American Express is gearing up for a big week, and it starts with some news about Centurion Lounges.
The issuer announced on Monday that it's debuting an all-new dedicated mobile travel app, dubbed the Amex Travel App, later this week on Thursday. The app will be available for download on iOS devices first, followed by Android smartphones in the coming weeks.
While the app includes a slew of travel features, perhaps the most noteworthy for savvy travelers is the addition of estimated wait times at Centurion Lounges. This feature will allow you to get an estimate of how long you'll need to wait on the standby list before being admitted to an at-capacity Amex lounge. This feature will be available in the traditional Amex app at launch, but will eventually be merged with the new Amex Travel App in the coming months.
You'll even be able to join the lounge waitlist as well. While it would be great not to need this feature, the reality is that lounge overcrowding seems here to stay.
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I, for one, will certainly appreciate it. When I'm traveling, I sometimes need to determine if the walk (or inter-terminal train) to the Amex lounge will be worth it. In some cases, I've gotten to the lounge only to find out that I won't be admitted until after my flight has departed. Not only does this lead to a frustrating experience, but it also means that I then have less time to trek back to my gate area and potentially find another lounge option nearby.
The Amex Travel App will include a slew of other features, such as destination inspiration, unified flight/hotel/transportation planning tools and a seamless booking experience.
The issuer highlights that travelers can discover Fine Hotels + Resorts and The Hotel Collection properties easily in the app.
Another feature Amex is teasing is the ability to commemorate past travel via digital stamps that are collected for each country or region in which you swipe your card while traveling. These stamps can then be shared on social media or via text. They can also be customized with highlights from your trip, and stamps are stored as a unique token stored on a public blockchain, meaning that your travel history will forever be memorialized with this digital collectible.
Amex says that it will add more features to the app over time, including personalized hotel recommendations and embedded award benefits, but it stopped short of providing more details for what's coming down the pike. (I'd love to see an improved benefits tracker across your cards.)
Thursday is slated to be a big day for Amex. In addition to introduction the new Amex Travel App, the issuer has teased on social media that the refreshed Platinum card will potentially be announced or introduced then as well.
In a social media post on X, the issuer writes "coming 9.18.25" with a silhouette of what appears to be a Platinum Card® from American Express. While I'll definitely be downloading this new app when it launches on Thursday, I'll also keep my eyes peeled for other Amex updates.
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