Amex Centurion Lounge SFO Moving Temporarily, To Terminal 2

It looks like the American Express Centurion Lounge at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) will be moving in the coming months, but only temporarily.

Plans for an Amex Centurion Lounge SFO Terminal 2

Reader David shared a couple of pictures that he snapped at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) in recent days. Specifically, this is from Terminal 2, in the D Gates. Upon entering the concourse, there’s a currently unoccupied lounge space, in what’s the former Alaska Lounge (and before that, American Admirals Club).

On the exterior, there’s a public notice of application to sell alcoholic beverages, which was posted on March 10, 2025. The applicant is “Compass Group USA Inc,” and next to it, it says “American Express Travel Related Services Company.” It’s also noted that this is for a “premises to premises transfer.”

Compass Group USA Inc is a food service and support company, which partners with all kinds of airport lounge operators, ranging from American Express, to Capital One, to United.

Pulling up the application with the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, it’s clear that this is a transfer of the existing Amex Centurion Lounge (thanks to the readers who spotted this!). So, what’s going on here? SFO Terminal 3 is currently undergoing a modernization, and that’s going to require the existing Amex Centurion Lounge space to close for some amount of time.

So the plan is seemingly for the Centurion Lounge to be temporarily relocated, since all terminals at the airport are connected airside. It’s not clear exactly when the move will happen and how long it will last, though it appears that this is only a temporary relocation, so it’s not like Amex is permanently keeping two Centurion Lounges open at the airport. Suffice it to say that this temporary one will be much smaller than the original one.

Why hasn’t this become a permanent lounge?

It’s good that Amex has a place to set up a temporary Centurion Lounge, given the modernization work going on. That being said, does anyone know why this lounge hasn’t gotten some sort of a permanent contract to be utilized, since American and then Alaska moved out? You’d think that there would be the demand from all kinds of operators, including Capital One and Chase not having a lounge here.

I have to imagine there’s a reason, given that so many lounge operators just can’t get their hands on enough lounge space. Yet for some reason, this space has remained empty.

Bottom line

The former American Admirals Club and Alaska Lounge in the D Gates of Terminal 2 is expected to become a temporary Amex Centurion Lounge, based on filings with the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

It would appear that what’s going on here is that Terminal 3 is undergoing a modernization, and in the coming months, the Amex Centurion Lounge will need to relocate for some amount of time. So the plan is to move the space to Terminal 2, but only temporarily. Hopefully this lounge space has a long term future beyond that.

What do you make of the Amex Centurion Lounge SFO relocating temporarily?