American Express has a cardmember lounge at Wimbledon – what’s inside?

American Express has teamed up with Wimbledon again to offer a variety of amenities during the 2022 tournament, which started yesterday.

This includes a members lounge. You can see the details on the Wimbledon website here.

I need to thank reader Alex for the photographs in this article which he took for us yesterday. Shame about the weather …..

Visit the American Express Wimbledon Cardmember Lounge

The biggest benefit is the members lounge, located in the Southern Village by Court 3.

Any American Express cardholder can enter the lounge, irrespective of the country where their card was issued.

Each cardholder can take up to two guests into the lounge.

Even though Amex has, perhaps deliberately, kept publicity about the lounge low key this year, there were still modest queues to enter yesterday:

Note that the lounge does not have any toilets. You have to leave the lounge and rejoin the queue to get back in, which is clearly not ideal.

You get a great view over the outside courts (rain permitting):

Here are a couple of interior shots:

and

Whilst the lounge has a bar and serves snacks, these are not free. You can pick up some free Amex goodies – a radio to listen to match commentary, water spray and branded fans.

An exclusive £20 cashback offer

There’s also a special cashback offer for purchases on site.  If you spend £120 or more in the grounds during the tournament on your card you’ll get £20 back.  You can only get the cashback once per card.

Annoyingly, you must register for this offer on site at either the Amex lounge or one of the Amex stands arounds the grounds.  You CANNOT register online.

Historically this offer has also been available to holders of non-UK American Express cards.

Conclusion

Amex spends a lot of money on its Wimbledon lounge but it never fully delivers, in my view. I can only imagine that the lack of publicity this year is an attempt to reduce queueing.

It’s a shame that food and drink is not free, but then it would only encourage more people to visit and to stay longer so it may end up being self defeating. I would have been tempted to offer fast track entry to Platinum cardholders, or at least a free drink voucher.

That said, if it is crowded in the grounds – which it usually is – then this is a decent spot to get out of the sun / rain and watch the play on the outside courts from the balcony.

---

Want to earn more points from credit cards? – April 2024 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit card, here are our top recommendations based on the current sign-up bonuses.

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the best of the other deals currently available.

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers:

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback on your spending.