One of the most useful benefits of holding an American Express Platinum card, is using my card for free access to numerous airport lounges.  American Express recently changed the complimentary guest policy for Centurion lounges and Priority Pass lounges so I thought it would be a good time to summarize the different types of lounges you can access for free with an American Express Platinum card, requirements for free entry, guest policy and the easiest way to locate lounges.

List of Lounges You Can Access For Free With Your Amex Platinum Card

Having an American Express Platinum card (whether you are the primary cardholder or an authorized user) grants you free access to a few different lounge programs:

1) The Centurion lounge network
2) Priority Pass Select lounges – Free entry is not automatic, need to enroll
3) Delta Sky Club lounges
4) Airspace Lounges
5) Escape Lounges (US locations only)
6) International American Express lounges
7) Plaza Premium Lounges
8) Lufthansa Lounges

Each type of lounge has different requirements for free access by an Amex Platinum cardholder and their guests.

Centurion Lounge

The Centurion Lounges are among the nicest lounges you can access with an Amex Platinum card but they can only be found in a few locations and sometimes tend to be overcrowded because of their popularity. Current Centurion locations include Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), Las Vegas McCarran International Airport (LAS), New York La Guardia Airport (LGA), San Francisco International Airport (SFO), Miami International Airport (MIA), Houston George Bush Intercontinental (IAH), Philadelphia (PHL), Hong Kong (HKG) and the smaller Centurion studio at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA). Lounges at New York JFK, Denver, Los Angeles LAX, London, Charlotte and Phoenix are planned for 2019 and 2020.

How to Enter: Present valid American Express Platinum card, a government-issued I.D and a boarding pass for same-day travel on any carrier. Effective March 22, 2019, Amex changed their access policy to allow  entrance for cardholders who arrive within 3 hours or less prior to their original scheduled departure time or have proof of a connecting flight.  You cannot access Centurion Lounges at your arrival airport.  Here is a link to the Centurion Lounge access policy.

Guest Policy: Platinum card members are now limited to two (2) guests at no additional charge. One-day passes for any additional guests may be purchased for $50 USD.

Priority Pass Select

I visit Priority Pass lounges more than any of the other lounges I can access with my Amex Platinum card because there are so many of them. Priority Pass is an independent airport lounge access program with over 1,200 lounges around the world.  (Note: Effective August 1, 2019, Amex no longer gives a deduction off the cost of your bill atPriority Pass restaurants.)  In order to access Priority Pass lounges, you first have to enroll in the Priority Pass Select Program using this link and present your card (or digital card through the Priority Pass app).

How to Enter: Present your Priority Pass Select card (or digital card through the app) and same-day airline boarding pass.

Guest Policy: Priority Pass select members can bring 2 guests for free. Prior to to March 30, 2017 there was a charge of $27 per guest and there are still references to the $27 guest fee on various pages of the American Express website which you can ignore.

Delta Sky Club

There are many Delta Sky Clubs lounges across the United States but you need to be flying Delta for free access with an American Express Platinum Card. Here is a list of Delta Sky Club locations.

How to Enter: Present valid American Express Platinum card, government-issued I.D., and same day boarding pass on a Delta flight.

Guest Policy: Platinum American Express cardholders may enter the club with up to two (2) guests for $29 per person.

Airspace

This benefit is only useful if you fly through one of the 3 airports that have an Airspace lounge. There are only two (2) Airspace lounges: San Diego (SAN) and Cleveland (CLE).

How to Access: Present your valid Amex Platinum card and government-issued I.D. A boarding pass is not required for Airspace Lounge access.

Guest Policy: You can bring two (2) guests for free.

Escape

Amex Platinum cardholders can access Escape lounges located in the US.

How to Access: Present your valid Amex Platinum card, government-issued I.D and and same day boarding pass.

Guest Policy: You can bring two (2) guests for free.

International American Express Lounges

American Express has a few international lounges in Argentina, Australia, India, Mexico.

How to Access: Present valid Amex Platinum card, government issued I.D. and same day boarding pass on any carrier.

Guest Policy: Guest access policies vary by location. At minimum, at least 1 complimentary guest is allowed.

Plaza Premium Airport Lounges

This is a network of lounges in certain international destinations.  See https://www.plaza-network.com/locations for the complete list of locations.

How to Access: Present valid Amex Platinum card, government issued I.D. and same day boarding pass on any carrier.

Guest Policy: You can bring two (2) guests for free.

Lufthansa Lounges

Platinum Card Members have complimentary access to Lufthansa Business Lounges (regardless of ticket class) and Lufthansa Senator Lounges (when flying business class) in the Satellite area of T2 in Munich Airport from 6/1/18-10/31/19 and in T1 Concourse B in Frankfurt Airport from 6/1/18-10/31/19.  Here is a link for more information.

How to Access: Present government issued I.D., a valid Platinum Card, and a same-day boarding pass showing confirmed reservation on a Lufthansa Group flight (Lufthansa, SWISS and Austrian airlines) departing from Munich and Frankfurt only.

Guest Policy: No guests are allowed for free. Certain locations will allow guests for a fee. For the most current Lufthansa rules and guest access and pricing policy, visit
http://www.lufthansa.com/us/en/Lounge-types-and-access.

How to Locate American Express Platinum Lounges

An easy way to find all the lounges you can access at a specific airport is to use the American Express Loungefinder tool at https://global.americanexpress.com/lounge-access/the-platinum-card. You can also look up lounges on the individual websites for the specific lounge programs but this website might be easier because it will show you all lounges you can access with an Amex Platinum Card.

The search will pull up all the lounges at your airport, and list the name, hours and location.

You can search by city OR airport.

When I enter my home airport (ORD), I see there are 3 lounges at Chicago O’Hare for Amex Platinum cardholders:

This does not mean I can actually use all 3 lounges – I need to be flying Delta to access the Delta Sky Club and the Priority Pass lounges are in the international terminal 5 which is not useful when flying domestic.

For more information, you can click the name of each lounge to see details about each lounge, including location, access requirements, hours and guest policy, amenities and terms and conditions.

For frequent flyers, the lounge access is one of the best benefits of being an Amex Platinum cardholder.  Each authorized user card comes with its own lounge access which makes this benefit even more valuable.