Amex Centurion Lounge Atlanta (ATL) Airport Review

Worth Coming to the Airport Early For: YES (*If it’s not packed. Otherwise don’t bother)

Better Than The Terminal: YES (ATL itself is a mess)

Introduction

Atlanta’s Centurion lounge is relatively new, having opened in February of 2024. It’s currently the largest Centurion lounge in their network at ~26,000 square feet. For being a new “flagship” location, it was… fine. It’s exactly what I expect nowadays from Centurion Lounges. In that they resemble a Chipotle in an upper middle class neighborhood. It’s a place where you can get buffet slop and a lukewarm drink. Where Amex clearly leads Chase / Capital One is the size of their lounge network: Amex currently has ~16 lounges in the US, compared to Chase’s 9 and Capital One’s 7. The quality of those lounges goes exactly in opposite order: Capital One is the clear winner of bank-run card lounges, Chase second, and Amex a very distant third. Which is disappointing, but honestly Amex doesn’t care nor should they – their Platinum card growth is doing just fine, even with uncompetitive lounges. They of course know their lounges are uncompetitive, but until it actually starts hurting their financial metrics related to the Platinum card… they have no incentive to care.

Atlanta is kind of a strange airport. It’s massive, and America’s busiest by passenger volumes. Not because people are visiting Atlanta, but because it’s within a 2 hour flight of 80% of America’s population. It’s also basically Delta’s airport, and Delta is tied at the hip with Amex. Which means there are a TON of eligible passengers passing through ATL every day (read: severe overcrowding).

In this post, you’ll find:

Lounge Access Rules

This lounge is located in terminal E of ATL. All terminals are connected airside at ATL via the underground train, so no matter what terminal you’re flying out of you can access this lounge (although budget time – ATL is massive). The lounge is open from 6am – 11pm daily, and can be accessed via standard routes, primarily through an Amex Platinum or Centurion card.

Lounge Review and Amenities

This lounge is a standard Centurion lounge, although it has some nice unique features. Namely, two outdoor areas (one “garden-like” one, then one facing the tarmac), a Whisky Bar dubbed “The Reserve”, and a legit olive tree in the middle of the lounge. It does feel much more airy and well-designed than the “average” Centurion lounge (LAX, I’m looking at you).

There was a tiny line upon entering but I was checked in within 2 minutes.

The lounge interior, especially the main room, is beautiful.

The main downside of this lounge is how busy it becomes. Over the course of the hour I was there, the lounge filled up so much almost every single seat was taken, plus lines to get food. Luxury for all? I actually left early to go to the gate because it got so loud and annoying in the lounge. It’s a great space if it’s actually quiet and relaxing, but that’s a big if. I was flying on a Friday around 10am for context.

There are two separate identical buffet stations right next to each other:

Note the lounge features a special whisky bar called “The Reserve”. It looked cool, but I’m not a huge drinker so I didn’t get anything.

This section leads right out towards a little garden area, which has some nice outdoor seating.

Scattered across the lounge, there’s drink and small bite self-serve stations as well (in addition to the main buffets).

The nicest part of this lounge is the outdoor tarmac-facing terrace. If it’s nice out, there’s no better place to sit and watch the planes come and go for a few hours. Unfortunately when I visited, every single seat out here was already taken.

Back towards the front, there’s also this standard smaller seating area:

Conclusion

All in all, the Amex Centurion lounge at Atlanta is a notch nicer than your average centurion lounge. It’s a massive space, has a great outdoor seating area, and the food is decent (but nothing special). The main downside is overcrowding, which can massively affect your experience. If quiet though, this is a great spot to kill a few hours pre-flight.