Lounge Access at JFK, LGA and EWR by Card: The 2026 Terminal Map

New York has three airports, and the card that gets you into a lounge at one of them can be useless at the next. JFK Terminal 4 is the only place in the region where the Amex Platinum, the Sapphire Reserve, and the Venture X all have their own lounge within a few gates of each other. LaGuardia's Terminal B has all three networks too, but Delta lives in a different terminal with a different card. Newark, until the Centurion Lounge opens, is a United airport where the premium travel cards mostly buy you a Priority Pass and a walk.

This is the terminal-by-terminal map for October 2026: which card opens which door, what a guest costs after this year's rule changes, and which card actually fits the airline you fly out of New York.

Quick answer

At JFK, fly Delta and most international carriers out of Terminal 4, where Amex Platinum (Centurion Lounge and Delta Sky Club), Sapphire Reserve (Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club), and Venture X (Capital One Lounge) each have a lounge. At LaGuardia, all three card lounges sit in Terminal B, while Delta's Sky Club is in Terminal C and takes Amex Platinum or Delta Reserve. At Newark, the only card-network lounge open today is the Delta Sky Club in Terminal A; Sapphire Reserve and Venture X get Priority Pass only, and the 17,000-square-foot Centurion Lounge in Terminal A is still under construction.

• JFK T4: Centurion (Amex Platinum), Sapphire Lounge (CSR), Capital One Lounge (Venture X), 2 Delta Sky Clubs, Delta One Lounge, 4 Priority Pass lounges
• LGA Terminal B: Centurion, Sapphire Lounge, Capital One Landing, Admirals Club, United Club; Terminal C: the largest Delta Sky Club in the network
• EWR: Delta Sky Club (Terminal A), United Clubs and Polaris (Terminal C), Priority Pass at Art & Lounge (pre-security, Terminal B); Centurion Lounge slated for 2026, not open yet
• 2026 rule changes that bite: Centurion guests must be on your flight (July 8, 2026); Capital One charges $45 per guest unless you spend $75,000 a year (February 1, 2026); Amex Platinum gets 10 Sky Club visits a year

💡 Pro tip — Check the terminal on your boarding pass, not the airline. JetBlue at JFK T5 has no card lounge at all, American at JFK T8 only opens to Citi AAdvantage cards, and Delta at LGA is in Terminal C, which has no Centurion or Sapphire Lounge. The best card for New York is the one that matches your terminal.

JFK: Terminal 4 is where the cards are

JFK's card lounges cluster in Terminal 4, which Delta anchors alongside a long list of international carriers. Terminals 1, 5, 7, and 8 belong to airlines, and the airport is mid-rebuild: Terminal 1's lounges move into the New Terminal One during 2026, and a new Terminal 6 opens with Aer Lingus, Air India, Cathay Pacific, and the Lufthansa Group. Confirm the terminal the week you fly.

The practical reading: if your card is an Amex Platinum, Sapphire Reserve, or Venture X and you can choose your carrier, pick a Terminal 4 airline. Delta, Virgin Atlantic, Emirates, Singapore, Etihad, and most of SkyTeam depart from there. If you are on JetBlue or American, the card lounges are simply not in your terminal.

LaGuardia: Terminal B for the cards, Terminal C for Delta

LaGuardia's rebuild put the three card-network lounges within one terminal — and put Delta somewhere else. The terminals are not connected airside; a card that opens a door in B does nothing if you are flying Delta from C.

Capital One Landing is the one to know about: it is a sit-down restaurant concept rather than a buffet lounge, and it is the only card lounge in New York that a plain Venture can enter at a discount. The Sapphire Lounge here is also the strongest argument for the Reserve in New York — two free guests on every visit, against $50 a head next door at Centurion.

Newark: a United airport with one open card lounge

Newark is where the premium card lounge networks are thinnest. United runs Terminal C and its Polaris and United Clubs; the Port Authority's new Terminal A hosts Delta, American, and — eventually — American Express.

Until the Centurion Lounge opens, the honest Newark ranking is: United Club Infinite if you fly United, Amex Platinum if you fly Delta from Terminal A, and for everyone else a Priority Pass lounge before security. The Sapphire Reserve and Venture X, both excellent at JFK and LGA, do nothing at Newark beyond that Priority Pass.

