Getting Into American Express Centurion Lounges Is About to Be Even Harder

Back in the day, having an American Express Platinum Card was the ultimate status symbol, reserved for the Don Draper types who made salaries in the high six figures and had multiple mistresses. Now, it's available to anyone with good credit who's willing to stomach the $900 annual fee.

The card comes with a ton of perks to offset its steep price tag. It has $400 in annual credits to Resy restaurants, $75 a quarter in credit to lululemon (because even the most high-powered businesspeople need yoga pants), but perhaps most notably, access to the company's Centurion airport lounges.

As the card has become more easily accessible, so too have the lounges. Peopleonlineconstantly complain about overcrowding and long wait times. The company appears to be listening, because new rules regarding lounge access are rolling out in July.

American Express Centurion Lounge Access Changes Are Coming

The changes to the Centurion Lounge access policies revolve around two things: guests and layovers, reports The Points Guy.

Per the current guest policy, Platinum Card members can bring guests for $50 each. If they spend $75,000 a year on their Platinum Card, they can bring two complimentary guests. When the new rules go into effect on July 8, another restriction will be in place: guests will have to be traveling on the same flight as the cardholder.

Travelers with layovers will also face a restriction when the new rules take effect: they won't be able to access the lounge until five hours before their connecting flight. So if you have a seven hour layover, you'll have to spend two of those hours at the airport's T.G.I. Friday's.

So far, response to the rule changes on Reddit appears to be positive. "If you're in the airport for more than 5 hours, go somewhere nearby (city center, beach, etc), pay a few bucks to store your carryon, and see some sights," one person wrote regarding the layover rule change. "If the median lounge visit is 60 minutes, someone coming in for a 10 hour layover is taking up the space of 10 typical people."