Amex Platinum: Get Compensation For Closed Centurion Lounges
One of the great perks of the Amex Platinum card(s) is access to the awesome American Express Centurion lounges. The locations are somewhat limited but they are some of the best lounges in the US. They have also been shut down since the beginning of the pandemic. Other lounges have reopened, but not Amex Centurion lounges. American Express finally released plans to open two of the shuttered locations, but that is only 16% of their already tiny lounge footprint. Travel has continued to pick up but Amex has left Platinum (and Centurion) cardholders out in the cold. Chris, a member of our Facebook group, decided to do something about that. He reached out to Amex and shared his disappointment with the situation on his newly minted Platinum card. He was looking to get compensation for closed Centurion Lounges. After some back and forth he was offered 10,000 Membership Rewards points. Some other members gave Amex a call as well and had varying levels of success.
Data Points
Here are some of the data points of what people were able to get:
- 5,000 Membership Rewards (MR) points
- 1,000 MR points
- 4,000 MR points
- Some others reported getting nothing so it will be very YMMV and probably depend on the representative you get.
I think the offers may depend on how long you have had the card and how many of the short term credits you were able to take advantage of.
What About The Credits?
Speaking of the credits, it is something you should consider. American Express gave all personal Platinum cardholders $20 a month in streaming credits and cell phone credits. If you held the card throughout the entire pandemic that equates to $320 in credits. That more than offsets the closed lounges, for me at least.
However, if you recently signed up for the card, maybe because of the increased welcome offer, your calculations look a little different. You may only get $40-$120 in credits if this is the case. That may or may not outweigh the cost of the closed lounges for you.
Final Thoughts
Whether or not you think it is right to ask American Express for more during these times is up to you. If you recently signed up for the Amex Platinum, like Chris did, then I think you have more solid footing to stand on. Or, if you have been traveling a lot for work during all of this and continue to walk past closed lounges, you may want more. If that is the case it is worth trying to give them a call and see what they say. The worst thing they can do is say no.
Let us know if you were able to get Membership Rewards points for closed Centurion lounges in the comments below.
Thanks again to Chris for sharing his experience.
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T’s offer is amazing. Because of that I tried. (I’ve been a member since 1995.) When I explained that I used to go to the SEA, LGA and SFO lounges often, plus can’t use the streaming credits or phone credits or Uber credits, Carlos suggested that, if I am not expecting to fly in the next few months, I might want to downgrade the card, and receive a pro-rated amount back, from the $550 AF. Then he went on, but Amex would probably take back the 30K points we gave you in May, since that was a gift for continuing your Platinum membership, and if you don’t continue, that agreement would not be valid any longer. I told him I needed to think about that trade-off. Drat.
That stinks 🙁
I have 2 plats. No offers on one, but they offered a $500 credit to keep my card open for 12 months. I jumped on a net annual fee of $50. Thanks for the heads up.
Awesome!
Very sarcastic reply about the credits should make up for it and got nothing extra
I asked last month as I was going to have business travel. Was told the streaming, communication credits were meant to compensate for that and after all no other lounges are open. I quickly corrected the no other lounges comment but they could not have cared less.
Thanks for an interesting article and the data points. I’d imagine one would have to show they’ve been flying to/near locations that have CL’s. Having a lengthy history with AmEx definitely helps. I’ve been a member for decades, but only Plat for a couple years now. And like you, Mark, I’m comfortable with the credits having been offered through the end of the year, the AmEx Offers, and Uber credits applied to UberEats, etc.
I’ll be watching to see if you get any other successful replies!
Thanks for the post.
Second rep offered me 5000 MR for being long time customer, after explaining the wireless and streaming credits.
Also got a $50 statement credit for the Saks Fifth Avenue benefit (My June transaction posted in July using up my July-Dec credit, instead of using the Jan-Jun credit. There was major delay at Saks warehouse this year.)
Excellent – I wish I had got 5K points 🙂
[…] Amex Platinum: Get Compensation For Closed Centurion Lounges by Miles to Memories. Seems very YMMV, share if you have any success in the comments below. […]
I wasn’t able to use the card at all this year for type of traveling. Has anyone tried to get the annual feel lowered?
Typo…meant Fee
i thought I’d waste my time with Amex again and yep nothing.
🙁
I just called and talked to a rep and explained to her about the lounges. After some time checking with Membership Rewards she said they are not doing anything “because of all the extra benefits added to the Platinum Card” but because I was a long time customer she wanted to do something for me — not because of the lounges but because of my membership. Also note, I got 50K to keep the card open in March and get continual offers so this was very surprising. She gave me 20K MR.
That is awesome T – doesn’t matter how you get them as long as you get them 🙂