When it comes to airport lounges, the prevailing strategy lately has been “bigger is better.” Airlines and credit card companies have been racing to build sprawling spaces with hundreds of seats—like United’s supersized, two-level, 33,000-square-foot lounge in Denver—to combat crowding. But at Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) in Las Vegas, American Express is trying the opposite approach.
The new 33-seat, design-forward space, called Sidecar by the Centurion Lounge, a brand-new airport lounge concept from Amex, opened March 4 in the airport’s Concourse D, offering a dramatically different lounge experience. Instead of a buffet, workstations, and showers, Sidecar functions like a stylish cocktail bar with a menu of small plates, wines, and cocktails curated by the award-winning chefs, sommeliers, and bartenders from the Culinary Collective by the Centurion Lounge. It’s built for travelers who want a quick yet still high-end stop before their flight—guests can only visit within 90 minutes of their flight’s departure.
“When we looked at customers’ behavior in the lounges, there are a lot of customers who come on their own with less time available but still want to be able to experience a lounge,” Audrey Hendley, president of American Express Travel, told Afar at a preview event. “So we thought we would design a lounge in a smaller space to really suit the needs of those types of customers, who want to come have an elevated experience. They want something to eat, probably want something to drink, and then get themselves on their way.”
Fittingly, Las Vegas was also the location of American Express’s first Centurion Lounge in 2013. Hendley said the new concept isn’t meant to compete with the flagship offering but rather to complement it and “give travelers more options.” She added that the plan is for Sidecar to expand to other airports, although the specific locations remain to be seen.
Here’s everything you need to know about Sidecar.
The design is intimate
The lounge’s footprint is just 1,500 square feet, laid out in an “L” shape, with bistro tables set for one or two travelers lining the outer wall. The remaining seats are at the bar. Hosts escort all guests to their assigned seats.
Instead of the bright, open layouts that dominate many lounges, the space leans moodier, more intimate—intentionally evoking a speakeasy-style cocktail bar. Plush leather and velvet seating, warm lighting, brass accents, a wall of greenery, and darker tones help create a sense of separation from the surrounding terminal.
On the practical side, every seat is within arm’s reach of a power outlet and USB-A ports, and the Wi-Fi is complimentary. There are also two single-person restrooms, one of them ADA-compliant.
Amex’s bulldog mascot, Sir Charles Frosty Blue, who is portrayed in some way in every Centurion Lounge, appears in several guises at Sidecar, including a side profile just by the entrance and in a tiny headshot logo on wineglasses and coasters.
The menus are from star chefs and beverage pros
The chefs at Sidecar hail from across the country, and the food ranges from Afro-Caribbean to Italian.
Courtesy of American Express
The centerpiece of the Sidecar concept is the food and drink. Rather than self-serve stations, everything is ordered directly from a QR code at the table and is designed to be prepared and delivered quickly.
Each of the four Resy-affiliated, James Beard Award–winning chefs who make up Amex’s Culinary Collective (Mashama Bailey of Savannah’s the Grey, Sarah Grueneberg of Chicago’s Monteverde Restaurant & Pastificio, Kwame Onwuachi of New York’s Tatiana and D.C.’s Dōgon, and Michael Solomonov of New York City’s K’Far and Philadelphia’s Zahav) contributed dishes for the menu. While the options will change seasonally, the opening lineup includes:
- A crushed cucumber salad from Onwuachi that’s marinated in miso, ponzu, ginger, garlic, and pepper sauce and topped with chili sumac, herbs, and crispy rice pearls
- An avocado toast slathered in zhug labneh and topped with black sesame seeds from Solomonov
- A mushroom and mustard greens egg bite with black garlic aioli from Bailey
- A “Chicky Chicky Parm Parm” slider from Grueneberg that’s topped with mozzarella, pepperoni, and iceberg lettuce and served on a brioche bun stamped with the Amex logo. (A new feature sandwich will rotate in each month.)
Other offerings include an acaí breakfast bowl studded with seasonal fruit, parmesan truffle fries, and a mini lobster roll.
For drinks, Amex tapped Harrison Ginsberg, bar director at New York’s Overstory, which has made the World’s 50 Best Bars list four years running. One of his signature cocktails is the Casino Royale, a gin-and-sparking-wine number that’s similar to a French 75, albeit infused with edible glitter for a Vegas touch.
Concurrent with the opening of Sidecar, Amex announced that it had brought a sommelier, Helen Johannesen, into its Culinary Collective. The founder of Helen’s Wines and a partner in Jon & Vinny’s Italian restaurants, Johannesen made her first wine list for Amex at Sidecar, and she told Afar that her approach was to “focus on smaller production wines, with organic practices when possible.” Among the seven wines on the menu are a Domaine Gavoty La Cigale rosé and a Turley Wine Cellars zinfandel. Johannesen is also assembling unique menus for each of the 31 Centurion Lounge locations; those will have 14 wines, and they’re slated to roll out in the coming months.
How to access the Sidecar by the Centurion Lounge
Sidecar is in the D Concourse of Harry Reid International Airport. After going up the escalator from the airport tram, the lounge is on the left, near Gate D1. It is open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
Access to Sidecar is tied to the same eligibility rules as for the rest of the Centurion Lounge network. Travelers with an eligible Amex card—such as The Platinum Card from American Express or The Business Platinum Card from American Express—can enter when flying on a same-day boarding pass. Guests are only allowed for travelers who meet the $75,000 annual spending requirement on their card; otherwise, you’ll pay $50 per adult guest and $30 per child (ages 2 to 17). Children under 2 can enter for free.
