(New York Post – October 20, 2014) For years, airlines have tried to top one another with increasingly luxurious passenger lounges aimed at their most loyal customers. But now the premium lounge game is expanding to include other lifestyle categories — namely the credit card company American Express (AMEX).
Over the past year, AMEX has opened branded Centurion lounges in key gateways across the nation — including a much-lauded outpost at LaGuardia Airport this past summer. Sprawling over 5,000 square feet in the heart of Terminal B — before the security gates — the lounge, which features restaurant-worthy cocktails and dishes, is a swank haven in a notoriously lounge-lacking facility.
With its emphasis on customer service — and loyalty — AMEX makes for a logical entrant into the upmarket airport lounge arena. After all, AMEX members have for years used their cards for access into elite lounges across the globe. But in debuting its own branded lounges, AMEX has subtly shifted the lounge landscape away from the major carriers while boosting its own corporate appeal.
“Our customers are disproportionately travelers, so we wanted to create an experience that ties into all of our brand assets while offering a bit of ‘wow’ to our card-members,” says Lisa Durocher, senior vice president, Consumer Charge Cards and Benefits at AMEX. Along with ensuring each lounge reflects its local market, AMEX has also “made each lounge consistent with the brand look and feel … while always feeling very premium.”
A key component of AMEX’s “premium” environment is the lounge’s emphasis on cocktails and cuisine. To that end, it has recruited celeb-chef Cedric Vongerichten, son of culinary icon Jean-Georges Vongerichten, to create the food offerings. Vongerichten is currently executive chef at Perry Street, one of his father’s most celebrated efforts. Complementing all that cooking is a sophisticated beverage program featuring cocktails and wines from mixologist Jim Meehan of PDT and Wine Director Anthony Giglio, better known as Wine Wise Guy. The drinks will skew local in flavor, but with a globally inspired range of ingredients.
AMEX also offers a team of on-site card-member specialists to help with travel plans, restaurant reservations and other concierge-like tasks.
Read the article here.