The American Express Centurion Lounge at JFK Terminal 4: 2026 Operating-Profile Analysis

The bottom line: American Express opened the Centurion Lounge at JFK Terminal 4 on October 9, 2020. At over 15,000 square feet, the lounge is the largest Centurion Lounge in the network and the first Centurion Lounge with two guest floors. Principal features include the '1850' speakeasy bar (named for AmEx's founding year, with cocktails by Jim Meehan), the Equinox Body Lab wellness experience, a bespoke menu by Executive Chef Ignacio Mattos, New York local wines by Anthony Giglio, and Irving Farm New York coffee. The lounge operates a family room and private work rooms.

American Express opened the Centurion Lounge at JFK Terminal 4 on October 9, 2020 as the largest Centurion Lounge in the AmEx network at over 15,000 square feet and the first Centurion Lounge with two guest floors. The lounge introduced the ‘1850’ speakeasy bar — named for AmEx’s founding year — and the Equinox Body Lab wellness experience as new amenity formats within the broader Centurion Lounge programme.

This piece is a 2026 operating-profile analysis of the JFK Centurion Lounge — the October 2020 opening context, the distinctive amenity formats, the food and beverage programme, and the position in the broader JFK lounge and AmEx Centurion Lounge network sets.

The October 9, 2020 Opening

American Express opened the JFK Terminal 4 Centurion Lounge on October 9, 2020 — during the broader COVID-19 disruption of the international travel market. The opening date positioned the lounge as the flagship Centurion Lounge in the network at the time of opening, with the new amenity formats (the ‘1850’ speakeasy bar, the Equinox Body Lab) introduced as part of the JFK build.

The lounge was conceived as a flagship Centurion Lounge installation in one of the principal US gateway airports. The 15,000-plus-square-foot footprint and the two-floor configuration distinguished the JFK build from prior Centurion Lounge installations that had operated at materially smaller scale and on single-floor footprints.

The Two-Floor Configuration

The JFK Centurion Lounge is the first Centurion Lounge in the network configured across two guest floors. The two-floor structure provides operational separation between different programming zones:

• Different seating environments calibrated to specific use cases
• Distinct dining and beverage programming on each floor
• Functional separation between social/communal zones and work/private zones

The two-floor configuration is one of the structural differentiators from peer single-floor Centurion Lounge installations. The vertical separation supports a more diverse amenity programme than a single-floor footprint typically accommodates.

The ‘1850’ Speakeasy Bar

The ‘1850’ is AmEx’s first-ever Centurion Lounge speakeasy bar, named after the year American Express was founded. The bar is positioned behind a copper-paneled concealed entrance and operates with Prohibition-era design programming throughout the venue.

The cocktail programming was developed by Centurion Lounge mixologist Jim Meehan. The menu includes sophisticated versions of classic cocktails:

• The espresso martini
• The boulevardier
• The broader Prohibition-era cocktail register

The ‘1850’ bar operates as one of the principal social-trade anchors of the lounge and provides a distinct programming environment from the principal lounge floor. The speakeasy format is unusual within the broader US airport lounge programme and is one of the principal commercial differentiators of the JFK build from peer Centurion Lounges and from other JFK lounge options.

The Equinox Body Lab

The Equinox Body Lab is a wellness experience integrated into the lounge in partnership with the Equinox fitness brand. The Body Lab provides pre-flight wellness programming as an amenity for Centurion Lounge guests. The Equinox brand partnership is one of the more distinctive amenity formats in the broader Centurion Lounge network and reflects the AmEx Platinum cardholder demographic that the Centurion Lounge programme primarily serves.

The wellness experience is calibrated to the pre-flight rest-and-recovery use case common to international long-haul departures and connects with the broader Centurion Lounge wellness programming direction.

The Ignacio Mattos Menu

The principal dining programme at the JFK Centurion Lounge operates around a bespoke menu developed by Executive Chef Ignacio Mattos. Mattos is the New York chef whose other principal projects include the Estela restaurant.

The menu is calibrated to the JFK location and integrates with the broader New York-themed culinary direction of the lounge. The Mattos partnership positions the JFK Centurion Lounge at a different culinary register from peer Centurion Lounges that operate with the network-standard menu programming.

Additional food and beverage programming includes:

• Blue Roast by American Express coffee bar: AmEx’s branded coffee programming integrated as a lounge venue
• Local New York wines: Curated by Centurion Lounge wine director Anthony Giglio
• Irving Farm New York coffee: The principal coffee partnership for the JFK location

Centurion Lounge in the 2026 JFK Lounge Set

In 2026, the JFK Centurion Lounge operates within the broader JFK lounge set across multiple categories of access and programme:

• Delta One Lounge at Terminal 4: Over 39,000 sqft, June 25, 2024 opening. Premium-cabin only access.
• AmEx Centurion Lounge at Terminal 4: Over 15,000 sqft, October 9, 2020 opening. Access via Platinum Card and Centurion-tier card programming.
• Greenwich Lounge (former AA Flagship Lounge) at Terminal 8: Premium-cabin and oneworld Emerald access.
• Capital One Landing at Terminal 4: Capital One Venture X premium-cardholder access.
• Various Sky Club, Admirals Club, and other credit-card-access lounges across the JFK terminal cluster.

For AmEx Platinum cardholders departing JFK on any carrier, the Centurion Lounge is the principal credit-card-access lounge option. The Terminal 4 siting provides access for Delta-departing cardholders particularly; cardholders departing from Terminal 8 (AA / Greenwich Lounge eligible) or other terminals would face longer terminal-transit times to access the Centurion facility.

Sources

Public reporting tracked for this analysis includes the Centurion Lounge JFK official page, Upgraded Points, JFK Terminal 4 announcement, and CNBC Select.