American Express has spent years turning its Centurion Lounges into one of the most recognizable perks of holding a premium credit card, with outposts at major airports from New York and Los Angeles to Hong Kong and Sydney. Europe, however, has remained a relatively small part of that network.
On Wednesday, however, American Express opened a nearly 6,000-square-foot Centurion Lounge at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS) in the Netherlands.
It’s the first lounge at the airport to be part of a global credit card lounge network (the others are airline lounges) and the Centurion’s first in Western Europe (the only other Centurion lounges in Europe are in London’s Heathrow and Stockholm), giving eligible cardholders a new option in one of the continent’s busiest international hubs.
“This is an important destination for us, not just because the market is big and growing, but our customers are global and are often passing through here,” Audrey Hendley, president of American Express Travel, told Afar. “The lounges are about making travel a little bit easier for customers when they’re on their way and this lounge will certainly deliver that for our customers.”
Schiphol also puts AmEx in front of several different categories of travelers: people visiting Amsterdam for work or vacation, Europeans flying long-haul, and North Americans connecting onward across the continent. “It’s an important market for our customer base because this is where they come for business and to vacation,” Hendley said.
Whether Amsterdam is the origin or just the place between flights, the new lounge gives travelers a distinctly Dutch place to spend time before takeoff with local coffee and bar snacks, Delftware-inspired details, and a design palette drawn from the city’s canals. Here’s what travelers can expect.
Food and beverage
Get a barista-made espresso drink served with a stroopwafel at Amex’s Blue Roast coffee outpost in the new Amsterdam Centurion Lounge.
Courtesy of American Express
The strongest sense of place may come from the food and drinks. The buffet mixes familiar Centurion Lounge comfort food with distinctly Dutch dishes, including bitterballen, the crispy beef-ragout snack available at bars across the Netherlands, and gerookte paling, a type of smoked eel served with a potato salad. Other afternoon dishes include truffle-topped macaroni and cheese, Italian beef meatballs with pomodoro sauce, and chicken roasted in a honey and mustard glaze.
For something sweet, look for spekkoek, the many-layered Dutch Indonesian spice cake, and cinnamon-laced chocolates molded into tiny windmills and tulips.
In the morning, options include a rotating selection of Dutch pastries and poached eggs with hollandaise.
Coffee gets its own moment at Blue Roast, AmEx’s barista-run coffee concept. Espresso drinks arrive with a miniature stroopwafel on the side.
The bar brings Dutch references into the cocktail list. The Canal House is a savory mix of genever (a juniper-flavored Dutch spirit and predecessor to modern gin), dry vermouth, olive brine, and orange peel. The Black Tulip G&T combines elderflower gin, grapefruit, and tonic; its name nods to the centuries-long quest by Dutch growers to produce a truly black tulip, a flower that remains elusive even though several very dark purple varieties have come close.
There’s also a European (less sweet) take on the espresso martini, which Chris Duck, vice president of operations for the Centurion Lounge network, said is the most frequently ordered alcoholic drink across AmEx lounges worldwide.
Every signature cocktail can also be made without alcohol, something Duck said reflects growing demand for more interesting mocktails across the network. The lounge also serves sparkling tea, wine, and beer—including, yes, Heineken, which was founded in Amsterdam in 1864. The brewery even helped calibrate the lounge’s draft system, setting the temperature and pressure so each glass comes with the proper head—a level of precision that feels fitting for one of the Netherlands’ most recognizable exports. Other beers include the Texels Skuumkoppe, brewed on the Dutch island of Texel, and Brand IPA, brewed by Brand Brewery in the village of Wijlre in the Netherlands.
Design and amenities
Among the lounge’s seating options are booths that provide a bit of added privacy.
Courtesy of American Express
The references to Amsterdam start with the color palette. Deep blues and greens repeat throughout the lounge, a nod to the city’s canals, while the color of the wainscoting near the entrance is meant to evoke changing water levels.
There are more obvious Dutch touches, too. One alcove is lined in blue-and-white tiles inspired by Delftware, the centuries-old Dutch ceramic tradition known for its hand-painted designs. A small bulldog, the brand’s mascot, painted in the same style, is tucked behind the bar.
Separately, the lounge continues an AmEx tradition of commissioning a local artist to paint a bulldog, having tapped Dutch artist Mieke Jonker to create a more formal portrait of the pooch, with Delftware, flowers, and silhouettes of former Dutch queens in the background.
The rest of the art is Dutch as well, including works by Reinder Schmidt, Geesien Postema, and Thirza Schaap. Flowers, water, and other references to the landscape show up again and again, but the space stops short of feeling overly themed.
Floor-to-ceiling windows across the back bring in plenty of natural light, although aviation fans should know the view is of the road rather than the runway. Seating ranges from café tables and bar stools to booths and high-backed chairs. There are also private restrooms, high-speed Wi-Fi, and plenty of outlets and USB ports.
How to access the Amex Amsterdam Lounge
Delftware-inspired blue-and-while tiles line the inside of a phone booth in the newly unveiled Centurion Lounge in Amsterdam.
Courtesy of American Express
The new Centurion Lounge is located between Concourses E and F at Schiphol (in the non-Schengen departure area) and is open daily from 6 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.
For Platinum and Business Platinum cardholders, admission is complimentary with a same-day boarding pass and eligible American Express card.
Guest access for U.S.-issued Platinum cards generally costs $50 per adult and $30 for children ages 2 through 17. Cardholders who make at least $75,000 in eligible purchases in a calendar year can earn complimentary access for up to two guests.
The Amsterdam opening brings the Centurion Lounge Network to 33 locations, but more are on the way—the brand has already announced plans (but not opening dates) for outposts at Newark Liberty International Airport and Boston Logan International Airport, while Charlotte Douglas International Airport is getting the company’s smaller Sidecar by the Centurion Lounge concept.
