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My review of Amex Centurion Lounge, Denver
I’ve had the Amex Platinum card since 2014, but it’s not until now have I visited an Amex Centurion lounge in the States. I was actually in Miami the other day which also has a Centurion lounge, however at the wrong terminal and airside inter-terminal transfer was not possible so I missed the opportunity there.
It’s not an issue in Denver thankfully, so although my Delta flight departs from a different Concourse I’m still able to access the Centurion lounge in Concourse C. I just need to take the shuttle train from Concourse A to C and then back after my visit.
The Centurion lounge is near Gate 46, take the escalator up once you see the sign.
Platinum cardholders can guest up to two people, so I’m able to bring my friend with me. Note that starting from 2023 US-issued Platinum cards can no longer bring any guests unless they spend at least $75,000 the previous year, whilst cards issued by other countries remain unaffected.
The spending target is pretty high, and the aim is to address the overcrowding problem which is getting worse by the day. Denver is no exception:
The lounge is not huge but has a decent size, so despite being fairly crowded it’s not too difficult to find a seat.
Some areas have a view of the runway of airport interior.
There are a pool table and shuffleboard for fun.
The same decorative wall as I saw in London.
It’s early in the morning, so breakfast service is available. Some of the dishes include eggs, sausages and fried potatoes.
All drinks including cocktails are free at the Centurion lounge, which is an edge over other airline lounges in the United States that makes it different.
You can also make yourself a coffee or orange juice, however it’s pretty hard to spot a free glass anywhere.
In conclusion – I think the lounge itself is more than fine, as the decor is nice and the food offering is okay. The experience is considerably overshadowed by the capacity issue though, which is likely to improve from February next year.
What are the benefits of UK American Express Centurion card?
A friend of mine has just received his UK Amex Centurion card. Usually nicknamed the Black Card by the public, it is probably the most prestigious bank card out there, and very few people are eligible to even receive an invitation to apply. Still, many people – just like me – are very curious about its eligibility criteria and benefits, and I’ll take this chance to briefly talk about them.
[Background]
First of all, my friend already has the US Amex Centurion card. Having been a customer with both Amex US and Amex UK, he was quite frustrated with the difficulty to obtain a Centurion card in the UK, and shifted all his spend to the US Amex cards from late 2020.
He spent roughly two million dollars over a span of eight months, and then successfully received an invitation to apply for the Centurion card after querying the Platinum Concierge services.
Interestingly, he is based in the UK and none of the two million dollar purchases was made in the US.
[Get the UK card]
If you already hold the US Centurion card, you can acquire one in other countries through Amex Global Transfer services. It’s a privilege of the US card though, as Centurion members in other countries can’t acquire a US card through the same procedure.
Since my friend is based in the UK, it’s sensible to apply for a UK Centurion card too. After receiving the invitation, he still needs to fill out a form.
[Fees]
Because he’s already a Centurion cardholder, the joining fee is waived. Last I heard the fee was £3,000, although I’m not sure if it has increased since.
The annual fee is £3,400.
Unlike the US counterpart, the UK Centurion card comes with a free supplementary card.
[Welcome Box]
It took five days for the application to go through, and then two more days for the cards to arrive.
[Card Designs]
Similar to the US Platinum card, the Centurion card offers two artist designs besides the classic design, by Kehinde Wiley and Julie Mehretu respectively.
The two UK cards and one US card completes the collection 🙂
[Status Benefits]
The Centurion card offers elite status with the following airlines:
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club – Gold
- Emirates Skywards – Gold
The following hotels:
- Hilton Honors – Diamond
- Marriott Bonvoy – Gold
- IHG One Rewards – Platinum
- Melia Rewards – Platinum
- Radisson Rewards – Gold
- Jumeirah One – Gold
And two car rental companies:
- Hertz – President’s Circle
- Avis – President’s Club
It may strike you first as an extensive array, but once you dig into the details you will feel much less excited. Hilton Diamond has substantial benefits but it’s not difficult to get; Melia Platinum and Jumeirah Gold have good perks, but their footprint is limited. Marriott Gold and IHG Platinum are next to useless…
In terms of airlines, the two offers are good, however neither VS or EK belong to any major alliance so the memberships don’t get you very far. In contrast, US Centurion card offers Delta Diamond status which is accepted across the entire Skyteam, and my friend also availed Star Alliance Gold and Oneworld Sapphire via status match programs.
[Lounge Benefits]
Lounge access benefits are almost identical to the Platinum card:
- Priority Pass (+1 guest only)
- Amex Centurion Lounge
- Eurostar Lounge
- Plaza Premium / Lufthansa / Delta / Escape Lounges etc.
