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San Francisco Centurion Lounge Review
I recently had the opportunity to visit the San Francisco Centurion lounge on my weekend wedding trip to London. My itinerary to get to the wedding had me routing LAX-SFO-DUS-LHR. I made use of AA’s 24 hour stopover rule at SFO that included a stay at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport before continuing on through Germany with Air Berlin business class, and then finally on to London with British Airways Club Europe. I think I actually traveled longer getting to the wedding than I actually had on the outskirts of London celebrating. While I was at the airport I took the time to check out the San Francisco Centurion Lounge.
The Centurion lounge is located in Terminal 3. Remember that. TERMINAL 3. I was in International Terminal A going from lounge to lounge to lounge seeing which ones would accept me. Being One World Sapphire I should have been able to get into all of the lounges with an international ticket let alone a business class ticket, but BA and JAL aren’t allowing partner passengers to use their lounge. My flight was delayed and I thought I’d take the extra time to go and check out the Centurion lounge. As I was leaving security I asked how far away Terminal 2 was by foot. I know what you’re thinking…
Wait, I thought the Centurion lounge is in Terminal 3
It is!
So why did you ask about terminal 2
Who flipping knows?!
But I set out on foot to terminal 2
as you can see – terminal 2 is no where near International A. In fact, most people would even take the air train. Did I? No I walked.
And I walked, and I walked, and I walked. I walked from International A to Terminal 2. As you can imagine I was quite upset when I finally got there because THE LOUNGE IS IN 3!!!! Why didn’t I use the skytrain to get there?!? I think I walked for a solid 20-25mins HAHA. At least I got my steps in. I then googled where the lounge was located and to my dismay it was another terminal over. Unflipping Believable!
When I got to Terminal 3…
the first TSA agent I spoke to didn’t think I could go through. I told her I just wanted to use the lounge and she brought over her superior. Without a hitch she said, ” Oh, Centurion…ya no worries go on ahead” Once I got through security it wasn’t too far down the terminal to the left.
There is a cool interactive map that I found to be helpful.
The Entrance
The Amex Centurion lounges looks DOPE no matter the airport. SO many lounges aren’t much of anything to look at it from the outside. Amex brands their Centurion lounges to be premiere refuges that their high end clientele can access. I think they do a great job of exuding that image from the exterior. I was excited to see this lounge, especially after all the flipping walking.
Who can get in:
- American Express Platinum and Centurion card holders.
- Any version…Business, Corp, Personal, Merc, etc
- Amex cardholders can pay a day rate if there is space avail
- Day rate is $50
The lounge was unbelievably crowded
Through no fault but my own, I had just walked 2/3 of the SFO airport and just wanted some water and food. Since the other lounges I’d visited in International A had verrrrrrry little on the food end, I was keen on plopping down and having a proper meal. I’d also missed the breakfast at the Hyatt Regency so I was like those Snickers ads with Joe Pesci.
Instead of a spa…SFO offers a wine tasting machine
As pictured above, you can select from various wines in the San Fran region. I asked the check in agent if there was a spa and he said, ” our way of relaxing is the wine tasting machine. It’ll take the edge right off.” While this may be true, I was really hankering for a 10 min fresher to work the knots out of my shoulders from carrying my bags around the WHOLE of SFO. Oh well. On to the food.
Food
It wasn’t really that big of an offering, but it was so much more plentiful than any of the other clubs I’d been to that I was very grateful. The soup they were offering was excellent as well. I don’t eat meat and that was kind of unfortunate as main entree was a braised short rib. I stocked up on salads and soup, some hummus and made my way to my seat. Or rather wondered and wondered when I would stop wandering and find a place to sit and eat. It was crowded you see.
I finally found one table that wasn’t occupied, reserved, or being held. Sort of crazy how crowded it was. That’s my biggest complaint in these lounges period. Aside from my experience in Miami, the Centurion lounges are typically bursting at the seams.
Overall
If you are flying out of Terminal 3 or International G, I would definitely hit this lounge up. International G, which is separated by security from International A, is connected to Terminal 3 post security. So, yes, I could have just gone through security at International G and walked straight into Terminal 3 rather than walk allllllll the way around the airport like I did.
And yes…if you’re keeping track I ended up walking all the way around SFO. How many people can say that?! 8500 steps later…I could. But, I did make it to the Centurion lounge…which was the point.
I’m glad I did too. This would be a great place to come if it weren’t so crowded. I’d like to check out their different wine offerings, especially when I’m not dripping with sweat and battling low blood sugar. I really like the Centurion lounges and think that they add a considerable value to the American Express Platinum card. I currently have the business version of the card and will have to make a decision come year end as to whether or not to keep it. Since I have a business gold as well, I’ll probably let it go, but you never know what could happen with a good retention offer.
When entering the lounge, do they run your Platinum card or do you just have to show it to gain entry?
they run it. not sure what info they see or if they just see that the magnetic strip works.
I like the monkey but people must look at you funny when you take his pic (excuse me your pic Miles)
booboo! first off, love your name. and 2nd off, yes sometimes i get weird looks, but I just keep smiling cause haters gonna hate 😉
SFO is my home airport and I always try to get to the airport early enough to spend some time at the Centurion Club. Fortunately it is in the United terminal which is also the airlinebI fly . Yes it is crowded. More so during the summer months but the food is great and the personnel are pleasant and helpful (I once misplaced my cell phone and two employees assisted me in finding it).
When you arrive you need your Amex card, a photo ID and your boarding pass. WiFi is free. The popularity of the Centurion lounges shows there is a demand for a good club environment.
Carol – thanks for the great comment and feedback! Completely agree. Demand is there and the Centurion lounge benefit is great for cardholders.