American Express opened its Sydney lounge in late December 2014. The lounge is located at the T1 international terminal next to Gate 24 and the SkyTeam lounge.
This is part four of an eight part trip report from my recent trip to Sydney:
- Virgin Australia Business LAX to Sydney
- Sheraton on the Park Sydney
- SkyTeam Lounge Sydney
- American Express Lounge Sydney
- Delta ONE (Business) Sydney to LAX (including my first Delta flight with PJs!)
- Delta’s Updated LAX Sky Club
- Delta ONE (Business) LAX-JFK-LAX
- Wow…Hot complimentary food at Delta’s JFK T4 Sky Club
To enter the lounge you must have an American Express Centurion Card, Business Centurion Card, Platinum Card, Business Platinum Card, or other Australia/NZ branded premium card (Qantas, Virgin Australia, Air New Zealand, etc.). Other AmEx cards allow for two free entries per year (additional entries are available for purchase based on your card). Here are all those options:
The line to enter was much longer than the SkyTeam line next door, though this was due to only one agent working (she was actually brought over from the SkyTeam lounge). Both lounges are managed by Plaza Premium Lounge Management.
Based purely on seating options and comfort, I’d actually go with the SkyTeam lounge (at least in the morning hours). The AmEx lounge can seat about 60 customers and it was quite crowded with only the shared tables, one sofa, and six window seats available. There was quite a bit more open seating at the SkyTeam lounge.
The food options were also similar (there is even a shared kitchen and the staff restocking the AmEx selections were the same as those restocking the SkyTeam lounge). The AmEx lounge had a few more premium hot food selections and a larger variety at the bar. Otherwise, they were quite similar.
Overall, this is a decent lounge and very similar to the SkyTeam offering next door. However, I would say it is not on par with the US based AmEx lounges (wow…how often do we get to say that)!
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4 comments
Appears this Amex lounge is much more akin to the Canadian ones operated by PlazaPremium too, unlike the new US Centurion lounges that are a cut above most airline lounges found in North America. The US lounges stress menus by celebrity chefs, but I guess Qantas has that hook sown up down there.
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