Amex Aims to ‘Enhance Lounge Access’ With LoungeBuddy Acquisition
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
Monday, American Express announced plans to acquire one of its recent partners, airport lounge booking and reviews platform LoungeBuddy. While the issuer has yet to detail its plans, Amex has clearly been focused on building out its airport lounge footprint in recent years, through the the expansion of its Centurion Lounge network to the American Express Global Lounge Collection, which gives certain members access to over 1,200 locations around the world.
Currently, customers with the Centurion Card, the Platinum Card® from American Express and the Business Platinum Card® from American Express can access Amex's own lounges, in addition to 1,000+ Priority Pass lounges and restaurants, and Delta Sky Club locations (with a same-day Delta ticket). In theory, LoungeBuddy could help the issuer grow its network even further. Enrollment required for select benefits.
We reached out to American Express for more details regarding its plans for LoungeBuddy. While the issuer isn't sharing much at this point, Chris Cracchiolo, Amex's Senior Vice President, Global Loyalty and Benefits said in a press release, "With the acquisition of LoungeBuddy, we will be able to leverage its cutting-edge platform to develop additional ways to become an essential part of our Card Members' digital lives."
In theory, LoungeBuddy could help Amex expand its footprint beyond Priority Pass, given the platform's partnerships with lounges that aren't currently available there, such as the Lufthansa and Swiss business-class lounges at New York-JFK:
While unlimited access may overwhelm some of LoungeBuddy's already quite crowded locations, it wouldn't be too unreasonable to expect free or discounted access during off-peak times, or perhaps a discount off the pricing LoungeBuddy offers today.
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Rewards Rate
| 2X miles | 2 miles per dollar on every purchase |
| 5X miles | 5 miles per dollar on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel |
| 10X miles | 10 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Business Travel |
Intro Offer
Earn 200K miles when you spend $30K in the first 3 months, and an additional 200K miles when you spend $150K in the first 6 monthsLIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus milesAnnual Fee
$395Recommended Credit
Credit ranges are a variation of FICO® Score 8, one of many types of credit scores lenders may use when considering your credit card application.740-850Excellent
Why We Chose It
The Capital One Venture X Business Card has all the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card has to offer and more. It offers an incredible welcome bonus and requires an equally impressive spend to qualify. In addition, the card comes with premium travel perks like annual travel credit. (Partner offer)Pros
- The Capital One Venture X business card has a very lucrative welcome offer.
- In addition, the card comes with many premium travel perks such as an annual $300 credit for bookings through Capital One Business Travel.
- Business owners are also able to add employee cards for free.
Cons
- The card requires significant spending to earn the welcome offer.
- Another drawback is that the annual travel credit can only be used on bookings made through Capital One Business Travel.
- LIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus miles: 200K miles when you spend $30K in the first 3 months, and an additional 200k miles when you spend $150k in the first 6 months
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, everywhere—with no limits or category restrictions
- Earn 10X miles on hotels and rental cars and 5X miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel
- With no preset spending limit, enjoy big purchasing power that adapts so you can spend more and earn more rewards
- Empower your teams to make business purchases while earning rewards on their transactions, with free employee and virtual cards. Plus, automatically sync your transaction data with your accounting software and pay your vendors with ease
- Redeem your miles on flights, hotels and more. Plus, transfer your miles to any of the 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Every year, you'll get 10,000 bonus miles after your account anniversary date. Plus, receive an annual $300 credit for bookings made through Capital One Business Travel
- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®. Enjoy access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide, including Capital One Lounge locations and Priority Pass™ lounges, after enrollment
- Enjoy a $100 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Premier Collection
- This is a pay-in-full card, so your balance is due in full every month