Update for 2022, including the OSL lounge.
The American Express Platinum card comes with a massive $695 annual fee. The card comes with a lot of published benefits that make that annual fee worth paying (at least for the first year) for some, but there are also a host of other hidden benefits that many people don’t know about. Let’s take a look at them. Reposting this to add the Arlanda lounge.
Contents
- 1 Increased Lounge Access
- 1.1 OSL Lounge
- 1.2 American Express Lounge by Pontus at Arlanda
- 1.3 Centurion Lounge Access In Foreign Countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Colombia, India, Mexico)
- 1.4 Entry To All Virgin Australia Lounges, But Must Be Flying Virgin
- 1.5 Centurion Suite At Staples Center
- 1.6 Barclays Center, Dedicated Entrance
- 1.7 “Access” VIP Lounge at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, CA
- 1.8 Centurion Suite in Louis Armstrong Stadium at the US Open
- 1.9 American Express Business Lounges (Javits Convention Center & Las Vegas Convention Center)
- 2 Miscellaneous
- 3 Final Thoughts
Increased Lounge Access
OSL Lounge
Doesn’t require a European American Express according to this reddit thread.
American Express Lounge by Pontus at Arlanda
This is a new one to me, but apparently it opened in May 2017. Food is free for Platinum cardholders, but you do have to pay 50SEK (~$7) for drinks unless you hold a Centurion card. Reddit user sfryder08 has a nice picture gallery of some the menu and one of the food items. The lounge is airside at Terminal 5, between the A-Pier and the F-pier. It’s open from 05:00 to 22:00 Monday-Friday and Sunday. On Saturdays, opening hours are from 05:00 to 19:00
Centurion Lounge Access In Foreign Countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Colombia, India, Mexico)
Everybody knows that you get access to the centurion lounges in the US, but you also get access to their centurion lounges internationally as well. They currently have lounges in the following countries:
- Argentina (EZE, Buenos Aires)
- Australia (SYD, Sydney) & (MEL, Melbourne)
- Brazil (GRU, São Paulo)
- Colombia (BOG, Bogota)
- India (DEL, Delhi)
- Mexico (MEX, Mexico City & TLC, Toluca)
The Mexico Centurion lounge isn’t even mentioned on the Centurion Lounge website. You’ll get the same sort of amenities as those found in the US, although from the reviews I’ve seen the food options don’t look quite as good (update 2022: looks like it’s only light drinks and food).
Entry To All Virgin Australia Lounges, But Must Be Flying Virgin
You can access all of the Virgin Australia lounges with your Platinum card, unfortunately you must also be flying Virgin to be able to access these lounges. They have lounges in the following locations: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, Mackay, Cairns, Gold Coast, Darwin and Alice Springs. You should also be able to bring one guest with you.
Centurion Suite At Staples Center
Update: The Centurion lounge is no longer available at Staples Center, but there is still a dedicated entrance.
The suite is on a first come first served basis and it’s closed for access once it reaches capacity (capacity of 150), so better to get there earlier for popular events. You’re also allowed to bring up to three guests with you into the suite. The suite opens 90 minutes before a game starts and closes immediately after the end of an event. Entry is located across from aisle M22 (next to the Team LA Store).
They have a charging station for your mobile devices and also a photo booth. The Centurion suite is only opened for sporting events (Lakers, Clippers and Kings) as the stages for concerts often block the view from the suite. All food and beverage items are on a purchase basis, so no freebies unfortunately.
Pretty good option if you purchase extremely cheap tickets and then upgrade to this suite.
Barclays Center, Dedicated Entrance
Update: The Centurion lounge is no longer available at Staples Center, but there is still a dedicated entrance.
Similar to the Centurion suite at the Staples Center. It’s located on Suite Level A across from the Cocoran Lounge, to check in you need to go to Barclays Center’s main concourse next to the Emblem Health Atlantic Entrance and across from Sections 9 – 10. You’re allowed a maximum of one guest.
Unlike the suite at the Staples Center, this suite is open for other events including concerts as well as Brooklyn Nets and New York Islanders games. There is also a dedicated entrance to the Barclays Center for Platinum cardholders that will allow you to skip the line, it’s on the northern side of the center.
As with the other suite, there is free WiFi and access to charging ports.
“Access” VIP Lounge at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, CA
Looks to no longer be accepting Platinum cardholders, but the lounge might just be closed due to COVID.
This lounge gives you access to free drinks (juices and other stuff) as well as free snacks. They also have private rooms which are ideal for families, with TVs that can play cartoons and the like. There is also a business meeting room and business lounge with computers. The lounge is located on Level 2, near Saks Avenue. You can bring up to four guests inside the lounge with you.
