American Express keeps adding to its collection of Centurion Lounges, and it's a win for frequent flyers. The next airport to get one of these outstanding lounges: Phoenix (PHX).
View from the Wing confirmed back in December that the Phoenix City Council voted to approve a contract with MAG USA Lounge Management, a subsidiary of the UK’s Manchester Airport Group, which operates Escape Lounges across several US airports.
However, it won’t just be an Escape lounge that the Phoenix airport is getting. The 9,532 square feet currently occupied by The Club at PHX (a Priority Pass Lounge) are proposed to be split into two lounges. One would be a Centurion lounge and the other an Escape lounge. It’s anticipated these lounges would open in December 2019 or January 2020.
The Club at PHX is Leaving Priority Pass
These new lounges will be taking over The Club at PHX in Terminal 4 which is currently a part of the Priority Pass Lounge network. Over the weekend, Priority Pass added to the lounge's details page that it will be closed and no longer part of the Priority Pass program on April 19, 2019, as was first reported by Doctor of Credit.
Once the lounge is closed, it is likely the renovations for the new Centurion and Escape lounges will begin to meet the December 2019 or January 2020 target opening dates. After the closure, Phoenix will not have any remaining Priority Pass lounges.
Our Analysis
American Express is on a tear building more of these Centurion Lounges. It already has lounges at Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), Houston-Intercontinental (IAH), Las Vegas (LAS), New York-LaGuardia (LGA), Philadelphia (PHL), Miami (MIA), Seattle (SEA) and San Francisco (SFO). Plus there’s one international Centurion lounge, at Hong Kong (HKG).
New Centurion lounges in Los Angeles (LAX), Denver (DEN), Charlotte (CLT), and New York City-JFK (JFK), and London Heathrow (LHR) are expected to open in 2019 or early 2020.
Centurion lounges generally put other domestic airport lounges to shame. Every lounge has high-speed WiFi and free food and drinks that far outpace the standard lounge fare.
On the flipside, the popularity of these lounges comes at a cost: crowding. Like many airport lounge operators, American Express has struggled with overcrowding at Centurion Lounges nationwide and has recently implemented restrictions on when you can access the lounges.
Thrifty Tip #1: See our complete guide to the Amex Centurion Lounges
Thrifty Tip #2: See our full review of the Escape Lounge at Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP)
Bottom Line
Any new Centurion and/or Escape Lounge is good news in our book. This should drastically improve the lounge offerings at Phoenix Sky Harbor (PHX) as well. These lounges are always worth a stop during a layover or before departure. Stay tuned as we will provide updates on this story as more information becomes available.
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Lead Photo courtesy of American Express