Finally made it to the Vivid lounge tonight. Despite the ridiculous crowds on the street, the lounge wasn't too busy with only 6-8 people in the general queue and 120-150 in the venue, which felt about 40% capacity. We managed to get a spot along the handrail facing the Opera House within a few minutes.
The drink voucher was only for cardholders so my guest had to pull out her supp. They seemed straightforward:
$20 is a fair limit I thought, and figured we could pay the remainder for a couple of coughtails ($24) or a glass of champagne ($28)... but apparently not.
The vouchers could
only be put towards a drink under $20, which was an odd threshold because those were all beer, wine and spirits around the $12-15 mark - in fact I don't think there was a single option above $16 but below $20.
Maybe I'm reading into it too much, but it struck me as odd that Amex was giving drink vouchers to Platinum & Centurion cardholders but limiting their use to the cheap menu items? Isn't all the marketing for these cards about living a high-flying lifestyle?
The Centurion card holder in front of me in the queue (with an old Marco Polo Diamond card attached to his backpack - maybe an AFF member??) got an escort to the Centurion part of the lounge, another bar one floor up which seemed to have maybe 15-20 guests.
It was a good reprieve from the crowds (below) and had some good views, I'd probably go again next year if it comes back.
