If you're planning a trip through Frankfurt or Munich on Amex Platinum, take note - the Lufthansa lounge access disappears tomorrow. But before you worry, the card still unlocks more lounges than almost anything else in a UK wallet - and there's a new Centurion Lounge in Amsterdam to prove it.

Before we get into it, here's a quick question tied to today's hero story - vote below and see how you stack up against other readers:

The Lufthansa lounge access on Amex Platinum ends tomorrow, 1st October 2026. If you're relying on that for a trip through Frankfurt or Munich, it's worth knowing now rather than at the gate. But here's the thing - it was arguably one of the smaller benefits on the card, and what remains is still genuinely impressive.

Let's start with Priority Pass. Your Platinum card comes with two Priority Pass cards - one for you and one for your first supplementary cardholder. Each card gets the holder and one guest into any of 1,550 lounges worldwide for free. Do the maths: if your partner is your supplementary cardholder, you can get a family of four into a lounge together. That's two adults plus two children, all in for nothing. Any additional guests beyond that are charged at £24 each, billed automatically to your Platinum card.

That's actually better than anything Priority Pass sells directly. If you go to the Priority Pass website and try to buy a plan that gives both you AND a guest unlimited free entry, you simply can't - it doesn't exist as a retail product. The only way to get it is through Amex Platinum.

Beyond the lounges, there are three UK airport restaurants where you can use your Amex-issued Priority Pass for an £18 credit towards anything on the menu. With a guest, that's £36 of credit between you. The three spots are PizzaExpress at London Gatwick's South Terminal, Juniper & Co at London City Airport, and The Camden Bar & Kitchen at London Stansted. Not glamorous, but free food before a flight is free food.

If you're flying Delta, the card also gets you (but no guests) into Delta SkyClub lounges. Worth knowing if you're transiting the US - even a domestic First Class ticket with Delta doesn't automatically grant lounge access, so the Platinum card can be a genuine save.

The Centurion Lounge network is arguably the headline benefit for frequent travellers. The Heathrow Terminal 3 Centurion Lounge is one of the best airport lounges in the UK - genuinely impressive food, drinks, and spa treatments. And as of earlier this month, a second European Centurion Lounge opened at Amsterdam Schiphol.

Heads up: the guest policy tightened in July 2026. You can now only bring one guest (previously two). But again, if your partner has a supplementary Platinum card, they can also bring one guest - so a family of four is still covered.

Don't overlook the Eurostar lounges either. Amex Platinum gets you into all three Eurostar Business Lounges (London St Pancras, Paris, and Brussels) regardless of your ticket class. That means you could book a cheaper Eurostar Plus ticket, skip paying for Premier, and still access the lounge via your card. The only trade-off is no fast-track security. Lounge access is cardholder-only (no guests unless they have their own supplementary Platinum card), and the benefit doesn't apply to Eurostar journeys that don't start or end in the UK.

Losing the Lufthansa benefit stings a little on paper, but the Amex Platinum lounge package is still unmatched in the UK market. Priority Pass for four, Centurion Lounges, Eurostar Business Lounges, and Delta SkyClub access - all on one card. The £650 annual fee is easier to justify when you realise most families would spend more than that on lounge access alone. Check your eligibility with the Amex welcome bonus eligibility tool before applying - the 50,000 Membership Rewards sign-up bonus (worth 50,000 Avios at 1:1, or roughly £500 at 1p per point) sweetens the deal considerably.

In late 2025, Hilton launched The Honors Society - an invite-only tier sitting above Diamond Reserve. Now, less than a year later, there are reports of yet another tier launching above that: Black Diamond.

The strategy here is puzzling. Hilton appears to be responding to feedback from elites that status has become diluted - but adding a brand new tier within 12 months of the last one doesn't exactly solve that problem. If anything, it just creates another layer of complexity.

For most UK readers, this won't change day-to-day hotel stays. Standard Gold status (which you get automatically with Amex Platinum via the complimentary Hilton Honors benefit) still unlocks free breakfast at many properties and a room upgrade when available. But if you're a true Hilton loyalist pushing towards the very top of the programme, keep an eye on how Black Diamond shapes up - both in terms of what it offers and how to qualify.

