Is It Worth Spending $75,000 on the Amex Platinum Card for Guest Lounge Access?

For many travelers, The Platinum Card^® from American Express is one of the top cards in their wallets because it is arguably the best card for airport lounge access, especially for those who have an Amex Centurion lounge at their local airport.

However, to limit crowding, American Express no longer allows guests to enter for free with the primary Amex Platinum cardholder — unless they have spent $75,000 or more on the Amex Platinum card in the previous year.

For those who often travel with others, you might wonder, “Is it worth it for me to spend $75,000 on my Amex Platinum card to bring friends and family into Amex Centurion lounges for free?”

In this guide, we will help you answer just that!

Amex Centurion Lounge Access Policy

Previously, American Express allowed cardholders of the Amex Platinum card to bring 2 guests into an Amex Centurion lounge with them free of charge. Now you can only bring 2 guests into the lounge with you for free if you’ve spent $75,000 or more in the previous or current calendar year.

Other terms to be aware of to enter and Amex Centurion lounge include:

• Access is limited to 3 hours before your flights scheduled departure time.
• You must present your Amex Platinum card, same-day boarding pass, and an ID to gain entry.
• If complimentary guest access is not unlocked, you will be charged $50 for each adult guest or $30 for children 2 to 17 with proof of age.
• If you have complimentary guest access but want to bring 3 or more guests into the lounge, you will be charged $50 for each additional adult guest or $30 for children 2 to 17 with proof of age.

Hot Tip:

Note that these restrictions only apply to Amex Platinum cardholders who are trying to access Amex Centurion lounges. Many of the other lounge networks that the card provides access to, such as Priority Pass and Plaza Premium lounges, do not have the same restrictions.

Why It Probably Isn’t Worth Spending $75,000

In our view, there are very few instances where it would make sense to spend $75,000 on the Amex Platinum card purely to receive complimentary guest access, and the reason for that is opportunity cost.

Put simply, the Amex Platinum card only earns 1 point per $1 spent on purchases that aren’t flights purchased directly with airlines or flights and prepaid hotels purchased directly through AmexTravel.com. That means you could be earning significantly more rewards by choosing another card for your daily expenses.

Plus, there are other, more convenient ways to get your friends and loved ones Amex Centurion lounge access without needing to pay $75,000 on your card.

Let’s go through some of those options now.

Alternative Options for Amex Centurion Lounge Guest Access

Aside from the guest access spending requirement, there are 3 ways to bring other people into the Amex Centurion lounge with you: adding authorized users to your Amex Platinum card, paying the guest access fee, and convincing friends and family members to get their own Amex Platinum card.

Add Authorized Users to Your Card

For those in your household that you travel often with, or even for trusted family members, consider adding them as authorized users on your Amex Platinum card.

Adding authorized users costs far less than the $695 annual fee of the Amex Platinum card (rates & fees), at just $195 per authorized user instead (rates & fees).

Despite the cost of an authorized user being $500 less than getting a separate Amex Platinum card, authorized users still receive a large number of perks:

• Full access to the Amex Global Lounge Collection, even when traveling alone
• Complimentary Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite and Hilton Honors Gold status (enrollment required)
• Global Entry/TSA PreCheck reimbursement
• Access to the Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts program
• Rental car elite status with Avis, Hertz, and National
• Access to Amex Offers (enrollment required)

In addition, all your spending on authorized user cards earns rewards that pool into your main Amex Membership Rewards account.

If there are people in your household with whom you travel pretty often but who can’t justify having their own Amex Platinum card, this is a great way to ensure that person always has airport lounge access when traveling with or without you while receiving solid card benefits to boot.

Hot Tip:

Curious about what else authorized users receive? Read through our guide to learn all of the Amex Platinum authorized user benefits.

Pay the Guest Access Fee

Alternatively, if you don’t travel with someone often enough to justify adding them as an authorized user, or if you just want to treat a friend you’re going on a trip with, you could simply pay the guest access fee.

American Express charges $50 per person (or $30 for children from 2 to 17) to bring a guest into the lounge.

While that may feel steep, consider that you might find yourself forking over close to that amount anyway to get food and drinks at the airport before your flight. Inside the lounge, at least, you and your friend get to enjoy all of the other amenities of the Amex Centurion lounge besides the complimentary food and drinks.

Convince Friends and Family To Get Their Own Amex Platinum Cards

Lastly, depending on your friends and family members’ needs and travel habits, you could always convince them to add their own Amex Platinum cards to their wallets.

Not only do you earn a refer-a-friend bonus for doing so, but the person you refer can earn additional points too. In addition to receiving full access to the Amex Global Lounge Collection, they also receive access to all of the other great benefits of the Amex Platinum card (enrollment required):

• Up to $200 airline incidental credit
• Up to $200 Uber Cash
• Up to $240 digital entertainment credit 
• Up to $199 CLEAR Plus credit
• Up to $100 Saks Fifth Avenue credit
• Up to $200 prepaid hotel credit on prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts or Hotel Collection bookings, which require a minimum 2-night stay, through AmexTravel.com
• Up to $155 Walmart+ credit
• Up to $300 Equinox credit annually

Plus, they receive hotel elite status with Marriott and Hilton, rental car elite status, trip protections like trip delay insurance and baggage insurance, and other protections like cell phone protection and purchase protection.

Better Ways To Spend $75,000

Now that we’ve covered why spending $75,000 on your Amex Platinum card is likely not worth it and the other options for getting guest access to Amex Centurion lounges, here are better things to do with that $75,000 instead.

$1,500 in Cash-Back

A 2% cash-back on all purchases card is often the standard by which you can compare the opportunity cost of spending on any other rewards credit card.

With that same $75,000 in spending on a 2% back card, you would earn $1,500 in cash-back rewards, which is enough to pay for 30 $50 guest access fees at $50 to enter the Amex Centurion lounge with you.

150,000 Transferable Points

Alternatively, if you prefer travel rewards to cash-back, you could get a card that earns 2 miles per $1 on all purchases, like the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card*×Information collected independently. Not reviewed by Capital One..

With the Capital One Venture X card, you earn 150,000 points spending that amount, which we value at $2,700, and can be transferred to any Capital One transfer partner.

Plus, the card comes with airport lounge access, including Priority Pass and Capital One Lounges, and you can add up to 4 authorized users, who all get their own lounge access, for no additional charge (rates & fees).

Multiple Credit Card Welcome Bonus Offers

Lastly, instead of putting $75,000 on a single card, you could split that money among multiple cards in order to hit multiple credit card welcome bonus offers.

Given that most credit card minimum spend requirements range between $3,000 and $5,000, you could easily take advantage of many of the best credit welcome bonus offers to earn hundreds of thousands of points or thousands of dollars in cash-back.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, unless you’re organically spending $75,000 per year on your Amex Platinum card on its 5x categories like flights and prepaid hotels through AmexTravel.com, it probably doesn’t make sense to go out of your way to spend $75,000, only to earn 1x rewards, in order to receive guest lounge access to Amex Centurion lounges.

Instead, you could simply add people you often travel with as authorized users on your Amex Platinum card, pay the guest access fee, or even refer them to open their own Amex Platinum card.

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For the baggage insurance plan benefit of The Platinum Card^® from American Express, eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company.

For the trip delay insurance benefit of The Platinum Card^® from American Express, eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company.

For the purchase protection benefit of The Platinum Card^® from American Express, eligibility and benefit level varies by Card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company.

For the cell phone protection benefit of The Platinum Card^® from American Express, eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company.