with worrying about how the continued grounding of the 737-MAX and the pilot shortage is affecting airlines' ability to operate their schedules.

QtownDave

No buffet is not the same as no food. They will just need to adjust how they serve it.

cfabar1

It really is time to consider reopening these lounges in at least some fashion, especially LAS with the strip reopening. I would imagine one big obstacle is their popularity. They won't want to turn away too many people which they will need to to operate at 25% capacity. Also, the food offerings, which are the killer feature, will have to be significantly curtailed. They could try a full-service option ala JFK Delta terminal 4 at one point, but I don't know....

Doppy

For food they could plate and wrap a slimmed down selection of items. If they have to operate at a fraction of capacity then they also will have to serve many fewer people, which would make this more feasible.

Tough to tell how many people they would need to turn away in order to maintain 25% capacity these days; airports still seem fairly empty, but I think that's going to change this summer.

Assimilated Cajun

In the last few days I have been in LAX, DFW, and MIA. Stopped by the Centurion Lounges in all three airports just in case there might have been a sudden unannounced reopening, or perhaps a few staff members making preparations for same. No sign of life at any of the three locations. LAX and DFW have signs announcing closure "until further notice". I didn't see a sign at MIA, and in fact the sign by the Centurion elevators still announces the lounge opening hours, and when you push the "Up" button the elevator door opens. But when you get inside the elevator and push 4, the club level, nothing happens, and eventually the doors reopen and you are still on level 2.

An American Airlines employee at DFW -- a Concierge Key greeter/transporter, who in response to the apparent shortage of CK passengers had been assigned to meet and transport an Executive Platinum -- told me that some of the Admirals Clubs will be reopening on June 24. It would be great if by that time Amex would either reopen the Centurion Lounges or at least announce whatever plans have been made for reopening.

scubadu

I think its rather unlikely that Amex is going to have a random, "sudden unannounced reopening" of Centurion Lounges.

Regards

CLT

Looks that they changed the message on the CL website, describing the changes they will be making upon reopening, which makes me think the lounges will be reopening sooner rather than later.

spier072

It sounds like they have no idea how or when they will open.

dayone

A placeholder post for what I optimistically hope will be some good news soon.

dw

Not sure what is going to happen in the near future. On the one hand, some of the Centurion Lounges are located in airports (such as DFW and CLT) that have seen a fair increase in flights lately. But on the other hand, of the 11 Centurion Lounge locations in the US, 8 are located in states (CA, AZ, FL, NV, TX and NC) where COVID-19 cases have been on the rise.

MaxVO

Similar establishments just follow state regulations if and at what capacity they should operate. If covid were the main factor for AmEx (and not another business issue), why not just go with each state's decision?

dtwlarry

Hard to argue in principle, Max. I agree with you.
HOWEVER!!!! Can you imagine the Seattle Centurion at 50% capacity per local ordinance??!!!! :-0)