In an eyebrow-raising new partnership joining together an airline and a credit card company, Lufthansa is working with American Express to provide lounge access for Platinum and Centurion cardholders flying on the Lufthansa Group’s hub airlines from (or through) Frankfurt and Munich. Unusually for this kind of deal, there’s no co-branded credit card required, just the Amex-issued plastic.
It’s a smart move for both companies: Lufthansa gets to attract valuable, high-spending American Express premium cardholders, especially those without existing Lufthansa status. American Express gets to expand its lounge partnership footprint in Europe without requiring the capital expenditure it has paid out in the Americas and Asia-Pacific, and without needing to involve its Priority Pass network.
Platinum cardholders, essentially, get to bump themselves up to the Business Lounge when travelling in economy, and the Senator Lounge when flying in business class.
Amex Centurion members, meanwhile, get to swan into the First Class lounges in either Munich or Frankfurt. (They can also visit the Business and Senator lounges, but it’s hard to see why they’d bother doing so unless travelling with family, friends or coworkers without the same level of lounge access.)
