Brex Opens San Francisco City Lounge for Card Holders

March 22, 2019

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4 min read

Brex Opens San Francisco City Lounge for Card Holders

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Beginning July 30, 2019, Brex Rewards now includes the ability to transfer points to six airline partners, making Brex points significantly more valuable. This comes on top of Brex issuing World Elite Mastercards for all its customers starting in February. Read our story for more information on the new transfer partners along with a special sign-up bonus, and find more info on the card's World Elite Mastercard benefits here.

It's been a busy few months for corporate charge card Brex, which has been trying to build a name for itself amid the increasingly competitive business credit card market. In December, it upgraded its travel earning category from 3x points to 4x points. Then in February, Brex transitioned to World Elite Mastercards for all its customers, introducing additional fraud and purchase protections, as well as enhanced travel benefits like travel and rental car insurance. And now, the issuer is further distinguishing itself as the go-to card for startups with the opening of its first physical space.

The new Oval Room by Brex is a members-only lounge in San Francisco's South Park neighborhood. It is basically Brex's take on the American Express Centurion airport lounges and Capital One Cafes, but tailored specifically to its startup entrepreneurs customer base.

The lounge is meant to be a place to connect, meet and engage with other members, as well as to host events and hold important business meetings that startups would otherwise have in coffee shops or nearby city parks. Amenities of the lounge include complimentary coffee, Chromebook rentals, phone and laptop charging, printing and scanning, a library of books on entrepreneurship, and concierge services. Hands down, the most valuable feature, however, is the ability to reserve the board meeting room or private lounge room (both AV-enabled) for free.

Although WeWork might come to mind, Brex made it clear that this lounge isn't a coworking space and shouldn't be used as a substitute for a day-to-day office. Aside from in the board room, all of the furniture in the Oval Room has a living-room feel to it, with no traditional work desks.

Connections between Billy McFarland's Magnises Townhouse and Oval Room are also hard to ignore, but Brex stresses that the two are completely different. Unlike the Townhouse, Oval Room isn't about exclusivity or turning people away. It is meant to reward entrepreneurs with the space and services they need to run their businesses. Brex hopes to foster a sense of community through hosting events like investor fireside chats and accelerator dinners, as well as other initiatives such as a community Slack channel.

Access to the space is currently on an invitation-only basis, but will expand further starting May 2019. Currently, the hours are 9:00am - 5:00pm Tuesday to Friday, but that is subject to change after this beta period. Card holders are able to bring up to two guests, or more if they reserve the boardroom or private lounge room.

Bottom Line

Whether you're a Brex card holder based out of San Francisco or travel there frequently for work, gaining complimentary access to a meeting room in the South Park neighborhood is a win. The Oval Room is definitely a much more presentable meeting space than a loud coffee shop or park and can save your business a lot of money if you'd otherwise pay to rent a space like this.

For more information on Brex, check out the following posts:

All images courtesy of Brex.

Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.