SFO American Express Centurion Lounge is Closing for Expansion
This lounge re-opened on December 31, 2022. Learn more about the updated lounge.
Starting Tuesday (September 6th) American Express will be temporarily closing their San Francisco International (SFO) Centurion lounge for a major expansion. This planned expansion will pave the way for the opening of the largest Centurion Lounge in the network with a planned size of 16,000 square feet (almost double the current size of the existing lounge).
Overcrowding has been a problem for a while in this lounge (among others) with many people reporting crowding issues and lack of space. This new expansion will extend the lounge into the space on the mezzanine level near the lounge's entrance. The new lounge is reported to also have a new café area, second bar, additional restrooms, and private workspaces as well as a new sessional menu by chef Ravi Kapur.
This closure will be a negative impact on those who travel through SFO and want to visit this lounge, but starting on Monday, September 12th they will be offering grab-and-go food and drink options at the lounge entryway to help offset some of the sadness of the lounge being closed.
American Express has said that the lounge should re-open by the end of the year (2022) but noted that construction obstacles can cause unplanned delays.
Closing Thoughts
This expansion is great for many reasons, but the most obvious is how will help with overcrowding. I know other lounges that are in the process of expanding such as the Admirals Club (AUS) and Admirals Club (DCA). My only wish is they would have started these expansions during the downtime of the COVID travel decline to reduce the impact on their members. If this hits its deadline of end-of-the-year that means that the lounge should only be closed for about 3 months!