American Airlines has been upping their game with premium lounge offerings. They currently have 4 Flagship Lounges at Chicago (ORD), New York (JFK), Miami (MIA) and Los Angeles (LAX). I had the treat of visiting this lounge on my flight last month from LAX to JFK.

Who Gets Access to the Flagship Lounge at LAX

Access to the Flagship Lounge at LAX is granted to:

  • Passengers traveling on qualifying oneworld longhaul international first and business class flights
  • Passengers traveling in first class and business class on American’s premium transcontinental routes (LAX-JFK) (That’s me!)
  • American Executive Platinum, Platinum Pro, and Platinum members traveling on qualifying oneworld international flights, regardless of cabin
  • Concierge Key members traveling on any American or oneworld flight, regardless of cabin
  • All oneworld Emerald and Sapphire members traveling on any oneworld flight, even if it’s domestic. (But non-American AAdvantage).

Location and Details:

The Flagship Lounge at LAX is open daily from 4:45AM until 1:30AM. It is located next to Gate 40 in Terminal 4. It is on the second floor, and shares an entrance with the Admirals Club.

My Visit:

My flight to New York was at 9am, and I arrived to the lounge around 7:30am. The lounge wasn’t too crowded, maybe half occupancy which was really nice. I didn’t utilize the shower rooms on this trip, but there are 8 rooms if you would like to use them before your flight.

The highlight of my lounge visit was the great food selection. It might have been because I skipped out on breakfast that morning and was really hungry.

The food selection was really good, like a full American breakfast buffet you would expect at a hotel. The sushi wasn’t that tasty sadly, but I appreciate the effort. Around 8:30am they did open the Chicken and Waffle Bar which was really cool (and tasty!)

Cool Tip: I also used the Flagship Lounge on Arrival

A really cool thing about flying LAX-JFK is that it is a domestic flight. So, when I flew home from JFK to LAX, I visited the lounge on arrival! This is possible as a domestic flight lands back at the terminal and you can freely roam and not have to clear customs! I was really happy that American allows you to use the lounge on arrival. It was nice to get a drink and a few bites before heading home.

11PM Menu:

After landing back in LAX, I grabbed a small bite and a nice Coke. The halibut was pretty tasty!

Overall:

I love the Flagship Lounge at LAX as it offers an amazing selection of food and is a great place to relax before a flight. I’ll be reviewing the JFK Flagship Lounge shortly, and I think both have their positives. The JFK Flagship Lounge is larger and has a lot more seating to be comfortable in, while the Flagship Lounge at LAX has a better food selection.

Happy travels,

theresorttraveler

MY NEW YORK SPRING BREAK TRIP REPORT:

Check out the rest of my New York 2018 Spring Break Trip here!