The American Express Centurion Lounge network will be a little less elegant in the future.
This is because the issuer is closing all spas in its salon network, a company spokesperson exclusively confirmed to TPG. When Amex first began to open salons In 2013, the issuer paid special attention to services that would help attract cardholders to use its lounges (and sign up for its expensive premium credit cards).
One of those amenities are spas, which have historically been operated in partnership with Exhale. These spas were available nationwide at three Centurion Lounge locations: Dallas Fort Worth, Miami and Los Angeles.
While spas in airport lounges are certainly a nice amenity, they represent a friction point for travelers, as demand for treatments almost always outstrips supply. At Centurion Lounge’s Exhale Spas, there were typically two to four treatment therapists on staff, offering a limited set of nail treatments and chair massages. Unless you were the first to arrive on a given day, most cardholders had to wait a while to make an appointment.
One solution to address the imbalance between supply and demand could have been for Amex to book treatments at its spas for its Centurion cardholders by invitation only.
But instead, the issuer will use the space occupied by the spas for additional seating. Amex didn’t share how many more seats it expects to offer due to the spa closure, but you wouldn’t necessarily expect it to make a big difference when it comes to overcrowding and waiting lists. (After all, spas never took up more than a small room.)
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That said, every little seat counts, and hopefully Amex will use the funds it’s recovering from spa-related expenses to increase the number of servers and the quality of food and beverages across its network.
Amex confirmed the closure of its Centurion Lounge spas with the following statement.
Starting this Thursday, October 3, to add more seating areas and accommodate more eligible cardholders, American Express will close the Exhale spas at Centurion lounges at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, Miami International Airport and Miami International Airport. Los Angeles International. .
Although Amex only had spas at three of its Centurion Lounge outposts, the prestige and aura of luxury associated with the issuer’s lounge network will undoubtedly be affected by this news. After all, Amex’s two big credit card lounge competitors continue to offer a number of attractive, headline-grabbing amenities that surpass Amex’s offerings.
This includes platoon rooms in the Capital One lounge and personalized facial treatments in The Club’s Chase Sapphire Lounge.
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