This review on Yelp provides a lot more information regarding this lounge (including drinks and snack offerings). Seems to be a nice lounge to take a break in during a big day of shopping.
Centurion Suite in Louis Armstrong Stadium at the US Open
Complimentary snacks and one complimentary drink.
American Express Business Lounges (Javits Convention Center & Las Vegas Convention Center)
These include:
- Complimentary Coffee, Tea, and Snacks
- Charging Tables
- TVs
- Wireless Printers
- High-Speed Wi-Fi
- Laptops
Miscellaneous
Cloud 10 Benefits At Toronto, Canada (YYZ)
Gives you a bunch of different benefits at YYZ, including discounts on parking, free WiFi, priority security lane, priority taxi lane, lounge access and more.
4 Hour Grace Period With Hertz
More information on the Miles to Memories post
Very useful if you need a car slightly longer than 24 hours.
Final Thoughts
I’m sure there are benefits I’m missing in the post (or details about benefits are incomplete) or please share your knowledge in the comments so we can improve this resource.
Just found out from an old friend of mine there’s an Amex lounge/speakeasy at UBS arena. Did a little more digging and Amex signed some deals with Climate Pledge Arena and UBS Arena. Here’s a few links. Hope this helps with updating the hidden benefits you provided here.
https://venuesnow.com/american-express-teams-with-ovg-at-climate-pledge-ubs-arena/
https://www.reddit.com/r/amex/comments/w8a1eo/amex_perks_at_ubs_arena/
https://www.reddit.com/r/SeattleKraken/comments/yhx78u/amex_hall/
Still a bit confused, the centurion suite at Barclays center NY is open or not?
the centurion suite at staples center, now called crypto.com arena, is still there i believe, at least according to the crypto.com website. info is under the exclusive dining tab.
Hidden non-benefit? At the Cartagena Colombia national airport, we entered the Avianca VIP lounge (I had an email for buy-one-get-one entrance at $22). As I began to pay, the attendant saw my Plat Amex and said that would give us free access as it was a Plaza Premium Lounge. The electronic machine that I signed said Plaza Premium Lounge but I was given no receipt which was no unusual as Priority Pass lounges don’t give receipt. So I was surprised to get a $44 charge on the AMEX Platinum card. I disputed the charge and after 3 months I was not charged only because Avianca never responded.
Other than the Hertz 4 hour grace period, none of these benefits seem worth it, unless you’re trying to fake-impress your friends like Anna Delvey does.
Even the 4 hours grace period is not worth it to me because I can get much better rates than the PLT rates that it requires. I’m keeping it due to a retention offer but may not keep this card in 2023.
Resy is a little-known Amex benefit…
“Global Dining Access by Resy gives you special access to sought-after restaurants across the globe when you add your Platinum Card® from American Express to your Resy profile. Access to Exclusive reservations, premium dining experiences, Priority Notify, and more, all from Resy.com or the Resy app. ‡”
Funny…wife got her Plat card thru the awesome Resy promo, and never heard squat from Resy. What’s the point of offering a huge bonus if you’re not going to pursue the customer after landing her? Not that we mind the radio silence but it’s just strange. Your post is the first I’ve heard about this benefit or any others from Resy.
The lounge at T3 in Cancun was no for Priority Pass but yes for American Express platinum. That said, there was a one hour wait so I never got to see the inside
All of the card’s benefits are getting more and more well-hidden!
Also very narrow in terms of usability, as can be seen by reviewing the benefits in this post. Free coffee and wifi at Javits Center? OMG, I’ll race right over there! Next time I’m in Delhi or Colombia, I’ll have to hit the Centurion lounge. Hey Amex, how about France? Italy? Spain? Somewhere that I might actually be flying to in this lifetime? Oh, and how about LAX? The second-busiest US airport? The Centurion lounge was being renovated in January; Amex did not bother to arrange for temp lounge access for their “valued customers”…and the Priority Pass benefits that Amex negotiated did not even include one place we could get food.
I’m up for Plat renewal next month and frankly, I’m not at all sure it’s worth it…this article certainly didn’t convince me. After spending countless hours trying to monitor all the various perks (very few of which have a significant $$$ return), I’m liking the analogy to the Entertainment coupon book…but that only cost me $19 thirty years ago, and was frankly easier to manage.
The Bogota lounge was, at least in Dec 2019, pretty lousy. Decent espresso machine but not really any food, couple stale cookie/pastry types and yogurt/cheese (none of which I can eat). I was there too early in the am for drinks. Was clean at least.
Still the same. I wouldn’t even call it a lounge but more like a designated waiting area.
For Mexico’s Centurion lounges Toluca TLC no longer has a lounge but Monterrey MTY has one in terminal 1 and another one in terminal 2.