The Centurion card only makes a difference when you access the Centurion Lounge or the Lufthansa Lounge. You can read more about the Amex Lounge benefits here.
The US Centurion Card issued Priority Pass can bring in unlimited number of guests.
[Other Benefits]
Fine Hotels & Resorts: stay a minimum two nights and enjoy an additional $200 credit on FHR bookings at select luxury hotels.
Limousine Transfers: eight complimentary two-way airport transfers, but the snag is you must book the flight with Centurion services.
Airport Fast Track: available at Heathrow, Stansted, Manchester and East Midlands.
Lifestyle Credits:
- Harvey Nichols: £500 annually
- Clos19: £500 annually
- Addison Lee: £20 monthly
[Travel Insurance]
From what I’ve heard it’s way better than the US card.
[Spa, Fitness and Clubs]
[Refer A Friend]
Something that you surely didn’t know – The Centurion card also has an invite-a-friend feature:
However, the referral link opens an application for the Platinum card…
Okay that’s it! I’ll probably never qualify for this card, but to be honest the benefits are underwhelming and I wouldn’t pay £3,400 anyway. What do you think?
How to redeem your Virgin Atlantic Credit Card Upgrade voucher
Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Credit Card is probably the best non-Amex traveller card in the UK, and the Tier Reward after hitting £10,000 annual spend is quite attractive. One of the rewards to choose from is an upgrade voucher, and I’ll talk about how to use it today.
[Receiving the Voucher]
First of all, you should receive the voucher within 30 days of spending the qualifying amount. You won’t receive an email or see it in your Virgin Atlantic account, but you’ll see the following row in the activity statement:
You don’t need to specifically choose from the three Tier Rewards, instead whenever you are ready you can just redeem straightaway.
[Facts]
The voucher can be used on both revenue and reward tickets. This is a big advantage over the BA upgrade voucher issued by Barclaycard.
Only Virgin Atlantic operated flights are upgradable. Economy Light tickets are non-upgradable.
The voucher can be used to upgrade a return flight or two one-way flights. You can use half of the voucher on a one-way flight and save the other half for the future.
You can upgrade one-cabin, i.e. Economy to Premium or Premium to Upper Class.
Reward availability is required in the upgraded cabin.
You need to pay the difference in taxes and charges.
The voucher cannot be redeemed online. You must call the contact centre to redeem it.
It can be applied on tickets issued by travel agencies too – you don’t have to book directly from Virgin Atlantic, which is good as they don’t have best rate guarantee.
You can redeem the voucher for someone else – you don’t have to travel.
[Calculating the charges]
To know how much you need to pay for the upgrade is easy. Say that you want to upgrade a one-way flight from London to Miami, then just search any date for that route on Virgin’s website. Select a flight and cabin then you’ll see ticket price on the next page:
See Taxes, fees and charges? It’s not the whole picture though, you must click the link to view the actual breakdown, which will show you the carrier-imposed surcharge too:
The two numbers combined are payable charges for a reward ticket. And in this case:
- Economy: £120 + £169 = £289
- Premium: £120 + £270 = £390
- Upper Class: £350 + 270 = £620
Which means you must pay £101 for upgrading from Economy to Premium, or £230 from Premium to Upper Class.
[Using the Voucher]
The first thing you need to ensure is reward availability in the cabin you want to upgrade to. Since Virgin Atlantic doesn’t guarantee reward seats on any flight, you may need to search their website often or subscribe to one of the alerting services.
Once you find it:
- For reward ticket, you don’t need an existing booking, simply call in to make the booking with points and voucher
- For revenue ticket, you don’t need any Virgin points, just call in to upgrade with the voucher
Since fuel surcharges are sky high at the moment, upgrading a revenue ticket usually turns out a much better deal.
Virgin Atlantic actually has a Gold service line which isn’t publicised on their website. However if you are a Gold member you should be able to find the 0800 number in any newsletter they sent you. I wasn’t aware and just called the regular number at 7pm on Wednesday. It took 25 minutes to get through, which wasn’t too bad.
The agent could see reward availability and my upgrade voucher no problem. She asked for my credit card details to pay the £230 charge, which is identical to my calculations above.
It’d be nice to be able to redeem the voucher online, but overall the contact centre experience was smooth and positive, and I think paying £230 for an upgrade to Upper Class, plus finally finding a use for that voucher feels really good!
£10 Amazon credit for Barclaycard customers
If you are a Barclaycard customer, there’s now a chance to grab a free £10 Amazon credit.
You can check out the offer details here. Note that according to the terms and conditions you must land on the offer page first before taking part.
- Offer ends September 30
- Pay at least £10 on Amazon with your Barclaycard
- You’ll then receive a £10 voucher to use by October 30
The offer should be open to all Barclaycard customers – note that it is Barclays’ credit card division, so debit cards that come with their current account won’t qualify.
