In 2021, the Las Vegas airport Amex Centurion Lounge was refreshed and reopened to the public.
We were in Las Vegas back in August 2024, but didn’t get a chance to visit the lounge when waiting for our flight back to Houston as the wait list for the lounge was 20+ people long.
In November, we were back at Las Vegas airport after a 11 day trip driving through Utah, Arizona and Nevada.
This time it was a Monday and the airport (and lounge) was much quieter! No waitlist to get into the lounge.
We had about 30 minutes at the Las Vegas Amex Centurion Lounge before it was time to head to our gate to catch our flight.
Location to the Las Vegas Airport Amex Centurion Lounge
Las Vegas airport is a relatively small airport, making it easy and quick to move around.
The Las Vegas Airport Amex Centurion Lounge is easy to find. It’s located in Terminal D, near gate D1. After checking in our bags and going through security, we took an airside train to terminal D.
It probably only took us no more than 10 minutes to get to AMEX lounge.
The lounge is open from 5am to 11pm, according to the official AMEX Centurion Lounge website.
Access to the Lounge
We both have Amex Platinum cards which gives us complimentary access to AMEX Centurion Lounges.
The great thing about the Amex Platinum card in the USA is that the Centurion Lounge footprint is significant. It’s been at pretty much every major airport we’ve travelled to in the last 18 months.
The only airport where we haven’t accessed an Amex Centurion lounge before our flight is at a smaller regional airport like Portland, Maine and Fresno, California.
Seating and decor
Houston’s international airport is at least 5x the size of Las Vegas international airport
But despite this, the Las Vegas Amex Centurion Lounge is way bigger than the lounge in Houston. The Las Vegas’s Amex Centurion lounge had a ton of seating—bar seats, tables near the food and drinks area, cubicle style seats, usual lounge chairs for solo and group travellers.
There were also communal long tables for travellers who want some table top space to do some work.
One thing that is consisted across all the Amex Centurion Lounges is the modern interior decor and travel-theme, with retro suitcases and travel trinkets. That travel themed decor really reminds me of the the luxury air travel heydays of the 1970s.
The lounge felt quite and calm when we were there.
If I was to guess, I think it was only at 40% capacity during our visit. In particular I liked how much space were was between the the seats and different areas of the lounge. It made it feel much larger than it was and you never felt like you were squeezing past other guests.
Another unique aspect to Amex Centurion lounges is they add a local flare to their lounges by decorating their walls with photographs to showcase the city.
In the case of the Las Vegas airport Amex Centurion Lounge, they mounted photographs of famous personalities like Elvis Presley and Howard Hughes on the walls. As a photographer, that’s something I enjoy looking at as I walk around the lounge.
Amenities
The Las Vegas airport Amex Centurion Lounge had the following amenities:
- Shower suites and restrooms
- Complimentary premium drinks bar
- Buffet food with both cold and hot food selection
- High speed internet
- Plenty of workspaces and places to charge your devices
Food & drinks at the Amex Centurion Lounge
One of the most impressive aspects about all the Amex Centurion Lounges we visited so far in the USA (compared to other non-airline lounges), is that there’s often a great selection of complimentary food and drinks.
I’m rarely disappointed when I get a feed at the lounge.
Unfortunately for us, we just devoured a lot of delicious food at Las Vegas Wynn hotel’s buffet lunch just before coming to the airport. So we had no space in our stomach to have more food.
As usual the food looked pretty great.
There was a good selection of salads, hot food, soup and dessert.
Next to the buffet, you’ll find the lounge bar and some bar seating.
In terms of beverages, there was a selection of wine, sparkling wine, beer and cocktails. Each lounge location will often has a cocktail menu that contain a few cocktails that is unique to that location or city.
If you were looking for non-alcoholic drinks there was self-serve coffee machines, a nice selection of teas, softdrinks and ice teas to choose from.
While we didn’t have room for any more food. We did have some space to try a couple of cocktails from their special Holiday Cocktail menu. It was the first time we’ve done any air travel during the Thanksgiving and Christmas period, so it was our first time seeing these holiday cocktails
The Spiced Cranberry Paloma and the Winter in Manhattan were both delicious, and the perfect drinks to get us read for our flight.
Staff and service
From our experience, the bartenders and staff at Amex Centurion lounges are generally great—friendly, prompt to clean up tables so that guests and quick to serve your drinks.
Making Travel Planning Easier (Free Template in Notion)
One of our goals of moving to the US from Australia is to take the opportunity to travel and explore more of the US. That means being organised and intentional about locking in travel dates ahead of time so the trips actually happens.
There is a lot to juggling when travel planning—itinerary, accommodation, flight options, things to do, recommended food and drink places etc.
It’s just not possible to track all of that in my head!
I’m a big Notion fan and I use that to plan and track all our trips. I also use it for other things like meal planning, tracking my tasks and projects, and keeping track of my camera gear etc.
Notion is free to use, hyper customisable and saves you time by giving you the ability to templatise things you do often.
So you’re not reinventing the wheel each time you want to plan a new trip in Notion.
If you want to get started planning your travels in Notion, you can download my free Travel Hub Template System in Notion that’s been downloaded more than 824+ times below:
Final Thoughts / Wrap up
All in all, the Amex Centurion Lounge in Las Vegas airport didn’t disappoint.
It was a shame we didn’t have more time before our flight to relax in the lounge, but equally our stomachs were way too full to try any of the good looking food.
While not a very large airport, it’s a busy airport as the gateway to Grand Canyon and many of the National Parks in Utah, as well as Las Vegas itself—The famous entertainment hub in the USA.
The lounge is sizable, serves great food and drinks and is a nice place to relax before making the short trek to your gate to join the crowds to hop on a giant metal flying machine.
The only problem is whether you can get in or have to join a long list of guest waiting for a chance to relax and unwind in the lounge!
Until next time, happy travelling!
Janice.
Get the my latest expat stories, travel content to maximise your vacation time without breaking the bank and make great photo-memories along the way by getting the Travelling Lens Insider newsletter below.
Leave a Reply