Hilton is chasing its most committed elites with yet another tier. Whether that translates to genuinely better benefits - or just a fancier badge - remains to be seen. Watch this space.

If you hold Marriott Titanium or Ambassador Elite status, there's a genuinely interesting new option: Japan Airlines is now crediting Marriott elites with FLY ON Points through a new partnership with Marriott Bonvoy - Titanium gets 30,000 a year, Ambassador gets 40,000. It's not a straight status match, but it gives you a serious head start towards Oneworld elite status.

Here's how the tiers actually work. Titanium's 30,000 FLY ON Points convert to JAL Crystal status, which maps to Oneworld Ruby - useful for priority boarding and baggage, but no lounge access. The prize is Oneworld Sapphire, which unlocks business class lounge access across the alliance - Cathay Pacific, British Airways, Iberia, Qatar Airways and more - and that needs 50,000 FLY ON Points in total. Since your Marriott-earned points count towards the JAL-qualifying portion, Titanium holders only need another 20,000 FLY ON Points through flying - and that flying can be on any Oneworld carrier, not just JAL.

I'm Marriott Titanium myself, so this is genuinely on my radar. Realistically, that means booking a handful of British Airways or Iberia flights over the year to close the gap to Sapphire - not a bad trade if you were flying Oneworld anyway. Ambassador Elite members start closer, with 40,000 of the 50,000 points needed already banked.

If you've built up Marriott Titanium through hotel stays or status matches, this is one of the better cross-programme boosts available right now - just don't expect full lounge-access status without a bit of extra flying. Worth exploring before year-end if you've got upcoming Oneworld travel planned.

This is one of the best buy-points deals of the year and it closes this Sunday, 4th October. Virgin Atlantic is offering a 70% bonus when you buy Flying Club points. To put that in context: buying 30,000 Virgin Points becomes 51,000 points with the bonus applied. Use the Virgin Atlantic Points Calculator to check whether buying makes sense for a specific redemption you have in mind. The sweet spot is Upper Class awards to the US, where Virgin Points regularly deliver 2p+ per point in value - making the effective cost of bought points at a bonus rate look very attractive. Don't hold off until Sunday night; Virgin's buy portal can get slow when deadlines approach.

The answer is 🔵 Two cards, one guest each - so potentially four people into a lounge together.

The Platinum Card comes with two Priority Pass cards - one for the main cardholder and one for the first supplementary cardholder. Each card entitles the holder to bring one guest for free. So if you make your partner your supplementary cardholder, both adults can guest in one child (or another adult) each. That's a family of four accessing 1,550 lounges worldwide at no extra charge. Additional guests beyond that are £24 each.

Airport lounges: do you use them religiously, or only when you've got a long connection? And which lounge has genuinely impressed you recently? Hit reply - I read every response and the best answers might feature in a future issue!

That's your Wednesday sorted - but don't let the weekend sneak up on you. The Virgin Atlantic 70% buy bonus closes this Sunday - that's four days to decide whether topping up your Flying Club balance makes sense for any upcoming redemptions. Run the numbers on the Virgin Atlantic Reward Seat Finder first so you're buying with a specific booking in mind, not just speculating. See you Friday.

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These are the top credit card welcome bonuses we're tracking. Offers change frequently - see all cards.

1. Business Platinum Card: 80,000 points after spending £12,000 in 3 months (£650/yr, waived first year)

2. Platinum Card: 50,000 points after spending £6,000 in 3 months (£650/yr)

3. HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard: Receive 40,000 reward points when you spend £2,000 on your card in the first 90 days (£290/yr)

Looking to redeem your points? Here's what's available right now (via Award Travel Finder):

Hotels:

Status Matches:

• Flying Blue Status Match - Air France / KLM (SkyTeam)

• Flying Blue (New Markets) - Air France / KLM (SkyTeam)

• Flying Blue UK (BA Status Holders) - Air France / KLM (SkyTeam)

Buy Points & Miles Deals:

Browse every award deal we track at AwardTravelFinder.com →

Award Travel Finder hunts down the best redemptions so you don't have to.

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