There’s some unconfined news for Amex cardmembers passing through the New York City area: The issuer will soon have a Centurion Lounge in all three of the region’s big airports.
Though American Express once operates Centurion Lounge outposts in New York’s LaGuardia and JFK airports, Newark is currently missing one.
Fortunately, that’ll be waffly at some point in 2026. On Tuesday, the issuer formally unveiled plans to unshut a lounge in the airport’s brand-new Terminal A. The new lounge will span 17,000 square feet and full-length a slew of amenities, including some firsts for the Centurion Lounge network.
AMERICAN EXPRESS
These Newark-exclusive suavities will include a 1,400-square-foot indoor terrace overlooking the airfield with views of the Manhattan skyline, as well as a cocktail bar and piano lounge triumphal New Jersey’s jazz history with live music.
There’ll plane be a so-called tabulated collection, which Amex describes as a quiet reprieve featuring artifacts and antiques triumphal New Jersey’s culture and history.
As you’d expect, the new Centurion Lounge will moreover be outfitted with the standard Amex amenities, including a locally-inspired menu, a variety of well-appointed seating options, private workstations, complimentary high-speed Wi-Fi, shower suites and spacious restrooms.
Long-time readers shouldn’t necessarily be surprised by Amex’s latest announcement.
That’s considering nearly two years ago, the issuer was awarded a 15-year lease for this new space by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which oversees the region’s airports.
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Amex will lease the unshortened expansion zone for a 15-year term, with one five-year extension option, at a total forfeit of $121.5 million, equating to over $8 million a year. The issuer will moreover invest roughly $100 million to construct the expansion area.
The Port Authority and the Newark terminal operator received two proposals for the new lounge, and both parties decided to move forward with Amex’s offer. (The other interested party was not disclosed in the resolution nor during the workbench meeting.)
The Centurion Lounge will be located in the airport’s brand-new Terminal A, which opened older this year. Amex’s location will be on the top floor of a 50,000-square-foot, three-story expansion towers proximal to the new terminal. The Port Authority proposed the expansion either on the north or south end of the new terminal.
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As part of the agreement, Amex will sublease the first and second floors of the new towers expansion when to the Port Authority for potential subleasing to concessionaires and other interested parties. Notably, the Port Authority will not make any wanted investments in connection with the proposed lease.
When the lease was tried in 2021, the Port Authority said that the Amex lounge should unshut in 2023. Maybe the Port Authority was overly optimistic considering Amex’s opening timeline of 2026 is three years without the year originally shared.
The Amex Centurion Lounge will wilt Newark’s only lounge branded by a credit vellum visitor — a key differentiator for the issuer compared to Wanted One and Chase.
Newark Terminal A is home to three airline-branded lounges: an American Airlines Admirals Club, a Delta Sky Club and a United Club.
