The Centurion Lounge São Paulo is located in Guarulhos Terminal 3. This is the main international terminal at the airport. As a supposedly more exclusive option than lounges accessible through Priority Pass or DragonPass, I was curious to see what the experience would be like.

Centurion Lounge São Paulo Access

The last time I visited the Centurion Lounge São Paulo, it was also open to Priority Pass cardholders. This has now changed and you’ll need an Amex Platinum Card, Business Platinum Card, or Centurion Card to gain entry. The lounge is open 24 hours per day, although it’s only accessible three hours before your scheduled departure time. This appears to be strictly enforced. I heard one passenger being denied entry because their flight was five hours away – not so great if you’re connecting.

The lounge is easy to find once you’ve cleared security and is well signposted. It’s located on the mezzanine level, close to the LATAM, American Airlines and Banco Safra lounges. It’s worth noting that although this lounge is located in Terminal 3, you can use it if you’re departing from an international flight from Terminal 2. This is what I did, as I was travelling with Aeromexico from Terminal 2, and the SkyTeam lounge they invited me to use was very poor. Instead, I decided to walk to the Centurion lounge. This takes just under ten minutes each way.

Centurion Lounge São Paulo Space & Interior

The lounge has been cleverly designed. Despite the fact it doesn’t have windows looking out onto the airport, it’s very light. There are a few different spaces. Upon entering, you’ll see some private work booths. While I didn’t use these, I like the concept. Listening to loud phone calls can be annoying, so it’s nice Amex has thought to create an insulated space for people to do this.

You’ll then reach the main lounge area with plenty of comfortable seating.

In addition, there is a ‘Beach Area’. This space was slightly odd, and I’m not quite sure what the goal of it is. Presumably, it’s designed as somewhere you can go to relax, but it wouldn’t work for sleeping because the space is very bright. The seats also weren’t particularly comfortable – there are sun loungers, but again, I’m not entirely sure I’d want to use these in an internal space. I didn’t see anyone use this area, but perhaps it’s more utilised when the lounge is busier.

There are also shower rooms, which are free to use. These were clean and well-equipped.

The lounge features a separate space only available to Centurion card holders. Since I don’t have this card, I wasn’t able to check it out. Funnily enough, when this lounge used to accept Priority Pass, this was a ‘First Class’ area, and I was able to use it as a Platinum card holder. From what I remember, it wasn’t that different to the main space.

Overall, I liked the overall design of the lounge. There’s plenty of comfortable seating, and the style works well. In terms of design and interior, I’d rate the lounge at the same level as the LATAM and American Airlines lounges, even if it is a little smaller than both of these.

Food and Drinks at the Centurion Lounge São Paulo

Unlike the Centurion lounge in Mexico City Terminal 2, all of the food and drinks at the Centurion lounge in São Paulo are self-service. In general, I prefer this. Especially because it means you can grab something to eat and drink if you’re short on time, which is much more difficult to do if it’s table service only.

There is a large bar with a fairly decent range of options. Wines, beers, soft drinks, and coffee are self-service.

If you want spirits or cocktails, you can request these from a staff member instead. The wines have improved considerably since my last visit to this lounge, and there was a fairly decent malbec available.

In total, there were four different red wines to choose from, one white wine and a sparkling wine.

The buffet contains quite a few different options, but the quality wasn’t anything special. This said if you’re looking for a light snack before boarding your flight, you should be able to find something.

Interestingly, the selection of food and drinks was identical to the Banco Safra lounge, just across the corridor. In this respect, there really isn’t much difference at all between the two lounges, despite the fact the Amex Centurion lounge São Paulo has a much stricter set of entry requirements.

Conclusions

Overall, I liked the Centurion lounge São Paulo. It’s a nicely designed space and was a pleasant place to wait for my flight. During this visit, the lounge was fairly quiet and felt relaxed.

The drinks selection was good, although the food could have been slightly better. This said, it’s more than acceptable if you’re wanting something light before your flight. The concept is very different to the Amex Centurion lounge in Mexico City Terminal 2. This has advantages as well as disadvantages.

The overall quality of the food and drink is lower, but since everything is self-service, it’s fine to come here even if you only have a short amount of time. It also feels much more like a traditional lounge, as opposed to the more restaurant-like feel of the Centurion in Mexico City.

Overall, however, I wouldn’t rate this lounge any higher than some of the other Priority Pass options in São Paulo, and I’m not sure it’s any more premium. With identical food and drink options, the Banco Safra lounge is just a few steps away and largely offers the same experience level.