A new Amex Centurion Lounge coming to a certain airport. I’ll give you a clue: It’s on the east coast. We also have Apple in talks with two more banks about becoming the new issuer of the Apple card.
Amex Centurion Lounge Is Coming to Boston Logan International Airport
Centurion Lounges are some of my favorite lounges. I visited the Centurion Lounges at LaGuardia and also at Phoenix. I really want to try some of the other ones. This new lounge at Boston is only in the initial stages. We know that because it seems the lease agreement has just been signed according to documents from Massport, that is the Massachusetts governing body that manages the airports.
This Amex Centurion Lounge isn’t just going to be any old Centurion Lounge. It is a massive 20,000 ft two-story lounge that even has some green space on the roof for you to enjoy. It involves building the lounge as an addition to the existing structure of the terminal. In the video below, you can see a black flat roof and the lounge will sit on top of that:
When Will We be Able to Enjoy the New Lounge?
Well, construction is supposedly starting in Spring this year with Massport building the structure of the lounge and Amex reimbursing them for the cost and then Amex building the inside of the lounge themselves. That’s going to take some time. It’s not projected to open until 2027.
Boston airport is significant because this is the location of the first US Chase Sapphire Lounge, in terminal B near gate 40. The Centurion Lounge is going to be in terminal C near gate 10. Terminal C doesn’t actually serve that many airlines and not really ones that you’d expect with Amex, like Delta. Delta often puts Centurion lounges in terminals that have Delta flights because of their long-term partnership with Delta. In terminal C you can see there are Jet Blue, Etihad, and a few other small ones. But terminals B, C, and E are all connected post security. And E serves the most airlines. So that opens up almost every airline that uses Boston Logan Airport and Delta’s international flights go through terminal E.
Who Will be Issuing the Apple Card
We now have more insider information on who may be replacing Goldman Sachs as the Apple card issuer. In an article from CNBC the headline reads Apple in talks with Barkleys, Synchrony to replace Goldman in credit card deal.
If you don’t know, Goldman Sachs is the original issuer of the Apple card since the launch in 2019. Apple has some very strict requirements which has led to the card not being profitable for Goldman Sachs and they want out. So Apple has talked to numerous Banks, even JPMorgan Chase a few months back, again according to people with knowledge of the situation.
It seems that the negotiations with Barclays are more serious and may likely lead to something. Goldman’s deal with Apple runs until 2030 but the CEO has mentioned on a recent earnings call that it may end sooner and that would mean Apple finding a new issuer for the card.
Personally, I think Barkleys may be a good fit. They don’t have the reputation of being a low-end bank like. Synchrony has, but they also don’t have as much name recognition as Chase in the US which means a partnership with Apple could really bring them up in the US market.
