I arrived from Luanda early in the morning, then spent the day at the Marriott Sao Paulo Airport napping and working, and then at 4PM headed back to the airport for my 10:30PM flight to Los Angeles.
While I’ve flown to & from Sao Paulo Guarulhos Airport before, I’ve never used Terminal 3, which is the airport’s newest terminal. It was beautiful, especially compared to the other terminals at the airport. The check-in area was spacious and well organized.
Sao Paulo Airport Terminal 3
I already had my boarding pass, so skipped check-in and headed straight for immigration. There are tons of late night flights out of this terminal, so at the time it was still quite empty, and I was through both security and immigration within about five minutes.
The terminal’s airside was equally nice, with high ceilings and plenty of high-end shopping.
Sao Paulo Airport Terminal 3
Terminal 3 has some decent lounge options, including both an Admirals Club and a LATAM Lounge. I checked out both of them during my visit, and in this installment will be reviewing the Admirals Club. The escalators leading up to the lounges were immediately past immigration and to the left.
Escalator to lounges Sao Paulo Airport
Once on the mezzanine level (third floor), the Admirals Club was at the end of the hall on the left. It had one of the nicer looking Admirals Club exteriors that I’ve seen. The lounge is open daily from 6:30AM until 12AM.
As a reminder, the Admirals Club can be accessed by oneworld first & business class passengers, oneworld Emerald & Sapphire members, and Admirals Club members. Assuming you have access to US credit cards, the best way to get an Admirals Club membership is with the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Legend Mastercard®. The card has a $695 annual fee, though the primary cardmember gets an Admirals Club membership, and authorized users each get Admirals Club access as well.
American Airlines Admirals Club Sao Paulo exterior
The lounge very much matches the new style of Admirals Clubs, and there were three podiums, one of which was staffed. I was advised that there would be a boarding call for my flight, and was given the Wi-Fi password.
American Airlines Admirals Club Sao Paulo reception
Near the entrance was a smaller seating area with a mirror and a sculpture, which seemed to be more decorative than anything, as I never saw anyone sitting there.
American Airlines Admirals Club Sao Paulo seating
The rest of the lounge was clearly designed in a way that maximizes seating capacity, though I thought at least they did a pretty good job in terms of how they furnished it. Past that initial room was a small room with a bit over a dozen seats.
American Airlines Admirals Club Sao Paulo seating
There were a few magazines and newspapers, though mainly just the American Way magazine, which isn’t exactly great reading material.
American Admirals Club Sao Paulo Airport magazines & newspapers
Then around the corner was the main part of the lounge. First was an entertainment zone, with a couple of dozen seats facing a couple of wall-mounted TVs.
American Admirals Club Sao Paulo seating
Then there was a large, traditional lounge seating area with dozens of seats facing one another. Each seat had outlets, which is a feature that I appreciate.
American Admirals Club Sao Paulo seating
American Admirals Club Sao Paulo seating
American Admirals Club Sao Paulo Airport seating
Then there was an area with dining tables as well as some high-top tables (which almost seemed out of place).
American Admirals Club Sao Paulo Airport seating
American Admirals Club Sao Paulo Airport seating
American Admirals Club Sao Paulo Airport seating
There were also some communal workstations in this area with rolling chairs. In one section the table was continuous, while in another section it had partitions between each seat. Some of the stations had PCs, while others had nothing on them.
American Admirals Club Sao Paulo Airport business center
American Admirals Club Sao Paulo Airport business center
Along the center hallway of the lounge was a long bench with more seating. I’ve never found this type of seating to be terribly comfortable, though it is cool-looking.
American Admirals Club Sao Paulo Airport seating
Then the lounge had two buffet areas, each of which had even more seating. Again, I just find the high-top seating to be quite random.
American Admirals Club Sao Paulo Airport buffet area
American Admirals Club Sao Paulo Airport seating
As you’ll notice, the lounge was really empty when I photographed it, though it filled up over time, which makes sense, given that most American flights leave out of Sao Paulo in the late evening.
The two buffets had very similar food and drink selections, and collectively were much better than the typical Admirals Club fare. Sao Paulo doesn’t have a Flagship Lounge, though the food selection almost seemed like a hybrid between an Admirals Club and Flagship Lounge.
American Admirals Club Sao Paulo Airport buffet
There were cold cuts, veggies, salad, a selection of bread, fresh fruit, and all kinds of tasty-looking desserts.
American Admirals Club Sao Paulo Airport food selection
American Admirals Club Sao Paulo Airport fruit & sweets
American Admirals Club Sao Paulo Airport sweets
There were two types of soup, including tomato soup and manioc soup with shredded jerked beef.
American Admirals Club Sao Paulo Airport soup
There were also several hot dishes, including ragu with tomato sauce, and pumpkin pie with caramelized onions.
American Admirals Club Sao Paulo Airport buffet
American Admirals Club Sao Paulo Airport buffet
Then there were five more hot dishes in pots.
American Admirals Club Sao Paulo Airport food selection
In terms of drinks, there were canisters with infused water and orange juice, a Nescafe coffee machine, tea, soft drinks and bottled water, and a selection of wine and liquor.
American Admirals Club Sao Paulo Airport juice & water
American Admirals Club Sao Paulo Airport coffee machine
American Admirals Club Sao Paulo Airport drinks
American Admirals Club Sao Paulo Airport buffet
American Admirals Club Sao Paulo Airport wine selection
The Admirals Club had nice bathrooms, and several private shower suites, though I didn’t have a chance to check them out.
American Admirals Club Sao Paulo bathroom
There was also a play area for kids.
American Admirals Club Sao Paulo kids area
I spent a bit of time in the Admirals Club and then headed over to the LATAM Lounge, which I’ll review in the next installment. My American flight was scheduled to board at 9:40PM at gate 313, so I left the lounge at around 9:20PM. It’s quite a haul from the lounges to the gate, as the terminal is huge, and there are limited moving sidewalks.
Sao Paulo Airport terminal
As I quickly discovered, gate 313 is in fact a remote gate, so I had to take the escalator down a level.
Escalator to Sao Paulo Airport departure gate
Escalator to departure gate Sao Paulo Airport
With six gates downstairs, there really wasn’t enough seating, so I don’t recommend coming down here any earlier than you have to.
Sao Paulo Airport departure gate
They did have well organized boarding lanes, though. Boarding didn’t start at 9:40PM, though. At around 9:45PM it was announced that “due to traffic around the airport, our crew has arrived late, and we will be boarding in about 10 minutes.” Traffic in Sao Paulo? You don’t say! 😉
The crew started to show up at around 9:50PM, and then at 9:55PM boarding began.
American boarding gate Sao Paulo Airport
We all piled onto the bus, and by 10PM we were at the plane. Ah, the 787 has such beautiful engines (when they’re working as they should be)!
American 787 Sao Paulo Airport
Admirals Club Sao Paulo Airport bottom line
The Admirals Club Sao Paulo is one of the nicest Admirals Clubs I’ve been to. That’s not saying a whole lot, since I can’t really think of many Admirals Clubs I otherwise like. They don’t exactly rank at the top of the best airport lounges. Beyond that, I thought Terminal 3 was a huge improvement over the other terminals I’ve used at the airport.
The lounge was empty at first, though over time filled up. The LATAM Lounge next door never got as full, which sure makes me wonder why more people don’t use that, given that all first & business class passengers, as well as oneworld Emerald & Sapphire members, have access to that. I’ll share my thoughts on that lounge in the next installment.
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