American Express to open its first Centurion Lounge in Europe – at Heathrow Terminal 3

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• Benylin says:

  6 Dec6 December 11:26

  Just used the Centurion lounge in HK. Looks new and modern, but not much comfortable seating if you had to slum here for a few hours. Good food selection and a large bar.

  • Crafty says:

    6 Dec6 December 13:34

    Can arrivals use it, or only departures?

    • mark2 says:

      6 Dec6 December 13:53

      Surely it will be airside?

      • Benylin says:

        6 Dec6 December 14:13

        Airside

• Liz says:

  6 Dec6 December 12:40

  We visited the Amex lounge in Sydney in June – very small, not much food, rude staff! Stay in the Qantas Lounge instead!

  • Lady London says:

    7 Dec7 December 19:04

    apparently that’s the feedback on other Amex lounges in Oz

• Scottydogg says:

  6 Dec6 December 12:52

  OT
  When you bring a guest into a lounge using Lounge club card , is it still £15 or did it go up to £20 ?
  I remember reading that Priority Pass had put it up to £20 but can’t find anything about Lounge Club ?

• Kevin C says:

  6 Dec6 December 13:42

  I was in Club Aspire T3 a couple of weeks ago for breakfast. I wouldn’t class it ‘excellent’. I’d say it is ‘just about okay’.

• Don says:

  6 Dec6 December 13:56

  I was chatting to Amex today, and one of the agents had cause to copy a line from a previous conversation, the operator was called Daniel as I recall… but the copy paste shows a three named Indian name Jagdish Singh Bhati (not his real name but along the lines).

  I’m really surprised Amex are using fake names in chat! Is that common practice?

  • Anna says:

    6 Dec6 December 14:09

    Every single one I’ve ever spoken with has an Anglicised name which I presume to be a pseudonym. I can’t decide whether they think we can’t cope with Asian names or that Amex want us to think we are speaking to someone in the UK as it’s well known that overseas call centres get a bad reputation (though I have found Amex chat agents to rarely be anything other than charming and helpful, BA could do with hiring a few of them).

    • Don says:

      6 Dec6 December 14:20

      Who remembers bmi Dennis??? “I know what I’m talking about Sir” and then would proceed to never charge your credit card and/or never take the miles. “YO MAN PAX”.

      I just didn’t expect Amex to do it. Considering we have millions of immigrant names in the UK, does Amex expect an Indian named employee to call him or herself Daniel & Phyllis

  • Source says:

    6 Dec6 December 18:58

    Yes, they are India based but the ‘English’ names are to suggest they are Brighton based.

    BT do the same.

    Its really obvious.

    • Shoestring says:

      6 Dec6 December 19:14

      Don’t assume so much when you don’t know the culture. For example, In Hong Kong, all the HK Chinese have their Chinese names but they also adopt a European (used to be British) sounding first name as well, for work purposes.

      It’s just pragmatic – they know that if they get a job working in English language, foreigners won’t be able to pronounce the Cantonese name. So they also get called adopted typical names such as Agnes, James, Charlie etc.

      • RussellH says:

        6 Dec6 December 21:10

        This happens much closer to home!

        Barra usually gets mentioned here just for the plane landings on the Traigh Mhor (means big beach), but when I was working there (many years ago now) all the people with Gaelic as their first language had both Gaelic and English first names. What was a little odd was that while most of the time the English name was a translation of the Gaelic name, this was not always the case. There did seem to be a thing against lowland Scots names. Thus Seumas called himself James, not Hamish; and Mórag called herself Marion, not Morag.

        I have had the same experience as Shoestring, when meeting Chinese travels professionals. I recall one woman whose pinyin name was Li Zhu; she introduced herself as Julie.

    • C77 says:

      6 Dec6 December 19:22

      I used to work for Amex and phone names then were common place. The reason being you couldn’t have 2 people answering to the same name in the same department. Cue far out names like Delilah, Tallulah, Roxy and Trent. Those are ones I remember vividly. There were many others.

