American Express confirmed three new Centurion Lounge locations during a press briefing in New York on 14 April 2026. The additions, when complete, will bring the global Centurion network to 33 locations across the United States, Europe, Asia, and Latin America.
The most consequential of the three, in terms of footprint, is a 14,500-square-foot lounge planned for Lisbon Humberto Delgado Airport, scheduled to open in the third quarter of 2027. It will be the first Centurion Lounge in continental Europe outside London (Heathrow), Paris (Charles de Gaulle), and Frankfurt, and the first in the Iberian peninsula. American Express’s vice president for global lounges, Audrey Hendley, told the briefing the Lisbon site was selected because of “the substantial year-on-year growth in transatlantic premium-cabin traffic through Lisbon — up 28% since 2023.”
A second lounge, opening in March 2027 at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT), will be located airside in Concourse B and span 11,200 square feet. CLT is American Airlines’s second-largest hub by departures and a long-running gap in the Centurion footprint; the new location will partly close that gap, although it will not be accessible from American’s Concourse E gates without re-clearing security. American Express said the site was secured under a 12-year operating lease signed in February 2026.
The third addition, opening December 2026, is at Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC), the recently rebuilt terminal that opened in 2020. The Centurion Lounge will occupy 9,800 square feet on the upper level of Concourse A and will become the airport’s first premium credit-card lounge of any kind. SLC is Delta’s western hub and a meaningful gap in coverage for transcontinental and Mountain West premium travelers.
Pricing and access policy is unchanged. Centurion Lounge admission remains complimentary for Centurion and Platinum cardholders only. Authorized-user access on Platinum accounts continues to require an additional $195 annual authorized-user fee, a policy that was reinstated in February 2023 and that American Express confirmed on the call would not change with the new openings. Guest fees are $50 per adult and $30 per child.
Hendley addressed two recurring complaints during the Q&A. On overcrowding: she said American Express now publishes a real-time capacity indicator inside the Amex mobile app for 19 of the 30 existing locations, and that this functionality will roll out to all sites by year-end 2026. On admission timing: she confirmed the existing policy — that Centurion access is restricted to passengers within three hours of their scheduled departure — will remain in force at all new locations.
The competitive context is, as has been widely reported, increasingly intense. Chase’s Sapphire Lounge at JFK Terminal 4 (opened 18 February 2026) and Capital One’s flagship at Washington Dulles (opened October 2025) have both posted strong early traffic numbers. Centurion’s response, signaled in this announcement, is to defend the network’s geographic breadth rather than enter a feature-by-feature comparison. American Express has not, as of this writing, announced any plans for omakase counters, on-site massage therapy, or full-service à la carte restaurants — three of the differentiators Chase is leaning into at JFK.
What it means for the cardholder. For Platinum and Centurion holders who travel through Salt Lake City, Charlotte, or Lisbon, the network will, beginning in December 2026, materially extend its reach. For everyone else, the news is that American Express continues to invest, the lounge network is not standing still, and the $695 Platinum annual fee continues to look more reasonable than it did a year ago.