Key takeaway: the same three cards rank completely differently across the three airports. JFK T4 and LGA B reward the Reserve and Venture X; EWR rewards United's and Delta's own cards.

Which card for which New York airline

What changed in 2026 — and what it costs a couple

Three rule changes this year turned "free lounge for two" into a fee at most New York lounges:

• Centurion Lounge, from July 8, 2026: guests must be booked on the same flight as the cardholder, and access is capped at 5 hours before departure. Guests still cost $50 per adult and $30 per child unless you spent $75,000 on the card in the previous calendar year.
• Capital One, from February 1, 2026: Venture X and Venture X Business no longer include complimentary guests. Guests are $45 per adult and $25 per child at Capital One Lounges and Landings, $35 at Priority Pass lounges, and authorized users pay $125 a year for their own access. Spending $75,000 in a calendar year restores complimentary guests for that year and the next.
• Delta Sky Club, since February 2025: Amex Platinum gets 10 visits per year and Delta Reserve 15, each unlimited after $75,000 of annual spend. Every guest is $50.

The Chase Sapphire Lounge is the outlier: two complimentary guests on every visit at JFK and LGA, then $27 each.

Real use case: a couple flying Delta from JFK four times a year

A couple flies Delta economy from JFK Terminal 4 four times a year and wants lounge access both ways — eight airport visits. The primary cardholder holds an Amex Platinum; the partner has no premium card.

• Delta Sky Club on the Platinum: 8 visits fit inside the 10-visit annual cap, but the partner is a $50 guest each time: $400 a year.
• Centurion Lounge on the Platinum: same terminal, no visit cap, but the same-flight rule is met and the partner is still $50 a visit: $400 a year, unless the household spends $75,000 on the card.
• Switch to a Sapphire Reserve: the Sapphire Lounge in Terminal 4 admits the partner free every time: $0 in guest fees, at the cost of losing Sky Club access on Delta days.
• Add a $195 authorized user on the Platinum: the partner gets their own Centurion and Sky Club access for $195 a year, less than half the guest fees, and keeps the Sky Club.

The couple's cheapest path is the authorized user, not a new card. For a couple that flies Virgin Atlantic or Emirates from the same terminal instead of Delta, the Reserve wins outright: two free guests and no visit cap.

Decision framework

Common mistakes

1. Choosing the card before checking the terminal. A Sapphire Reserve holder flying JetBlue from JFK T5 or Delta from LGA Terminal C has no lounge at all. Match the card to the terminal on your boarding pass.
2. Arriving early to a Capital One Lounge. Entry opens 3 hours before departure and there is no arrival access; a 6-hour layover means 3 hours outside.
3. Bringing a companion on a different flight to Centurion. Since July 8, 2026 the guest must be on your flight. A friend seeing you off cannot come in.
4. Counting on the Newark Centurion Lounge. It is announced for 2026 and was still under construction in early September. Until it opens, Amex Platinum at EWR means Delta Sky Club in Terminal A or Priority Pass.
5. Using Amex Priority Pass at Minute Suites or a spa. Amex-issued Priority Pass memberships exclude a number of non-lounge experiences; the CSR and Venture X memberships generally include them. Check the app before you walk over.

Editor's take

New York is the clearest case we have seen of the lounge-card question having no single answer. On a JFK Terminal 4 departure the Sapphire Reserve is the best lounge card in America — two free guests, an 11 p.m. close, and a Priority Pass roster that includes the Emirates and Air India lounges next door. At Newark it is a $795 Priority Pass. Our advice for New Yorkers is to stop asking which card has the best lounges and ask which terminal you actually fly from three or more times a year; the card follows from that in about a minute. And if the answer is "Newark, United," the honest card is United's own, not any of the three premium travel cards this site usually recommends.

Related reading

• Best credit cards for airport lounge access — the national ranking this guide localizes
• Chase Sapphire Lounge guide — every Sapphire Lounge location and the guest rules
• Capital One Lounge guide — the February 2026 guest and authorized-user changes in full
• Amex Platinum airport lounge access guide — Centurion, Sky Club, and Priority Pass rules
• Priority Pass complete guide — which memberships include restaurants and Minute Suites
• New York on points: trip breakdown — the trip this lounge map was built for