Lounge Review: American Express Centurion Lounge | New York JFK | Terminal 4

New York City, New York, USA — An early morning flight over to London Heathrow gave us a chance to check out New York John F. Kennedy (JFK) International’s American Express Centurion Lounge right as they opened. It was a decent place to grab breakfast and luckily not too busy that Sunday morning.

Date of Visit: 2024 July 8
Location: New York JFK Terminal 4 (air-side just past security to the left)
Hours: 5AM – 10PM daily*
Access: American Express Centurion and Platinum Card holders and their guests, Delta Skymiles Reserve Card holders and their guests (on Delta-operated flights)**
Notables: One of the largest Centurion lounges, interesting speakeasy bar concept, showers, convenient location just after security.
^{_{* At the time of initial post, subject to change
** Guest access rules vary, see below.}}

Seating
The JFK T4 Centurion Lounge is a two floor affair; you actually enter on the larger second floor of the lounge. After walking past the check-in desk, there is a small hallway leading to main part of the lounge with a few low tables and chairs.

There is a small section cordoned off and reserved for Centurion card holders and their guests.

As you reach the main part of the top floor, the lounge opens up to a roughly long rectangular space with various along the windows. The main floor is advertised as having approximately 223 seats. Proceeding along this hallway you will find the beverage station, buffet, and a small bar.

Unfortunately, the bottom floor was not yet open to customers when we entered visited early Sunday morning. However, it did open up around 8AM as we were leaving for our flight. I snapped a few pictures on the way out.

The smaller bottom floor has more seating options here and its own dining area. It’s advertised as having 146 seats.

If you’re paying attention, you’ll notice that some of the smaller seating nooks are based on major New York City landmarks and buildings. There are also several small private phone booths on this floor for taking calls, video meetings, etc.

The lounge’s “1850” speakeasy bar is tucked away in the back right corner of this bottom floor as you enter this level; it is larger than the upper floor’s bar and has its own seating area.

Food and Drink
Our early morning visit meant the buffet was set-up for breakfast. Both floors have a buffet and full service bar (though only the main floor was open during our visit).

As you walk along the back hallway towards the the buffet, you are first met by the beverage station complete with coffee/espresso machines, self-brew tea, and orange juice.

After passing the beverage station, you reach the main buffet area which has two sections for cold and hot options. On the cold side you’ll find various fruit options as well as yogurt and granola cups. Here you’ll also find bagels and accompanying spreads.

Hot options included some whole grain blueberry pancakes, breakfast potatoes and sausage, croissants (which were pretty good), scrambled eggs and egg white spinach frittatas.

Both floor’s bars are fully stocked for standard drinks and specialty cocktails though we did not partake during our early morning visit.

Aside from the 1850 speakeasy bar noted above, the lounge recently opened a full-service coffee bar called “Blue Roast by American Express” as of early 2025, which replaces the previous wellness-focused Equinox Body Lab. Unfortunately this coffee shop area was not yet open during our 2024 visit.

Amenities
Wifi was available through-out the lounge and plenty fast for video streaming, web surfing, emails, etc.

The upper floor also has two shower suites that may be reserved first-come first-served with the front desk. We did not visit these showers during our visit.

The lounge also has one large fully-enclosed conference room on the upper floor that can accommodate up to 8 guests. There is also an advertised family room that provides a quieter area for families with small children. These spaces are also first-come first-served.

Lounge Access
At the time of this post, the JFK Terminal 4 Centurion Lounge can be accessed by:
– Holders of an American Express Centurion or Platinum credit card (or their business variant) with a same-day boarding pass on any airline departing JFK and a physical government-issued ID.
– Holders of an American Express Delta SkyMiles Reserve credit card (or their business variant) with a same-day Delta boarding pass and physical government-issued ID.

Guest access varies depending on which primary card was used above:
– Centurion card holders may bring in up to two complimentary guests at any Centurion lounge
– Platinum and Delta SkyMiles Reserve card holders are allowed two complimentary guests only after spending $75,000 or more within the calendar year on their pertinent card, after which complimentary guest privileges last through the end of that calendar year plus 13 months.
– Otherwise, Platinum and SkyMiles Reserve guests are generally $50 each (or $30 each for under age 18) up to two guests.
– All guests must also have relevant same-day boarding passes (any airline for Centurion/Platinum guests; Delta-specific for SkyMiles Reserve guests)

At the time of this post, access is generally limited to 3 hours prior to your scheduled boarding time if originating from the lounge’s location (i.e. you are starting at JFK). You may, however, access the lounge at any point if you have a layover between flights (i.e. you have a layover at JFK). Additionally, you generally cannot access the lounge on arrival (i.e. JFK is your final destination).

Note that these are broad generalizations about Centurion Lounge access. There exist several exceptions to the rules at various lounges in the network. Please consult the official American Express Centurion Lounge website for further details regarding specific lounges here.

Thoughts
Probably one of the better lounges at JFK Terminal 4, but I imagine it can get busy really quickly during peak hours. It offers some okay breakfast options and several great bar and coffee options. As we were flying early Sunday morning, I cannot personally speak to other times of the day yet.

Given the presence of other lounges at Terminal 4 (i.e. Chase Sapphire lounge, Capital One Lounge, multiple airline-specific lounges, etc.), if you have lounge access elsewhere, I wouldn’t necessarily go out of your way for this lounge specifically. However, if a visit is convenient during your travels, it definitely beats roughing it out in the terminal.

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