Amex Reopens Australian Airport Lounges

Matt Graham
American Express Lounge
American Express has reopened its Sydney and Melbourne international airport lounges. Photo: Amex.

American Express has reopened its airport lounges in the international terminals of Sydney and Melbourne Airport. This is good news for eligible Amex cardholders who can now use their complimentary visits again.

Even if you already have frequent flyer status or an airline lounge membership, this can be a valuable benefit. Lounge access is available in Sydney and Melbourne regardless of the airline you’re flying or your class of travel. So it’s a good fall-back option if you happen to be flying a different airline or your own airline’s lounge is closed.

If you held an eligible American Express credit card in 2021, and were unable to use your complimentary lounge visits due to the Sydney and Melbourne lounges being closed last year, you can now use these until 30 June 2022. Amex has automatically carried over unused lounge visits from 2021.

American Express Lounges in Australia

At Sydney Airport, the Amex Lounge was previously located next to the SkyTeam Lounge near Gate 24. During the COVID-19 shutdown, the Amex Lounge has moved to a larger location close to the Emirates Lounge, near Gates 50-63 in the “Star Alliance pier” of Terminal 1.

The Amex Lounge at Melbourne Airport opened in March 2018 and is located on the lower level of Terminal 2.

Who can use the Amex Lounge?

Many Australian Amex credit cards come with two annual complimentary lounge passes. Up to two children under 18 are also allowed when accompanied by an adult using a complimentary pass. These passes come with the following Australian credit cards:

  • Amex Explorer
  • David Jones Amex Platinum
  • Qantas Amex Ultimate
  • Amex Velocity Platinum
  • Amex Elevate Premium
  • Amex Platinum Reserve
  • Amex Qantas Corporate Platinum
  • Amex Business Explorer

Additional visits and extra guests are possible for a fee of approximately $55 per person.

Amex Platinum Charge, Amex Business Platinum, Amex Corporate Platinum and Amex Centurion cardholders are entitled to unlimited year-round use of Amex lounges worldwide, including up to two complimentary guests and up to two children. These cards also come with unlimited access to Priority Pass lounges, as well as Virgin Australia and Delta airport lounges when flying with those airlines.

You can leave a comment or discuss this topic on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum.

Matt Graham
The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 90 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include aviation, economics & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.
Matt Graham
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A Amanad78 Apr 05, 2022 #1

How does the Melbourne Amex lounge compare to the Qantas Business lounge? (International)?

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jamdav93 Apr 06, 2022 #2

How does the Melbourne Amex lounge compare to the Qantas Business lounge? (International)?

Both are very underwhelming. Both don't have any natural light, the QF Business Lounge is larger, possibly better food options, although I haven't been to the AMEX lounge since re-opening and re-branding as Centurion, so the food might be a bit better now.

If I was flying QF and had lounge access, I wouldn't use the AMEX lounge. But if I was flying on a carrier with no lounge access, I'd probably use the AMEX lounge.

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A Amanad78 Apr 06, 2022 #3

Both are very underwhelming. Both don't have any natural light, the QF Business Lounge is larger, possibly better food options, although I haven't been to the AMEX lounge since re-opening and re-branding as Centurion, so the food might be a bit better now.

If I was flying QF and had lounge access, I wouldn't use the AMEX lounge. But if I was flying on a carrier with no lounge access, I'd probably use the AMEX lounge.

Thanks for your advice 🙂

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justinbrett Apr 12, 2022 #4

How does the Melbourne Amex lounge compare to the Qantas Business lounge? (International)?

You don't need to choose.

The MEL QFi J lounge is the worst in the fleet. Hands down.

AMEX isn't great either.

Fly out of SYD.

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b burmans Apr 12, 2022 #5

SYD Amex lounge nothing to write home about!

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N Notyourbag Apr 14, 2022 #6

Sydney Amex lounge was very underwhelming. Mushy scrambled eggs, cold Weiner sausages, baked beans and mushrooms as far as hot food goes. They also kept running out of forks which was annoying.

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b bam71 Apr 14, 2022 #7

I’ve had the opposite experience, QF J lounge warm champagne, soggy food etc, Amex lounge chilled champagne and regular food turnaround. Guess it depends on the day?

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2 2for1 Apr 26, 2022 #8

Firstly, apologies if this sounds like a silly question.

I'll be visiting the Amex lounge in Sydney next month, and I'll be entering using my 2 complimentary entries that come with my Amex card. Can anyone who has gained access this way please tell me how the lounge staff go about in checking how many free entries you have left on your card? Do they just charge the card for me to get a reimbursement from Amex later on?

Also, I have 2 unused entries from last year that were due to expire at the end of last year that have been automatically extended until 30 June 2022. I'm guessing that I've already received another 2 entries at the beginning of this year, considering Amex says 2 entries allocated every calendar year. Can someone please confirm if that means that I now have a total of 4 entries that I can use until the end of 30 June 2022?

I've tried asking this question to Amex CS agents and they have no clue, which I find absurd. I've tried calling the lounge but I can't get through to anyone.

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Doctore1003 Apr 27, 2022 #9

Firstly, apologies if this sounds like a silly question.

I'll be visiting the Amex lounge in Sydney next month, and I'll be entering using my 2 complimentary entries that come with my Amex card. Can anyone who has gained access this way please tell me how the lounge staff go about in checking how many free entries you have left on your card? Do they just charge the card for me to get a reimbursement from Amex later on?

Also, I have 2 unused entries from last year that were due to expire at the end of last year that have been automatically extended until 30 June 2022. I'm guessing that I've already received another 2 entries at the beginning of this year, considering Amex says 2 entries allocated every calendar year. Can someone please confirm if that means that I now have a total of 4 entries that I can use until the end of 30 June 2022?

I've tried asking this question to Amex CS agents and they have no clue, which I find absurd. I've tried calling the lounge but I can't get through to anyone.

The staff will swipe your card at entry. They don't put a charge on it. I assume their system just checks if you have valid entries to use.

Yes you should have 4 entries.

A reminder that kids under 17 get in for free.

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Astroboi82 Jul 04, 2022 #10

I was actually wondering about that too since I will be flying internationally in a couple of weeks out of MEL. I always use the QF lounge but was wondering if AMEX is a better choice ?

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