American Express has just announced its biggest Centurion Lounge expansion ever, with four airport projects on the table: a new flagship lounge at Newark, a second lounge at London Heathrow, and major expansions in Houston and Philadelphia.

The headline act is Newark. The planned Terminal A lounge has slipped to 2027, but it's ballooned from 18,000 square feet to more than 30,000, which would make it the largest in the entire network — beating Atlanta's roughly 26,000-square-foot space. It'll span two floors with three separate bars: a main cocktail bar, a specialty bar riffing on New Jersey diner culture, and a terrace bar nodding to the state's Italian heritage with gelato and pastries. There's also a Blue Roast coffee and wellness bar, plus food from Amex's Culinary Collective roster including Kwame Onwuachi, Mike Solomonov, Mashama Bailey and Sarah Grueneberg. Once it opens, Amex will be the first card issuer with lounges at all three major New York-area airports.

Across the Atlantic, Heathrow is getting a second Centurion Lounge in 2028 — a 9,000-square-foot space in Terminal 5, joining the Terminal 3 lounge that opened in 2021. Expect premium food and drink, work areas, a VIP zone and a design nod to the Thames. It makes Amex the first credit card company to run two lounges at Heathrow.

Houston's George Bush Intercontinental lounge is nearly tripling in size, from 8,000 to over 23,000 square feet by 2028, adding a Blue Roast bar, a second full-service bar, a specialty dining concept, more seats, showers and restrooms. Philadelphia's lounge, open since 2017, will roughly double to 12,000 square feet across two floors — but note the current space closes for renovation on October 16 and won't reopen until the end of 2027.

Why does this matter? Lounge access is one of the main perks justifying premium card annual fees, and crowding at peak times has become a common gripe. More space and more locations directly address that. Access rules are worth knowing too: you need a same-day boarding pass and can enter within three hours of a departing flight (five hours for connections). Complimentary entry comes with the Amex Platinum, Business Platinum, Corporate Platinum, Centurion and Delta SkyMiles Reserve cards — though Delta Reserve holders can only get in when flying Delta the same day, and guest policies and fees vary by card. As reported by The Points Guy.