If Chicago is the home of the the airline industry’s most irritating turf war, This important hub on the East Coast is emerging as the main stage in the battle for airport lounges in the United States.
Last week, American Express announced that Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) will soon become the second location of its Bougie, “Sidecar” lounge concept focused on food in 2027.
The lounge should be a great alternative option for travelers passing through CLT looking for a quick bite to eat, and should alleviate crowding at the airport’s existing large-scale Centurion Lounge.
But this Sidecar outpost isn’t the only new club coming to central North Carolina.
American Airlines, Capital One and American Express
The past few months have seen a flood of airline and credit card lounge ads on CLT, from American Airlines to Capital One and now Amex.
This week’s Amex announcement came on the heels of Capital One revealing in January that it will open a new lounge at the Charlotte airport: a 14,000 square foot facility which will be the largest in its growing network.
Meanwhile, American Airlines, which is the dominant carrier at CLT, has big plans for its second-busiest hub.
Late last year, American announced plans to will finally bring its exclusive Flagship Lounge for business class to the airport. It will be available to premium cabin travelers and high-level AAdvantage status members departing on certain international flights.
The airline also said it would significantly expand its presence at the Admirals Club in Charlotte. Considering that existing clubs tend to fill up with travelers on busy days, this will be a much-needed upgrade to their current lounge setup.
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Charlotte also recently became home to the first American permanent takeout lounge location, which he calls Admirals Club Provisions.
And we should note that all of these newly announced clubs come after Delta Air Lines. inaugurated a magnificent new Sky Club at the airport in December 2024.
A lounge renaissance in Charlotte
All told, Charlotte travelers clearly have plenty of new lounge options to look forward to next year, whether they depart as local travelers or simply connect through the airport (as I do many times a year).
Concourse A at the airport has been expanded and renovated in recent years and now has a new wing. This has opened up key spaces for several of these new lounge facilities, including the already opened Delta club.
“We have seen increasing demand for both premium lounge spaces and convenient grab-and-go locations,” an airport spokesperson told TPG. They said the recent expansion of the A gates was “intentionally designed” with room for new passenger amenities.
“This long-term vision is now becoming a reality,” according to the airport.
Last year, CLT had the fifth-highest number of departures among all U.S. airports, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium.
What cards will allow you to access these new VIP rooms?
If you hope to become a full member of American’s Admirals Club network, consider adding the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® (see rates and fees) to your wallet; has an annual fee of $595 (cheaper than the club network’s standard membership cost). Otherwise, you can get four annual day passes to the lounges with the Citi® / AAdvantage® Globe™ Mastercard® (see rates and fees) – which has an annual fee of $350 – or through the Citi Strata Elite℠ Card (see rates and fees), which has an annual fee of $595.
For access to Amex’s Centurion Lounge and the next Sidecar outpost, your best bet is probably American Express Platinum® Cardwhich carries a hefty annual fee of $895 (see rates and fees); It’s expensive, but fully maximizing the card’s suite of credits and lifestyle benefits can more than offset those fees.
In the meantime, you can get full access to the Capital One Lounge network by wearing the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Cardwhich has an annual fee of $395.
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For Amex Platinum rates and fees, click (see here).
