I visited an American Express Centurion Lounge for the first time and realized I’ve been missing out

The LaGuardia lounge isn’t huge, but it has more than enough room for travelers to work, dine, or socialize.

Past the entryway, customers will find two sitting rooms, a dining room with a buffet, a kid’s playroom, a bar area, and a business center.

Everything was open and elegant, with tons of natural light, and I always found a power outlet nearby.

LaGuardia’s Centurion lounge had a buffet that rotates throughout the day, starting with breakfast. According to AmEx, the food changes during different seasons and is created by a local chef.

Most of my food experience is at Priority Pass lounges, which can be owned by third-party companies or airlines. The meals are a hit or miss, but I found the Centurion food easily among the best I’ve had at a lounge — and better than Chase’s.

The chicken was my favorite, but there are also options like mashed potatoes, croissants, salad, pasta, and desserts. I was also offered pork and fish dishes the chef was experimenting with. I loved both and hope Centurion adds them to the buffet lineup.

The business center is separated by a door for better noise control and privacy. Guests will find a drink stand, seats with large privacy wings, and a large meeting table.

I can easily see myself hiding away there from the hustle and bustle of the dining and living rooms.

A small lounge tucked away in the back of the business center was roped off with a sign stating that it was reserved for Centurion members. This means that only those with the invite-only AmEx Centurion “Black Card” credit card, which costs $5,000 a year, could use the space.

I thought the little room study was cute — and access to elevated service and higher-shelf alcohol would be nice, but it offered no better privacy than the non-reserved sections in the lounge.

The service at the Centurion Lounge stood out. I’m used to waiters clearing my plates or wiping down tables, but I saw the Centurion staff bringing plates of buffet food and drinks to guests.

They were simply more attentive than I’ve experienced at most other lounges and reminded me of the service I experienced at the business-class-only Delta One lounge at New York-JFK.

I also noticed there were a lot of Centurion staff on duty during my early afternoon visit, which I’m sure also contributed to the cleanliness of the lounge.

Some Centurion lounges have showers available, but the LaGuardia one does not. There was once a shower room, but it never reopened after the pandemic.

Although this is a downside, LaGuardia is largely a domestic airport with no long-haul international flights, so I don’t imagine most travelers would be in desperate need of a shower during layovers.

LaGuardia’s Centurion Lounge also lacks a spa, which is available at select AmEx-operated lounges, like Los Angeles. The perk has become increasingly popular as travelers demand more luxe amenities at airport lounges, like Chase LaGuardia’s free facials.

Learning more about the Centurion lounges and finally seeing one in person quickly made me realize what I’d been missing out on by solely relying on Chase and the Priority Pass lounge network.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card costs a cheaper $550 a year compared to the AmEx Platinum’s $695 annual fee, and it has opened six Chase-owned airport lounges since 2023. Chase’s network is small, but it’s a start with at least five more locations planned.

However, the larger Centurion Lounge collection means there is one at almost all of the airports I regularly visit, and I already know Centurion’s good food, spacious rooms, and amenities will be better than the usual Priority Pass go-tos.

Plus, busy airports like Los Angeles, Denver, and Philadelphia don’t even have Priority Pass — but I could find a Centurion.

Chase and AmEx offer arguably the two best credit cards for travel. While many people choose between the two, I see the benefit of having both.

The combined $1245 annual fee is steep, but that is lowered to $745 thanks to Chase’s $300 travel credit and AmEx’s $200 airline credit — and even more so once you factor in the other perks, like free subscriptions and Global Entry and ride-share discounts.

The main reason I won’t part from my Chase Reserve card, however, is the Hyatt redemptions that have saved me thousands of dollars. For example, the Hyatt Place I booked in Waikiki, Hawaii, for my honeymoon in 2023 was about $2,000 at face value — but I got it for just 75,000 Chase points that I earned with my family’s regular spending.

However, Chase’s Hyatt perk paired with AmEx’s Centurion network may be the perfect combination, as it would easily pay off the annual fee each year and more.