Newark's 17,000 sq ft Centurion Lounge is still not open, and Amex only says "2026"

News and analysis · Sources checked October 6, 2026.

Newark's Centurion Lounge is still not open. American Express's own location page continues to say the lounge is expected to open in 2026 in Terminal A, with no month attached, and as of this week there is no opening announcement, no reservation window and no sign of the usual pre-opening media preview. With less than three months of 2026 left, that "2026" is doing a lot of work.

The most concrete recent signal comes from a Centurion network tracker at From the Tray Table, updated in late August, which described the Newark project as in its final pre-opening stages and expected by the winter holidays at the latest. That is an informed read, not an Amex commitment. We would treat anything before Thanksgiving as a bonus and a December opening as the realistic case, with a slip into early 2027 entirely possible given how long this one has already taken.

What was promised

The project dates to a 2021 Port Authority lease approval, with the public announcement following in September 2023. The Port Authority and Amex described a roughly 17,000 sq ft space on the third floor of a new 50,000 sq ft annex to Terminal A, which would make it the largest Centurion Lounge in the network. Amex committed around $121.5 million over a 15-year lease.

The renderings and the press materials, summarized by One Mile at a Time, describe an outdoor airfield terrace with views toward New York Harbor and the Manhattan skyline, a piano lounge and a Jersey jazz-themed bar, a speakeasy-style cocktail area, a wellness room, workstations and a collection of New Jersey artifacts and ephemera. The size is the point: Amex has spent years absorbing complaints about crowding at its New York lounges, and Newark is the one place in the metro area where it can build big from scratch.

Who will get in

Nothing about access is expected to differ from the rest of the network. Platinum, Business Platinum and Centurion cardholders get in with a same-day boarding pass; Delta Reserve cardholders qualify only on a Delta flight. Guests cost $50 for Platinum cardholders unless they have cleared the $75,000 annual-spend threshold, and the three-hour-before-departure rule will apply. If you are hoping to visit on arrival or on a layover that does not involve Terminal A, you will be disappointed: Terminal A is home to American, Delta, JetBlue, Air Canada and a chunk of United's domestic flying, but not United's long-haul operation in Terminal C.

Where to go in the meantime

Terminal A has reasonable options while you wait. The United Club (A) is the roomiest, with a proper bar and a breakfast spread. The Admirals Club is compact but new, and the Delta Sky Club handles Delta's flights from the same terminal. Platinum cardholders flying Delta can use the Sky Club under the usual same-day-ticket rule. Over in Terminal C, the United Club mezzanine and the Polaris Lounge remain the best spaces at the airport, but both require a United or Star Alliance ticket, and the Polaris Lounge needs a long-haul business or first class seat.

Our take

Amex is not wrong to take its time; a lounge of this size with an outdoor terrace is a complicated build inside a terminal that only opened in 2023. But "2026" has been the answer since 2021, and the company has done nothing to narrow it as the year runs out. Cardholders paying $895 a year deserve a date, even a loose one. Until Amex gives one, plan your Newark departures as if the lounge does not exist, because for now it does not.