Terminal A, Philadelphia International Airport

Introduction

This is my review of the Centurion Lounge by American Express in Philadelphia’s International Airport.

This is one of the smaller lounges compared to Las Vegas, and around the size of the one in Seattle.  

Visited

October 2022 at 12:00

Opening Hours

The lounge is open daily from 05:30 to 21:00.

Entry Conditions

The lounge is open for those who hold American Express Platinum Cards, and a bunch of other cards, which I’ve not yet got my head around!

An issue that I’ve found with these kinds of lounges is that they refuse access unless you are 3hours or less before the departure of your flight.

In general terms, this makes no sense, as you need to be at that flight’s gate for 30minutes before departure – but this seems to be falling on deaf ears!  

How to Get There

If you’ve checked in at Terminal A, with the check in desks behind you, take a right to the escalators and go through security.

Once through Security, make a left, and go past the British Airways Lounge, and you’ll see the lounge in front of you on the left.

Otherwise, if you’re coming from Terminals B/C/D/E/F, take a walk towards A-Gates, pass the first set of A-gates, and you’ll find the lounge on the right-hand side.  

From here, it’s up the elevators, and you’re there!

Layout

This lounge is pretty small, which maybe contributes towards the reasons for the silly 3-hour limit.

As you walk in, you’ll see a dining area and bar. This has both high-table and café seating, along with the food station.  

Beyond the bar/dining area, you’ll find a lounge area, with more casual seating, and ‘pods’.  

For working, there is a single ‘phone room’, and also a large desk.

There is also some other high-table seating, overlooking the concourse of the airport.

I shall say that charging is very well considered in this lounge, and no matter where you sit – you’ll find somewhere to charge up!

The lounge doesn’t quite have the charm of decor that the lounge in Seattle or Las Vegas does – but it’s nice enough.

Food and Drink

Drinks

Water, coffee, and other soft drinks are self-served.

Alcoholic or other soft drinks are available from the bar, which has a fairly extensive menu of beers, wines and cocktails. There is nothing ‘premium here’ – everything is included.

Food

The food offered in the lounge is via self-service stations.

There is a salad bar.

The hot food station, had chicken, curries, and other items.

Then, a desert station with cookies, and some other sweets. Possibly not as extensive as Las Vegas.  

Wifi

I found the Wifi here to be pretty good at 54.8mps download – but 0.08 upload! Slightly strange, but it did everything I needed it to without issue!

Showers

There is one shower – I don’t believe there is a charge to use it, but I didn’t need to.

Conclusion

This is a good lounge with very good drinks and decent food. However, for those paying premium prices via their Platinum American Express cards, to be refused entry on a fairly militant basis; seems to de-value the whole concept of “airline lounge access with this card”.  

I think American Express need to reconsider the balance between lounge capacity, and the occasional traveler who may have got to the airport more than 3 hours early,