American Express announced in July 2025 a new airport lounge format called Sidecar by The Centurion Lounge, with the first location scheduled to open at Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) in Las Vegas in 2026. It is a smaller, time-restricted companion to the full Centurion Lounge, built around a 90-minute pre-flight window and table service rather than buffet lines.

The pilot sits alongside the existing LAS Centurion Lounge, which opened in 2013. Amex framed Sidecar as a response to a familiar complaint among cardholders: the main lounges are crowded, and a meaningful share of visitors only want a drink and a seat before boarding.

Quick Answer

Sidecar by The Centurion Lounge is a smaller, faster-format Amex lounge for cardholders departing within 90 minutes. The first location is scheduled for Las Vegas (LAS), D Concourse opposite Gate D1, in 2026. Access mirrors the main Centurion network: Platinum, Business Platinum, and Centurion cardholders only, with a same-day boarding pass.

What Sidecar Is

Sidecar is not a second Centurion Lounge. It is a deliberately smaller room with a different operating model. Amex described the design as speakeasy-styled, with table service for small plates and cocktails, and no buffet. The food program is built by The Culinary Collective, the chef partnership Amex announced alongside Sidecar that pulls in Kwame Onwuachi, Mashama Bailey, Mike Solomonov, and Sarah Grueneberg. Beverages are led by Harrison Ginsberg, the bar director behind New York's Overstory.

The 90-minute window is the meaningful constraint. To enter, you need a same-day boarding pass for a flight departing within 90 minutes. That is the entire premise: a fast in-and-out option that filters for travelers who would otherwise sit in the main Centurion Lounge for 45 minutes and leave.

The Vegas location will sit on the D Concourse opposite Gate D1. Because LAS is laid out with a tram between terminals, a single Sidecar room serves passengers from multiple gates without forcing a long walk back.

Who Gets In

Eligibility is the same as the main Centurion Lounge network. You need one of the following American Express cards, plus a same-day boarding pass within 90 minutes of departure:

  • The Platinum Card from American Express
  • The Business Platinum Card from American Express
  • Centurion Card from American Express
  • Business Centurion Card from American Express

The existing LAS Centurion Lounge remains open and accessible to the same cards on the standard three-hour pre-flight window. Sidecar is an additional option, not a replacement.

Why This Matters Beyond the Press Release

Two industry currents make Sidecar more interesting than another lounge opening.

The first is overcrowding. The main Centurion Lounges, especially at hub airports, have become victims of the Platinum Card's success. Amex has issued the card aggressively, and the lounges that anchor its value proposition can hit capacity by mid-morning. A smaller, fast-format room with a hard 90-minute door policy is a credible way to bleed off the quick-stop crowd without expanding square footage. Whether it works depends on whether enough cardholders actually choose Sidecar over the full lounge when both are available.

The second is competition. Chase has been building out Chase Sapphire Lounges by The Club at airports including New York LaGuardia, Boston, Phoenix, and Hong Kong. Capital One has Capital One Lounges at Dallas-Fort Worth, Denver, Washington Dulles, and a new location at New York JFK. Both programs are newer, generally less crowded, and increasingly part of the comparison when a frequent traveler picks a premium card. Sidecar is Amex testing a format-led response rather than a square-footage one: different rooms for different use cases, all under the same access list.

A few things Sidecar is not. It is not a Priority Pass alternative, it is not open to authorized users without the same eligibility rules, and it does not change the existing lounge's access policy. It is a second door at LAS for the same set of cardholders.

What's Open Now

As of mid-2026, the rollout is still on Amex's announced 2026 timeline. The Culinary Collective dining program, the food partnership announced alongside Sidecar, began rolling out to the 15 U.S. Centurion Lounges from July 29, 2025, so cardholders are already seeing some of the menu changes at existing lounges regardless of when the Sidecar room itself opens.

If you fly through LAS regularly, the practical move is to keep watching for an opening date and to plan on Sidecar being a short-stop option rather than a workspace. If you fly through LAS occasionally, the main Centurion Lounge remains the default.

Bottom Line

Sidecar is a sensible experiment. The 90-minute window is the part to take seriously: it is the mechanism that makes the format work, and it is the part most likely to frustrate cardholders who do not read the rules before they show up. The bigger story is what Amex does with the format if Las Vegas works: a second-door Sidecar at JFK, LAX, or DFW would meaningfully change how the Centurion network handles its peak hours.

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