seacarl

Is there a phone number that we can call to find out whether the lounge has a waitlist without having to walk to the lounge to then be turned away? It really would be nice if the waitlist status were shown on the app if you do mobile check-in, but it's not, and it doesn't appear to put you on the waitlist when you check in, so the app is relatively pointless

safari ari

Or allow to waitlist via app, at least you don't schlep over there to basically be told to pound sand. Be nice to know if it's even worth showing up if they had a digitalized waitlist.

seacarl

Please call, email, tweet about this to Amex management. It needs to get escalated. The people at the local lounge can't do anything - all the decisions are centrally made at HQ in NY. It's pretty ludicrous that there can't be a website or a section of the app that shows the current wait time and let you decide whether to schlep there or go to Trailhead or Bambuza or the Alaska Lounge. Either give the information or at least let us add our names to the waitlist on the app.

Antarius

Run into this at DFW multiple times. The app and their flyers recommend checking in on the app. on doing so and arriving you have to join another waitlist and start over.

Is there a reason these are not connected? Seems like a horribly designed system.

Doppy

The Centurion Lounges seem to be a testbed for bad check-in processes. Each time they find a new hassle, they add it to the process. Even before COVID there were 20 steps and credentials required.

Now there's the check in on the app, the in-person check-in to get on the waitlist, and then when you finally clear the waitlist, you need the app, ID, and a boarding pass. All of that could be simplified to one step in the app. I also don't like the requirement that they scan your boarding passes - not that it's a secret, but basically they are making participation in the creation of a database of all of our travel patterns a requirement for entry. And to add insult to injury, when they scan the boarding pass the system doesn't tell the agent if it's valid for entry - they still have to manually read it and look at the departure time.

It's harder to get into the lounge than on an international flight

I recommend submitting formal complaints. Maybe if enough of us do they'll streamline this insanity.

mcdullhk88

If a Platinum cardholder shows up >3 hours before departure, I wonder if s(he) can be added to the waitlist at that time, to be able to enter the lounge at the 3 hour mark. Not sure if the outcome would differ by scenario:

• Ex. Show up 3h45m out, 45 minute wait at time of waitlist. Get on waitlist. Enter the lounge 3hrs out.
• Ex. Show up 8hrs out, no wait at time of waitlist, but a waitlist is expected to build up later in the day. Get on waitlist. Enter the lounge 3hrs out.

Also wonder if one can make a massage appointment at the time of being put on the waitlist, rather than having to wait until time of entry (and fewer slots left).

FlyerBeek

Not necessarily specific to the MIA Centurion (although MIA and DFW are the most consistent ones with waitlists, IME), but I really wish there was some way to waitlist for the lounge online or via the app (or at least see if the lounge is at capacity). The Alaska Lounges are good with this - so the technology should be easy to implement. Would save a 20+ min trek to the lounge only to find out there's no room.

-FlyerBeek

Aero137

Partially, I wonder if it is seen as a short term issue. I remember the lounges being crowded before COVID, but I don’t remember the really long waitlists we see now (particularly at DFW).

Also, one thing that the current process enables is prioritization. I noticed last time at DFW, they assigned a color code to each party on the list. Not sure how it was determined, but somehow I got a higher priority. (Only 10 minute wait vs the quoted 30-45, and I didn’t see many who checked in before me in the lounge).

dayone

At least at DFW, I think the issue is that the available seating is still socially distanced. My understanding is that Lounge management is working with the airport to operate at full capacity very soon.

Anecdotally, on my last DFW visit, I was recognized and greeted by name by the member rep managing the waitlist. My wait was 10 minutes, much less than the quote, and I seemed to get in before others who had been waiting longer.

Antarius

Interesting. The lounge is at 50% capacity, so that seems to be why they have the front waitlist, but it is still surprising that they didn't integrate it. Not particularly complex system design.

I am not sure about the prioritization - for me, the last 3 times I have been there, i have had to waitlist at the front and it has taken roughly the stated 45 minutes each time.

Antarius

Agreed. They already know if you're eligible (in the app), they already have your ID (the app). The BP is the only other thing. Every lounge requires scanning one (even the PP ones), so I can't ding Amex for this one.

Kacee

In Texas? When there's no capacity restriction now at SFO? Some of this stuff is really difficult to understand.

dw

Yes, that was quite surprising to hear. I’m curious whether there are any such restrictions at the Admirals Clubs at DFW? (I can confirm as of late there certainly haven’t been at the Admirals Clubs at JFK or LAX- even before NY and CA loosened restrictions this month… perhaps there was some maximum capacity dictated by local restrictions, but that number would have been more than the number of people it would take to make the clubs totally packed.)

jtc246

Do you have a guess what criteria they might use? I spend quite a lot with Amex(though only a little on the Platinum card), I only have 1 recent data point last Friday, the 11th, was quoted 30-40 minutes, was paged at 60 minutes. We basically walked right into the Club(because it kinda sucks, lol), so just stayed there.

Dr Jabadski

Almost unbelievable that AmEx continues with this nonsense. Maybe it’s reverse psychology of Burger King’s “Have it Your Way” jingle* (which many companies seem to be embracing in the past 20 years), “you get the SOB our way or not at all”. Clearly, the customer is no longer “always right”.

I’ve previously had pleasant experiences at DEN CL but a day or 2 ago had the taking candy from a baby experience (schlep and pound sand experience). While in the USO lounge (Concourse A), AmEx app indicated “Almost Full” and stated my check-in code would expire in 29 minutes. Tram and walk to Concourse C (10-15 minutes), at bottom of the escalator see the sign stating the lounge is full. Go to check-in counter, told they will send 2 different texts and upon receipt of second text I could enter the lounge, didn’t even ask how long, overheard someone else being told 30-45 minutes.

Spoke with the manager (guess I like hitting my head against a wall), he of course blamed AmEx stating the app belonged to AmEx. Left Concourse C and went to United Club in Concourse B where I scarfed down some salad and a cookie before boarding, lamenting my wasted 30-35 minutes traveling to and from the CL.

(HT Dr. Leonard McCoy) darn it AmEx, I’m a doctor, not an app programmer. Is it really that complicated and/or difficult to program an app to accurately reflect the correct status? Could Amex actually WANT us to schlep ad pound sand, seems that would be counterproductive and engender ill-will. Is there another motivation for AmEx’s CL check-in/entry procedures that I’m missing?

Thank you.

(* Burger King came out with a slogan of Have It Your Way in 1974. This slogan summed up its difference with its rival McDonald’s. The lyrics proclaimed that Burger King would serve you a customized product (you can have whatever toppings you wanted on a burger, or even plain) living up to its slogan Have It Your Way.)