I’m flying home from from Philadelphia today and I have more an hour to kill so I decided to check out the PHL Centurion Lounge. I’ve visited quite a few Amex Centurion Lounges and I mostly enjoy them. PHL was no different, the Centurion Lounge was a nice place to relax before flying home.
While very pleasant, I’m not sure I’d make a large trek to visit the PHL Centurion. The lounge is located at in the A Concourse/Terminal and that can be somewhat inconvenient for many departures or connections. With a long enough layover, it’s certainly worth it though.
Bottom Line: The Amex Centurion Lounge at PHL is a decent sized space that contains a bar, buffet, seating, bathrooms, and even showers. Like many lounges these days, the PHL Centurion is a little busy, but wasn’t overly crowded. I was able to get a nice seat at a bar top without waiting around. I enjoyed my visit and got a nice light meal, a drink, then took the Terminal F Shuttle to my AA flight home.
PHL American Express Centurion Lounge Review
PHL Centurion Lounge Location
Head towards the A Concourse. The PHL Airport Centurion is located across the hall and near Gate A14. The A Concourse here at PHL mostly serves international flights, so if you’re using the Centurion for one of those departures you won’t have a far walk to the gate.
If you’re leaving from one of the other terminals, it can be a bit of a walk. The terminals are all connected airside so you don’t have to worry about security again, but there is some walking involved. Unlike Centurions at other locations, the one here at PHL is easy to find and well marked.
PHL Centurion Lounge Access
Into the lounge you need an Amex that provides access, a boarding pass, and your ID. I have all three and walked right in, no wait today.
PHL Centurion Lounge Space
The PHL Centurion Lounge is mostly one large room. In that space there is the buffet at one side, tables in the middle, high top bars along the edges, then the bar is at the opposite side.
Looking the other direction across the room. The lounge is busy, but not over crowded. I didn’t see people waiting around for a table to open up.
Along the walls were more comfortable chairs as opposed to the bistro style tables that are closer to the bar and buffet.
PHL Centurion Lounge Bar and Drinks
The Centurion Bar at PHL was well stocked including some local beers that are all included. There’s an area to order and take back to your seat, or you can sit at the bar if there’s space.
Along the outside wall of the Centurion is a self service drink station for soft drinks. There’s tea, coffee, water, etc.
PHL Centurion Lounge Buffet
There’s one thing that Centurion Lounges do better than most, it’s the buffet. It’s well stocked with real food, not just little snacks. You can make a full meal out of the offering at the Centurion. Here is the salad options here at PHL.
Then for hot options there was rice, salmon, soup, and brussel sprouts. Like I sad, this is a full meal.
For desert there are cookies, fruit, and custard. I love a good chocolate chip cookie.
I found a seat at the bar top overlooking the terminal. I had a nice local IPA and then the salmon, rice, and a salad. There’s no view of airplanes from the PHL Centurion Lounge, so that’s a bummer, but not surprising given the location.
PHL Centurion Lounge Bathrooms
If you keep walking down past the bar, the bathrooms are in the rear of the Centurion. I usually don’t take photos in bathrooms, but there was no one else in here so I grabbed one.
I did think it was a little silly that the urinal is in it’s own little room. Why bother?
Near the bathroom is a shower room. You can request access at the front desk.
PHL Centurion Lounge Final Thoughts
The PHL Centurion Lounge is a great little space to relax away from the rest of the airport. This isn’t a huge lounge, but when I visited it wasn’t crowded and I was able to find a nice spot to sit. The location is easy to find, but might not be the most convenient if you’re departing from the C, D, E, or F Terminals.
Unfortunately there is no view of the airplanes at gates, the only view is one of the pickup and drop off area out front and then inside of the A Concourse.
The food selection at the Centurion Buffet is really good. Centurion Lounges are one of the few airport lounges that I can always count on getting a meal from.
I’m flying today from the F Terminal on American Airline’s CRJ900 First Class (Review Here), I left myself a few extra minutes to take to the F Terminal Shuttle(Review).