Ahead of my very delightful, sleep-filled Aer Lingus flight back home to Dublin, I was invited – by virtue of travelling Business Class – to enjoy the American Airlines Flagship Lounge before the flight.
As an American Airlines hub city, and one of the US’ largest cities generally, I had very high hopes for what would be a luxurious, splendid affair. Certainly the name ‘flagship’ would suggest it, if nothing else.
I found my way to the entrance, which conveniently houses both the Admirals Club and the Flagship Lounge, and was promptly admitted after being handed a laminate card for reasons not fully explained, before being sent on my way to a bank of lifts to ascend to the lounge.
Upon arrival, a staff member greeted me more or less right from the lift; and the reason for the laminate card quickly became apparent, as I was relieved of it only moments after being handed it.
So, the good; the American Airlines Flagship Lounge is very large. It has a very narrow, but lengthy footprint, and you could easily take a few minutes walking from one end to the other.
There is also lovely apron views from any of the window seats (if you can secure one, see below), and the floor-to-ceiling windows mean the whole venue is pretty bright and airy.
The bad, as I have so often heard about all US airport lounges, is that it was slammed. I don’t mean in the typical ‘oh let me see which of the few seats I’d like’ way, I mean more like ‘Is there actually a single seat even available in this entire lounge’ way.
I ultimately ended up having to sit at the very far end from the food & drinks station – great for getting my daily steps in, as I’m pretty sure I wore off every glass of wine worth of calories just going to get another. To say the lounge was full to capacity would not be a stretch – I’ve never seen anything quite like it.
It did empty out very marginally in the hour or so I was there, but even then not by a whole lot. Because of the level of sufficiency we’d reached in terms of capacity, as you can tell, taking pictures was next to impossible and I was keen to not include anyone by accident – so you’ll have to imagine how tight it was.
On to the all-important food & beverage though, and this was quite impressive. There were two islands of different food options, all very well signposted, and with plates and cutlery available at both ends.
In terms of beverages too, there was a good selection across both soft drinks and – critically after a few busy work days – alcoholic options. I settled on a glass (and then another, etc.) of white wine and realistically would’ve both eaten and drunk more if not for the distance to and from my seat.
Ultimately, the busyness also meant I elected to use the bathrooms back in the main terminal rather than in the lounge, and so I can’t comment on these, or any shower facilities.
Overall, the American Airlines Flagship Lounge, while very pleasant, bright and well-supplied, was just too busy to really enjoy – it is in definite need of either expansion, or curtailment (much as it pains me to admit) of access for passengers on non-American flights. I can’t imagine how little I’d enjoy facing such a crowd regularly if this was my home airport lounge.