Apply for a U.S. card without SSN/ITIN via Amex Credit Passport
U.S. no doubt has the best credit card offers in the world, and many people from overseas are very keen on applying for one. It’s tricky though, as unlike in the UK you usually need to provide a tax number (SSN or ITIN) when submitting an application, and you may not have one if you still live abroad or have recently moved.
There’s a well-known workaround though – if you are an Amex cardholder overseas, you could apply for a U.S. Amex card via its Global Transfer service. You don’t need an SSN / ITIN or any credit history in the U.S. – all you need is a U.S. residential address and a phone number, and Amex will use your internal credit record with them to evaluate the application.
It’s usually a very smooth process, and everyone I know who’ve tried succeeded, although some of them were asked for some sort of bank verification.
It’s not until recently that I became aware of another service that Amex U.S. offers – Credit Passport, provided by Nova Credit.
The idea is quite similar to Global Transfer, which aims to facilitate the application for people who don’t have a tax number yet in the country. However,
- You don’t need to be an existing Amex customer
- Your credit history in the current residential country will be used for the application
Currently nine countries are supported: United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Mexico, Brazil, India, Kenya, Nigeria and Dominican Republic.
Note that the application only triggers a soft pull in the United Kingdom as well as in Canada, Australia, India and Dominican Republic, which means it doesn’t negatively impact your credit score.
To be honest I don’t think it’s a very useful feature, as all listed countries issue their own Amex cards, with the exception of Dominican Republic. My speculation is that having an Amex card and doing the Global Transfer would have a much higher success rate.
However, if somehow you don’t have an Amex card, or the Global Transfer doesn’t work out, you may want to try Credit Passport to apply for your first U.S. credit card. A reader from Canada has just reported success so it’s a viable route.
Match to Preferred Hotels Authority for free upgrade, breakfast and lounge access with Mastercard World Elite
We wrote about Preferred Hotels’ program update last year, as well as the status match opportunity to Elite with Mastercard at that time. The promotion has got even better now.
You could check out the offer on Mastercard’s site here. Until January 2023, select Mastercards issued in Asia Pacific qualify for special Preferred Hotels benefits:
- World Elite – match to I Prefer Authority
- Elite – match to I Prefer Elite
- Platinum & Titanium – match to I Prefer Explorer
- Others – 2,500 bonus points upon enrolment
Even if you are familiar with I Prefer, you may have never heard of Authority – it’s a new top-tier status introduced last July, and by invitation only.
Authority privileges include welcome gift, room upgrade, free breakfast and lounge access. It’s more or less on the same level with Hilton Diamond, Marriott Platinum and Hyatt Globalist, which is pretty valuable.
In order to apply for the match, all you need is the BIN (first 6 digits) of a qualifying Mastercard. However, after submitting my application, I received a reply asking me for a photo of my credit card, including the key information.
9Once that’s sorted, you’ll want to create an I Prefer account first. You may use my referral link which will give you a 1,000-point sign-up bonus. My quota is already filled so won’t earn anything myself, but the referred should be fine, and feel free to post your referral link in the comments.
Then you need to send an email to [email protected] with the title Mastercard Offer – Authority Tier, content following the template provided on Mastercard’s offer page. You should receive a reply within seven business days, and if approved the status is valid for a year.
Here are some Preferred Hotels in the UK:
- Royal Lancaster, London
- The Bentley, London
- The Beaumont, London
- The Stafford, London
- L’oscar, London
- Sea Containers, London
- The Lowry, Manchester
- The Grand, York
- The Fitzwilliam Hotel, Belfast
And there are plenty more in Europe and all over the world. The match is very easy and benefits are substantial, so it’s worth a few minutes of yours to submit an application. Remember that the status is only valid for one year, so you may want to apply nearer the deadline if you have no immediate travel plans.
My review of American Express Centurion Lounge, London Heathrow Terminal 3
Without any specific planning, I came to realise that my BA flight departs from Heathrow Terminal 3 in the booking process. In terms of (Oneworld) lounge situation Terminal 3 is much more preferable than Terminal 5, given the lounge choice between British Airways, American Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Qantas. And even better, American Express just opened its new Centurion Lounge in October 2021, so it’s a great opportunity for me to check it out.
Amex has now opened a handful of Centurion lounges globally outside the United States. I’ve visited the one in Hong Kong a couple of times pre-pandemic and really liked it.
I have the whole day to myself at Heathrow so spend some time in the much loved Qantas and Cathay lounges too, which I’ll write about later. T3 feels much smaller than T5 or even T2, but the signage is a bit confusing and it takes me a while to find the Amex Lounge.