      • Shoestring says:

        6 Dec6 December 19:31

        Interesting insight, there, Tallulah.

        🙂

      • Lady London says:

        7 Dec7 December 18:35

        Roxy sounds like fun.

    • Lady London says:

      7 Dec7 December 14:28

      Everyone does. Amazon, every other chat seems to provide Anglicized names. Sometimes the operator doesn’t actually write any English that looks like English. It’s painfully obvious and I really wish they would use real names. We already know when we’re dealing with an overseas outsourced call centre. It’;s usually painfully obvious by the poor service this often gives (not always, but very often). Just be honest about it folks and don;t deny your people’s identity by making them use “fake” names.

  • Froggitt says:

    6 Dec6 December 19:15

    I once chatted with David Bekkam.

  • Crafty says:

    7 Dec7 December 15:05

    All customer service businesses do this.

• Lewis says:

  6 Dec6 December 14:11

  Are you sure it’s only platinum and centurion card holders. In us any amex card holder can get in for $50. Or at least used to

  • Rob says:

    6 Dec6 December 16:00

    Who is going to pay $50 when Aspire / No 1 is far cheaper?

    • Lewis says:

      6 Dec6 December 17:09

      Fair point although with the difference in quality I’d consider paying. Although last time I was in a lounge in T3 it was the old servisair lounge. I’d happily pay based on that experience

      • Rob says:

        6 Dec6 December 17:59

        That is long gone and replaced by Club Aspire. I agree it was the worst lounge in Heathrow by a long way.

      • Shoestring says:

        6 Dec6 December 19:51

        They had very nicely chilled Guinness in cans, ISTR

        Toilets were awful, not stinky or anything, freshly cleaned – but brown old 70s tiles with manky grout & falling apart. Bit like my student digs lol

      • Lady London says:

        7 Dec7 December 14:32

        Hum. I thought the old Terminal 1 lounge (not the BMI one) was pretty bad too.

    • Lady London says:

      7 Dec7 December 14:31

      Me. I’ll pay it, If it’s a US Centurion lounge.

• Sundar says:

  6 Dec6 December 20:45

  OT, Any suggestions for Milan Hotel near City centre preferably. Have Hilton, IHG status and points and Marriott, Club Carlson points.

  Next stop would be Emir if there are great options there….Please advise folks.

  • Rob says:

    6 Dec6 December 21:24

    We stayed (but didn’t review) at Excelsior Hotel Gallia next to Central Station which has been exceptionally well refurbished very recently. 15 minute walk down to Duomo from Central Station. Hilton is almost next door but was a dump years ago when I stayed.

    • Sundar says:

      6 Dec6 December 21:35

      Thanks Rob. I was looking at Hilton but would leave it out now. Excelsior sounds good, also looking at Westin Palace, which is thereabouts….

      • Rob says:

        6 Dec6 December 22:46

        Yes, about 90 seconds away as you head in.

      • Lady London says:

        7 Dec7 December 14:38

        Westin Palance did not use to get good reviews. Principe de Savoia is practically opposite and was much favoured by a number of people I worked with. I dont have up to date feedback on Principe de S but would defo choose something other than the Westin Palace.

        I stay outside Milan mostly now and very driven by hotel programs and the odd luxury venue so my knowledge is not totally up to date.

  • Lady London says:

    7 Dec7 December 14:36

    There’s a nice boutique one in Via Spadari but I can’t remember it’s name. It’s right next to the best food shop in Milan! I stayed at the Michelangelo a few years back and it was OK. Principe de Savoia used to be much liked by those who were less price sensitive, but I don’t have recent info on if it’s still that good.

    It depends which hotel program you want to earn in… but I’ve found that other than the Park Hyatt Milan, which is perfectly located for shopping and truly superb (according to those I know who did make stays there) price should never be taken as a guide to quality in Milan.

  • Chuck says:

    7 Dec7 December 15:00

    Star hotels Rosa Grand … ok no good if you want to use points but a great location and really smart rooms … stayed there last Feb 18

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