Will U.S. Amex Platinum Cardholders Get Fewer Lounge Visits Like Canadians? Here’s What the Issuer Says.

Just north of the border, Canadians got stunning news recently when they found out that both business and consumer versions of American Express’ most premium cards will start limiting how often you can visit a lounge.

Starting in 2027, those with The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express or Platinum Card^® from American Express issued in Canada will no longer receive unlimited complimentary visits to Plaza Premium or Priority Pass lounges. If they want to unlock unlimited visits, they’ll need to do so through annual spending on their cards.

This notice from Canada has generated significant questions about whether American Express plans to make these same changes for U.S. cardholders.

Here’s what we know, what we don’t know, and what Amex has to say about it.

A Quick Recap of the Change for Canadians

Those with the Canadian versions of the Amex Platinum card and the Amex Business Platinum card recently learned that their premium cards will no longer offer unlimited visits to Plaza Premium and Priority Pass lounges. To be clear, cardholders can still enroll for lounge memberships and visit these lounges, but the number of visits they get will change in 2027, as first reported by Prince of Travel.

Primary holders of the Canadian cards will be limited to a handful of visits each year — 6, to be exact — and each guest they bring into a lounge with them will use a visit, meaning no complimentary guests when they use their passes to enter a Plaza Premium or Priority Pass lounge.

Those with the Canadian cards can unlock unlimited visits by spending a minimum of CA$20,000 per year on their card.

Will U.S. Cardholders See These Same Changes?

This would be a devastating move if it were applied to holders of the U.S. versions of the cards, to be blunt. It would massively undercut the value proposition of the Amex Platinum card and Amex Business Platinum card — which both recently added benefits and increased their annual fees. Reducing lounge benefits after recently touting the number of lounges cardholders can visit (over 1,400, according to Amex) would upset a lot of customers.

We’ve reached several emails from worried readers and reached out to American Express directly to ask if this is coming to U.S. cardholders. We received the following response from a spokesperson: “Nothing to share on any changes for U.S. Card Members.”

That’s not much to go on. Reading between the lines, it tells us that nothing is changing immediately. Right now, it’s business as usual for visiting airport lounges with your U.S.-issued Amex Platinum card or Amex Business Platinum card.

Could something change soon? That’s the million-dollar question. Amex hasn’t specifically ruled it out. We have seen multiple restrictions to lounge benefits Amex offers to holders of the U.S. cards over the years, including the removal of access to Priority Pass restaurants and the requirement to spend $75,000 or more on your card annually to get guest privileges at some lounges. None of those changes has been as drastic as limiting you to a handful of partner lounge visits annually, though.

Final Thoughts

It doesn’t look like the bad news for holders of the Canadian versions of the Amex Platinum cards is spilling over into the U.S. — at least not yet.

If (or when) something changes, we’ll be sure to let you know. While the Amex spokesperson didn’t exclusively rule out these changes at some point for those with the U.S. versions, we know they aren’t happening imminently. That’s good news.