Frequent flyers will all have experienced a common frustration.
They pay hundreds of dollars a year for a credit card promising lounge access – only to face long lines when you arrive.
But American Express has a solution – a new online waitlist feature now available for all Centurion Lounges in the US.
Similar to Capital One’s system introduced earlier this year, Amex’s new digital waitlist allows cardholders to join the line remotely through their app.
You can sign up while you’re still on the way to the airport, and you’ll get a notification when it’s your turn to enter, giving you 15 minutes to check in.
This means no more standing in line – you just show up when your spot is ready.
Amex recently expanded this feature after successful trials at select locations. While it won’t guarantee immediate entry, it can save you precious time.
American Express has a solution for long lines at its Centurion Lounges – a new online waitlist feature now available in the app
Experts say this digital waitlist doesn’t solve the root problem of overcrowding, but it should make the experience less frustrating.
After all, the promise of luxury travel doesn’t typically include waiting in a long line.
Here’s how to use the new Amex feature:
- Use the Amex app when you’re about 10 minutes from the lounge.
- Log in and select your eligible card – typically the Platinum Card or Business Platinum Card.
- Tap the “Membership” tab and choose the Centurion Lounge for your airport.
- If space is available, click “Get Eligibility Code” for instant access. If full, join the “Waitlist” and get notified when it’s your turn.
- Once notified, you have 10 minutes to enter using a QR code — no physical card needed.
Meanwhile, a recent report showed how the value of credit card reward points has been gradually falling – as inflation has taken hold.
A reward point has long been worth around one cent when used to cover other purchases.
But one cent has lost around 20 percent of its purchasing power since 2018, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
This means a point has also fallen in value by about the same amount, according to The Wall Street Journal.
If you built up 50,000 points with a major credit card issuer in 2020 and still have not spent them, they are now worth about 41,300.
Inflation starts to bite into the value of points if users redeem them directly through a bank’s portal or online app
Cardholders racked up a stockpile of points worth more than $34 billion in 2023, according to annual reports from major card companies American Express, Capital One and JPMorgan Chase.
But the value of points has also fallen if users transfer them out of the bank’s portal and into a frequent flier or other points program.
Different airlines and hotels have their own systems for valuing points. And many of them are upping the number of points needed to book, in order to reflect how prices have increased with inflation.
Michael Faulkner, who works in the insurance industry, told The Wall Street Journal that transferred points do not go as far as they used to.
He said the same flight from his home in Chicago to France increased from 60,000 United Airlines points last year to between 80,000 and 90,000 this year.