It’s nicknamed Lounge A – turn right after security, and you’ll find a lift towards the end.
One level up and the lounge entrance is right in front of you. There’s a kid’s club on the left but I didn’t check it out.
Entry rules are as follows:
- Amex Platinum card members can bring up to 2 guests
- Amex Centurion card members can bring up to 2 guests, or the entire immediate family (spouse and underaged children)
- You are allowed entry from three hours prior to your flight departure
The guest rule is generous enough, however unlike airline lounges, you can’t show up anytime on the day even if it’s way ahead of your departure. Amex card, passport and boarding pass are needed for verification.
The interior is mainly wooden or beige.
There’s a business room immediate to your left. Small cabins are provided which are very convenient if you need to attend a phone call or video conference.
Move forward to see the bar and dining area.
With a very delicate afternoon tea set at the side.
And a semi-private relaxation area.
That’s about it. Size-wise the lounge is nowhere near how the Qantas one measures, not to mention the huge space Cathay occupies. However it’s really new and tastefully furnished. You may have noticed the London map in the picture above already, and there’s also a display of cricket bats:
What I love most is this turquoise retro display made of books and suitcases:
Food is arranged in small plates and feel free to take all you can eat.
There are chicken, beef and vegetarian options. Presentation is really nice and so is the taste. The Japanese soba noodles are quite good.
Don’t forget to grab a drink from the bar too – they have cocktail menus.
Usually I’d say Cathay Pacific Business Lounge is my favourite at Heathrow, given its various dining and super comfortable seating options. Comparatively, the Centurion Lounge is much smaller, but feels more upscale and is slightly better in terms of food. The next time you are at T3, don’t forget to reserve some time here.
Enjoy free breakfast, room upgrade, $100 credit and more with Mastercard Travel Services
Amex has FHR and Visa has its Luxury Hotel program, and it shouldn’t surprise you that Mastercard runs a similar hotel booking service too.
The service is called Mastercard Travel & Lifestyle, provided by TEN. You must validate your eligibility by entering the card number, and then if approved you could create an account to access more information. It’s unclear what cards are eligible as it’s likely down to the individual contracts between banks and Mastercard, but in general you need a premium card such as the World Elite.
Mastercard World Elite is no longer rare in the UK. I vaguely remember that HSBC Premier World Elite was participating, but it doesn’t work anymore, and I’m not sure if my memory is wrong or the partnership has been withdrawn. My Curve Metal doesn’t work either.
Anyway you should give your Mastercard a go. Finally my China-issued World Elite card works and I gained access to the platform. Similar to Amex they offer priority restaurant reservations and early access to event tickets, but I’ll focus on the hotel-booking part today.
If you perform a hotel search, you’ll see hotels with a green label indicating that they are part of the Mastercard Luxury Hotels collection:
Apologies for the Chinese text and confusing price in CNY – it seems to be bound by the card issuing country and I can’t switch the language or currency.
There are 37 labelled properties in London, and here are some rate / benefit examples:
Their database of room types seems quite messed up, which is very often inconsistent with what the hotels have on their end. However I don’t think it’s a big deal, and you should have an idea what the room type actually is anyway.
As you may have noticed, the benefits can be quite different from one property to the other. In fact if you are a veteran of the hotel games, you probably would know how it works at this point. Yes, unlike Amex Fine Hotels and Resorts, Mastercard doesn’t own its own program. Instead it acts as a travel agency which can book customers into individual hotel chains’ elite rates, such as:
- Hilton Impresario
- IHG Luxury & Lifestyle
- Marriott Stars & Luminous
- Hyatt Prive
I have talked briefly about such programs before. In general all such rates are on par with the Best Flexible Rate and earn points / night credits. In terms of benefits, they all come with room upgrade and late check-out, and on many occasions free breakfast and $50 or $100 on-property credit as well.
Sometimes these programs offer discount too which Mastercard should also be able to provide. For example, both Hilton Impresario and IHG Luxury & Lifestyle offer widely available 3-for-2 deals at the moment. Marriott on the other hand, offers 20% off for stays of three nights or longer at select properties.
You don’t pay anything to Mastercard. At the time of booking you need to provide a credit card as deposit, and then you’ll pay the hotel directly during your stay.
If you have access to the Mastercard Travel Services, I actually think it’s quite worthy of signing up. Its inclusion of so many hotel programs means it covers many more hotels than Amex FHR, and when there’s an offer like 3-for-2 it can be a really sweet deal. Note that you can’t book these rates without an agency – if you don’t have access to Mastercard Travel or similar platforms, you need to find a qualifying travel agent on Google and contact them, which obviously isn’t as easy or quick.