This morning American Express sent out an email to card holders informing them that they would be losing complimentary access to both US Airways Clubs & American Airline Admiral Clubs starting March 22, 2014.
Dear DoubleWidesFly,
We are writing to give you advance notice of changes to your travel benefits and to remind you about other valuable features of your Platinum Card.
As of March 22, 2014, Platinum Card Members will no longer receive complimentary access to American Airlines® Admirals Club lounges and US Airways® Club locations.
We recognize the inconvenience this may cause you as someone who travels frequently, so we have included you in a special offer. You will receive up to $200 in statement credits toward American Airlines and US Airways incidental fees charged to your Card from March 22, 2014 to December 31, 2014.1 You can use these credits toward:
- Membership fees in the Admirals Club program and US Airways Club
- One-day passes to Admirals Club lounges and US Airways Clubs
- Other American Airlines and US Airways incidental fees like baggage fees or flight change fees
There’s no enrollment required, and purchases made by both the Basic and Additional Card Members on the Card account are eligible for the promotion. These statement credits are in addition to the $200 Airline Fee Credit2 benefit already included in your Membership.*
Although my offer was only $200, the word is that American Express has offered up to $500 for people who travel every week or are high spenders. I cannot verify what or how American Express made the decision on what offer you got, but whatever it was, each of us received a different offer. In my opinion, this is a HUGE blow to American Express Platinum card holders and further devalues the American Express Platinum.
Back in the day, the Amex Platinum card was the travelers dream card. It used to allow access to US Air Clubs, AA Admiral Clubs, Delta Sky Clubs, & Continental Presidential Clubs. Yet after the UA/CO merger, the Continental Presidential Clubs were dropped but American Express made up for this by the $200 yearly airline and Global Entry rebate. Now, we are seeing AA/US dropping American Express, leaving Delta Air Lines as the last remaining US airline to be an American Express lounge partner.
Card holders will continue to be granted access to Priority Pass Select Clubs, Delta Sky Clubs, American Express Centurion Lounges, and AirSpace lounges at NY JFK and Baltimore BWI. Despite this many of us will be losing complimentary access to some of our favorite lounges from LAX to LHR and beyond. After all, even with priority pass, many airlines terminals are not connecting restricting access to flyers in that specific terminal only. In addition, American Express has announced new lounges at both SFO and NY LGA. However, both of these airports have multiple terminals not connected airside, meaning if they put the lounge in a specific terminal post security only a select few flyers will have lounge access. Putting the lounges landside (before security) will allow more people access to the lounge, but makes them less attractive as you will still have to clear security after leaving the lounge.
I can only hope that American Express will introduce new benefits. If I had my way, they would expand Delta Sky Clubs to American Express card holders, even when not flying Delta, similarly to what US Airways currently offers. If they do not open more clubs across the US or do something quickly to up the ante of the card, you can guaranteed that I will be dropping this card just as quickly as I renewed it this year! I will be calling American Express to complain and I recommend that you call, tweet, and email American Express to let them know that you too are disappointed!
