Key Points

• JD Power's second-annual lounge study found American Express Centurion Lounges and Capital One Lounges tied for first place in 2026, with Chase Sapphire Lounges and Delta Sky Clubs close behind.
• Crowding is dragging down satisfaction across the board, with nearly half of travelers calling their most-used lounge moderately or severely crowded and scores dropping by hundreds of points as a result.
• If lounge access matters to your travel routine, this is a good moment to check which premium cards actually get you into the networks that scored highest.

Introduction

If you've felt like your favorite airport lounge is more crowded than it used to be, you're not imagining it. JD Power's newly released 2026 airport lounge rankings confirm what frequent flyers have been grumbling about at security lines for months. The data and analytics firm surveyed nearly 3,000 travelers to rank the major U.S. lounge networks, and this year's results shook up the usual pecking order. American Express no longer stands alone at the top, crowding has become a measurable satisfaction killer, and a few new networks entered the rankings for the first time. Here's what the study found and what it actually means for how you plan your next trip.

What JD Power Measured This Time

This year's study expanded on last year's inaugural version in one significant way. Instead of scoring only stand-alone lounges like United Clubs, JD Power folded airlines' premium business-class lounges into their broader network scores. That change means Polaris lounges now count toward United's overall rating, and similar adjustments apply across other airlines. Travelers were scored on eight factors, weighted by importance: perceived value, staff, food and beverage, cleanliness, amenities, ease of access, ambience, and Wi-Fi.

Because of that methodology shift, JD Power cautions against comparing individual category scores to last year. The overall rankings, though, are a fair year-over-year read on who's improving and who's falling behind.

Who Actually Won in 2026

American Express's Centurion Lounge network topped the list again, but this year it didn't win alone. Here's how the full field shook out on JD Power's 1,000-point scale:

• American Express Centurion Lounges and Capital One Lounges tied for first at 771 points.
• Chase Sapphire Lounges came in third at 764.
• Delta Sky Clubs, including Delta One lounges, followed closely at 763.
• British Airways lounges, a new addition this year, scored 751.
• American Airlines Admirals Clubs and Flagship Lounges landed at 749.
• Air France's U.S. network debuted at 746, followed by Alaska Lounges at 737.
• United Clubs and Polaris Lounges scored 702, and third-party network The Club came in last at 650.

The average across all networks was 732, which puts a lot of daylight between the top tier and the bottom of the pack.

Crowding Is Quietly Wrecking the Experience

The most striking finding isn't who won. It's how much crowding is dragging everyone down. Nearly half of surveyed travelers, 46%, said their most frequently visited lounge is moderately or severely crowded, and satisfaction scores for those travelers came in an average of 244 points lower than travelers who said their lounge wasn't crowded at all. That's a massive gap on a 1,000-point scale, big enough to flip a top-ranked network into a bottom-tier experience depending on when you show up.

Food and staff, on the other hand, are holding up well. More than half of respondents rated food as better than expected, and 77% said they felt welcomed by staff. The soft spot is staff morale and knowledge, with only about half of travelers describing staff as happy or knowledgeable.

What This Means for Your Next Trip

If lounge access is part of why you carry a premium card, this year's rankings are worth acting on. Capital One Venture X and The Platinum Card from American Express both grant access to the two networks that tied for first place, and Chase's premium cardholders get into the third-ranked Sapphire Lounges through the Chase Sapphire Reserve. If you're not sure which of your cards unlock which lounges, our guide on how to know which airport lounges you can access breaks it down network by network.

Given how much crowding affects the experience, timing matters as much as which card you carry. Early morning and late evening flights tend to see thinner lounge crowds than the midday rush. If you're shopping for a new card specifically for lounge access, our roundup of the best credit cards for airport lounge access compares annual fees against which networks each card actually unlocks, since not every "lounge access" card gets you into the same tier of lounge.

For travelers without a premium card, Priority Pass remains the broadest way to buy into lounge access across multiple networks without committing to a single airline or bank.

FAQ

Which airport lounge network ranked best in 2026?
American Express Centurion Lounges and Capital One Lounges tied for the top spot, both scoring 771 out of 1,000 points in JD Power's study.

Why did United Clubs score lower than other major networks?
United Clubs and Polaris Lounges scored 702, near the bottom of the rankings, though JD Power didn't break out the specific factors driving that score below the network average.

Is lounge crowding getting worse?
The study didn't directly compare crowding levels to last year, but it found crowding is now the single biggest driver of lower satisfaction scores, with a 244-point gap between crowded and uncrowded experiences.

Conclusion

JD Power's 2026 study makes one thing clear: which lounge network you can access matters less than it used to, and when you show up matters more. American Express and Capital One are setting the pace this year, but crowding is the variable that can turn any top-ranked lounge into a disappointing one. If lounge access is a priority for your travel routine, it's worth double-checking that your current card still lines up with the networks performing best. This article contains affiliate links. If you apply through our links, we may earn a commission at no cost to you, which helps us continue sharing points and miles strategies with the community.